Monday, December 14, 2015

All You Need Jammies - Christmas pajamas 2015

Two christmases ago I made these ladies their first christmas dresses and this year I took the plunge and made them their first christmas pajamas.

It's not a tradition I grew up with - probably because Christmas Eve is the big event in Denmark with christmas dinner, dancing around the christmas tree and then finally presents. In other words there are no specific morning traditions.
I love love love the American/British way with presents in the morning and this year it will finally happen in mommy mades. 



And the name of the pattern is to be taken literally.
From this pattern you can make 5 different garments. Gathered and regular tee, leggings and lounge pants plus a gathered nightgown. 
That's impressively generous for little over $8 if you ask me!

And even better the pattern has an easy overview to which pages to print depending on what you need. I love patterns that do that. 


But before I talk more about the pattern, let's talk about this fabric!

There isn't a ton of cotton based knit fabric out there and even less with prints in my taste so I practically jumped when I found this Boxer Reindeer Jersey Knit at the peek-a-boo pattern shop that-now-also-sells-fabric. 
I asked Amy the owner if this would work for pajamas and I LOVE that she was honest and said, "It can be done but personally I think it is a bit too thin for the pants. What about using this great red knit, it would be perfect for pants." I had not even thought of that and I honestly think this is a much better result than the whole outfit in the reindeer print. Thank you SO much for perfect customer service and lightning fast shipping!

The Reindeer print does not have a whole lot of stretch either so the gathered top in this pattern package was oh so perfect.


I feel like these photos are a bit unfair to the fabric. They are taken in the afternoon after the kids had been wearing them since the morning and I don't think you can find much knit that would not have 'knees' in them at that point. We had even been trampoline jumping at this point, haha. It really is great for leggings, promise!


Okay, let's get back to the pattern.

Sizewise the pattern is big - which is not meant as a complaint but just a reminder that you in this case REALLY have to measure your child or do what I did, used an already fitting pajamas to compare the pattern to get an idea of what size to make.

The clear indicator I got that the pattern runs big was when I realized that my tall (90 percentile) almost 6 year old could fit the size 5 (also in length) in the leggings and top. Again, not a problem as long as you remember to measure.

What I do not recommend you to do though is to use a top with lots of stretch to determine size and then afterwards realize that the fabric you are using has little stretch, DUH! 
I had already cut out my size 5 top pattern and went totally rogue and sort of graded it up while cutting...sooooo if you noticed a little center front and back pleat on little sister's neckline you should know that is me fixing my own problems and not a problem with the pattern, ha.

When it was big sister's turn (almost 8 years old with average height and weight) I had (kind of) learned my lesson and made her the size 9/10 in the top (because of limited-stretch fabric) and ahem, then I might have used the size 5 leggings patterns and added a bit of width and length while cutting (at least this time it totally worked....seriously, sometimes 15 years of sewing experience have to pay off, right!?) 


I had a few problems with/comment to the patterns.

You know I from time to time measure my paper patterns before I even start cutting and I found that the sleeve is a bit too small for the armscye. It's not something you would notice when you are sewing it because the fabric stretch and you might not even notice it when it is sewn in unless you have a trained eye (or you saw a comparison between a sleeve that fit and one that is too small) but the feel from the wearer will for sure improve and so will the look if the sleeve fit.
An easy fix is to simply add a bit of width to the sleeve seam and maybe also raise the sleeve cap a tiny bit depending on how much you know about pattern drafting. Or maybe using a sleeve size bigger than your bodice would actually do the trick if you don't feel like doing any changes to the pattern.


Another small thing was the gathered pattern piece (the lower part of the bodice of the tee). It is shaped like a half trapeze shape which means when the side seams are sewn together it creates a pointy side seam. I know I'm anal here and most would just cut it off and make a straight line at the hem but I can't help thinking that if only the pattern piece had been made from a rectangle piece and then using the cut and slash method which keeps the corners in their correct 90 degrees state then no correction would be needed.
I did my little trick and raised/curved the top and hem seam gradually to about 1 cm / 3/8" towards the side seam and created those pesky 90 degrees corners that creates straight lines when you sew them together.

A third thing is the fit of the leggings on the front of especially my youngest (who wear the true size 5 pattern) but I must admit I didn't spend any time looking into possible fixes because hey, this is pajamas that they will sleep in under a duvet, ha.


My Janome Coverstitch was again hard at work and I used it both at the neckline rib, above the chest gathers and to hem the bodice and sleeves. 

And here is a closer look at that silly reindeer.


This photo might be a bit blurred but how could I not use that!? It's funny how photos (or looks on photos) can deceive because they they were craaazy during this first attempt of getting photos hence why we ended up jumping trampoline and only try again outside way later in the day but hey it all worked out in the end.

Get your own version of All You Need Jammies pattern HERE.

Thank you and happy holidays!

7 comments:

  1. Really great pajamas! You are a sewing rockstar! I was pretty mesmerized by your sewing prowess, reading your feedback! And your results are perfect!

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  2. And this is one of the reasons why you are my sewing hero! You are so awesome. The jammies are perfect (of course). Also, I have to say that those girls of yours are the cutest ever! And I love those fox slippers they're wearing. I want a pair for me!

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  3. These are great! I totally agree that the red bottoms work better than a full on reindeer look. We celebrate on the 24th, so no need for pyjamas ;) Although my kids both really need some! Super cute photos, your girls looked like they were having an awesome day!

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  4. These are so cute! Such great moments you captured on these photos. :) Really think the red worked perfectly with the print. Thank you for always making detailed reviews, and even more for advising on how to fix certain the issues, you rock!

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  5. The pjs are super cute! I agree that the red pants are perfect! Love the pictures, such cute sisters!

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  6. Oh those girls and their contagious smiles :) So cute in their Chrissi jammies :) I love it when fabric shop owners give honest recommendations like that, especially when you can't touch and feel fabric. his fabric is perfect for this project! Now I need to make a new nighty for my girlie :)

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