Pyjama Party!

OMG! With only minutes UPDATE: hours to spare. Yes, I actually managed to sew these PJs, and my husband is just shaking his head. All for Karen’s Pyjama Party!

In brief!

1. Copied from an old pair of PJs, but I made them capri length for the summer
2. Cupcake fabric from Fabricland, poly/cotton (couldn’t find anything else in my limited time without kids) and it’s so thin you can see through it
3. Just used pyjama elastic, no ribbon (I thought I was running out of time!)
4. Red tank, WAS a UFO, now has a new lease on life (it’s amazing how the red just matched perfectly with the cupcakes)
5. And yes, I am actually reading “A Bear Called Paddington” …no kidding! I bought it last year thinking my boys might like it…no such luck, they’re just imps!

Total time to trace old PJs, cut fabric and sew new PJs, was……2 Hours!!!! Freak me out! I can’t believe I’ve never made any before!!

And, they fit pretty well. Can’t ask for anything else.

Kid’s Tool Belt

My little guy is 4 1/2 years old, and LOVES tools. Daddy’s tools are way cool, but he knows better …now! He does have loads of toy tools, and a real toolbox that Dad gave him, but no tool belt. He’d often come into my sewing room when I’m there (and when I’m not!) to see if he can use anything (yep, found the pins and took one down to the playroom for some reason). One day he came in and wanted a tool belt, right away, and picked up a selvedge strip of fleece I had on the table, and asked me to tie it round his waist. Tucked the tools in, but of course they just fell out after a while.

I decided I should make one for Christmas, and spent an evening looking around the web. There are a couple of cute tool belts, one tutorial which was great. But I wanted something a little more like the adult style. Google images are great for getting ideas, and I found hundreds of photos of tool belts, all kinds. Here is the one I made:

And here it is on my little guy, boy was he THRILLED when he unwrapped it on Christmas morning! It was folded up pretty small, but he knew what it was straight away. Wore it ALL day! (Those pyjamas were also a Christmas present I made using my favourite pattern, KS 3234.)

     

I started out the design with a paper mock-up using graph paper, then measured the pieces and added seam allowance. A few minor adjustments were made to the design as I went along, but overall it was pretty straightforward and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. The green fabric is a sturdy cotton/poly twill, not too heavy, and the yellow fabric is a cotton flannel.

I was wondering about putting this together as a pattern, if there’s anyone else who would want to make this? I’d love to hear from you!

Summer Pyjamas

At last! They're done...only took 3 years! These are the third pair of summer pyjamas I'd cut out for my older boy, right before my 2nd boy was born. Things got busy...I made 2 pairs before the birth, now this pair is for DS2!! And as luck would have it, red is his favourite colour.

This is KwikSew 3034. The other 2 pairs I made were great for DS1, and he liked the fact that they don't have bands on the bottom of the sleeves and pants. (He still refuses to wear pyjamas with bands.) The fabric is a soft, lightweight cotton jersey that I got from Wazoodle.

This pattern is great, it sews up really fast with a serger, including the waist elastic on the pants. The back of the neckband has a piece of navy cotton jersey covering the seam, like what you find on a lot of RTW tops. I've done this on a few tops now and love the way it finishes off the seam. The hems (and waistband finish) have been done using a triple cover stitch, which was not recommended for lightweight knits (according to my machine). After doing several trials of tweaking with the tensions I found a combination that doesn't look too bad. I sewed it on the wrong side so the looper thread is on the right side, mimicking the stitch you find on many RTW sports wear.

Kwik Sew 3234

I've wanted to make pajamas for DS#1 and ran across this pattern, Kwik Sew 3234. He's very particular about the fabric, and so I made the first pair in a very soft double knit I found in the remnant bin at Fabricland (as if he cares!) It's very stretchy, even though there's no spandex.

I made this back in November '09, and it's been washed many times, hence the pilling (it was cheap). I added the orange strip along the back of the neck so he could at least put it on the right way. I've seen this in many of the RTW tops, and it's really easy to add. It also looks much neater than the serged seam! I took Dawn's idea (from "Two On Two Off") about sewing labels into the kids clothes so they know which is the front/back (mine are plain white, I call them my no-name labels). So far it works.
I then made a top for day-wear from the same pattern, also Dawn's idea (thanks Dawn, you have great ideas!)

This top is made from a much stiffer jersey, and heavier than the PJs. It's also a Fabricland remnant! I used a light, bright green jersey for the back of the neck band and as another layer behind the hem. I copied this detail from some other RTW tops that the kids have, but it doesn't show up very well under the hem.