Train PJs

I'm afraid this post isn't going to be earth shattering, but I wanted to record the info for my own purposes. For some reason, I can never remember which patterns for PJs I like and what sizes I have used! It's a problem. Anyway, I finally got a chance to do some sewing, and the boys need PJs.

I started with Duncan, as his need was the greatest. The shirt is a blank from Walmart that I added the diesel engine to with flocked HTV, It's fun and fuzzy. For the pants, I used the Goodnight Sweetheart pants pattern from the Sewing for Boys book. I've been using it successfully for years, but Duncan is in the largest size now, so we'll be retiring it soon. Sad day. I did have to shorten it significantly. I took 3 inches off the length, and it's still got some grow length.

He likes them very much because TRAINS. The fabric is quilting cotton from Fabric.com. Not my favorite choice, but train printed fabric is difficult to find in anything else.

Logan was a wee bit trickier. He prefers shorts and short sleeved tees for his PJs. All the stores around here have switched over to winter stock, so long sleeves are all that are on the shelves. So, the shirt is mommy-made.

I was a little apprehensive about this, actually. I know, just a tee shirt, but sizing for Logan has been really challenging me lately. He's getting into pre-teen sizing, and I don't have the same intuitive feel for that as I do for children's sizing. The last tee I made him was on the small side, and I didn't want that to happen again. After some discussion with the ladies in my Ottobre sewing yahoo group (Thank you, ladies!!) I decided to go with the Dirt tee from the 01/2015 issue of the magazine, as the photo of the shirt looks on the looser fit side. He falls pretty squarely into the measurements for a 148, but after also comparing a few of his favorite tees with the pattern, I ended up sewing the next size up.

He loves the way it fits, so yay! I think the neckline is a bit wide, but since it's a PJ top, I'm not too fussed about it. If I were making it for him to wear to school, I would have made a band for the neckline, rather than the narrow binding, and probably brought in the neckline 1/2 inch or so. The fit through the body is just the way he likes it though, so win! He likes the shorts very much too, and declares he is happy with his PJs.

The shorts are from the 06/2011 - the Green Check boxers. I went with the same size in the boxers as the tee, but of course, cut the waist elastic to Logan's actual waist measurement, which was 25 inches. I skipped the fly as Logan will never use it, and added a tiny bit of topstiching to the side seams, While Logan was wearing them last night, he happened to need a pocket and I was informed that future PJs needed pockets. Ok, then. The boxers are long - coming to below his knee - but he says he prefers them that way, so that was a win.

I'm happy to have a PJs formula for the boys that will work for now, and I have plenty more train fabric to work with, so there will be more of these forthcoming.

Pajamapalooza 2015

I took over 100 pictures. And that was the best one...

It seems like every year my kids all need PJs at once. You'd think I could manage to plan for this better, but every year it seems like I am making 12 or so sets of PJs. At least this year it was just the boys.

Sort of. Myra has a collection of nightgowns that I made her several months ago. They all still fit and she loves them, but a friend of hers gave her these fleece pants, and she needed a top to go with them.

It turns out to be sort of fortuitous actually. I've been wanting to make this pattern (Ottobre 06/2010-18) for her since the magazine came out. In 2010. I even bought this fabric with this very pattern in mind. In 2010. I was so on the ball about it in fact, that this is the largest size the pattern is drafted in. And when I got the magazine she was too small for the smallest size. Seriously, how does that even happen?!

Since I had waited until the last possible moment to make this, I decided to go all out with the topstitching. I did a line of stitching on either side of each seam, with the thread color contrasting the fabric. Myra loves it. And it wasn't as hard to do as it looks. I just threaded my coverstitch with the two colors in either needle. This pic also show the cool fabric. It is a knit double cloth. The pink layer is an athletic mesh which is bonded to the green jersey layer. The green shows through the holes in the mesh, and the pink bonding stitches show on the green side. It's a very neat effect.

Duncan's PJs are extremely basic. The pants are one piece pants adapted from Sewing for Boys. The shirt is long sleeve, cuffed sleeve from Ottobre. I honestly can't remember which one it is, but there is one in nearly every issue.

He likes them, and I made 3 sets, so I busted a ton of stashed flannel and knit scraps on these. Total win.

And last but not least we have Logan. Logan decided recently that he wanted to change PJ styles. His past pajamas have been long sleeve and long pants, both made of flannel. He told me a few weeks ago that these were too hot (note: It was snowing at the time.) and that he wanted short sleeve tee shirts and shorts for sleeping. So, here we go. This is set #1, made with Ottobre 03/2013-23/39 and 06/2011-37. 

I've made him two sets so far, and he's very happy with both. You can see the second set in the top picture. Those two sets were random stashbusted fabrics, but I find that the stash is very low on older boy friendly knits, so I ordered a few, and then I'll make more. You can never have too many comfy PJs.

Ottobre 06/2011-21 & 04/2004-35

Myra starts preschool in 2 weeks, and despite the several dresses I made her last month (one of which she has already ruined), I suddenly freaked out and decided she needs a new school dress.

My mother sent me this adorable fabric and as soon as I saw it, I knew it had to be the jumper on the cover of the 06/2011 issue of Ottobre. It's even intended for bias cut plaids, so I thought I was in the clear with regards to pattern matching.

I did manage to chevron the dominant pink and orange stripes at the zipper, which was no mean feat and involved a lot of basting and wonder tape.

I also managed to chevron one side seam, again matching the pink and orange stripes. Unfortunately, since the dominant stripes are only in one direction, this works out like an uneven plaid, so there was no way to match all three seams. I decided the CB matching was more important, so I had to sacrifice the left side. I'm not even going to show you. It's too embarrassing. I almost decided to just cut this on the straight grain, but I just couldn't talk the fabric into it. It really wanted to be a bias cut jumper. Don't you hate it when your fabric gives you sass??

The pattern is designed for wool, and is lined, but for this fabric, I decided a facing was a better option, so I drafted an all in one facing from the main pattern pieces and used Trena's all machine, clean finish lining method. It was a little tricky getting the dress through those little straps, but it worked out. I also finished the facings with the interfacing, using the Sunny Gal method. I really need to take the time to finish more of my facings this way. It really looks fabulous. I made a narrow, serged and topstitched hem instead of the 1 inch hand sewn hem the pattern calls for. I'm glad I did, as it turned out a bit on the short side. I'll lengthen it an inch or so when I make it again.

I made a quick long sleeve tee to go under the jumper. Can you believe that child doesn't already have a long sleeve hot pink tee? I used Ottobre 04/2004-35, which I have used before for Logan. It is the same as the Creative Workshop 301 tee pattern, which is what the jumper is paired with in the Ottobre magazine. I keep thinking it needs an embellishment on the jumper, but I'm going to leave it be for now. Looking at that print for long is a little dizzying! Myra loves it. She's a bit dizzying at times herself.

Ottobre 06/2011-34 & 01/2009-23

Both of these patterns are reruns, but I ran into some trouble I thought I'd share.

I made this outfit for Logan as a Christmas gift. The top is Ottobre 06/2011-34, which I made here, and the pants are Ottobre 01/2009-23, which I have made 10 times in various sizes. Needless to say, we like this pattern. For this iteration, I used a poly velour from Fabric Mart for the shirt as well as to line the pants. He has a velour raglan top made for him by his Oma that he wears all the time, but which is showing it's age. I used sueded cotton twill from Fabric.com for the pants outer.

Oma's version has a cool zombie embroidered on it, but since I don't have an embroidery machine, I picked up two Cars patches from Joann and stitched them on. Cute, huh? This was not where I had trouble though. The trouble came when I attached the neckband. This velour has less stretch than the rib knit I used the last time I made this top, so I made the neckband a smidge longer to compensate. It would have been fine, except that this velour curled like no jersey I have ever seen, and when I tried to stretch it to stitch it to the neckline, it curled away from the serger and out of range of the needles. Add to that that my serger has been misbehaving lately and you have a recipe for disaster. Three different neckbands, four broken needles, some basting and a bit of swearing later, it actually looks pretty good. What I learned was that if you have a jersey that curls like a mad fiend, basting the edges together with a zigzag stitch before you serge will tame the curlies. Word to the wise. The cuffs look much better. I basted them.

The pants have some decorative twill tape at the back pocket openings. Mom brought this home from Expo a couple of years ago and I have been awaiting the "perfect" project. I'm not sure this is perfect, but it was about to become To Good To Use, and we can't have that. I think it's a cute touch and it coordinates nicely with the top.

Ottobre 06/2011-34

I'm afraid that I am notorious for neglecting necessary (but boring) sewing. Poor Logan falls into that category all too often. It's particularly pronounced in the pajama department. He has exactly enough sets of PJs (that he likes) to get him from one wash day to the next, so when he tore a hole in one of his PJ tops, it was a bit of an emergency. Naturally, the hole was front and center in the middle of the fabric - not repairable. The top was really too short anyway, but the pants still fit great, so instead of attempting a sad looking repair, I used the remains of the old top to applique a new one.

He was more interesting in playing with it than getting a good picture.

The pattern is from the most recent issue of Ottobre, 06/2011. It is #34, which is a raglan sleeved PJ top with a fun bulldog applique. I went a little simpler and made a large number 5 on the front of the shirt and a little soccerball snipped out of the print on the right sleeve.

The fabric is a super soft cotton rib knit. I really wish I remembered where it came from. I want some more!! Before I got my serger, I really struggled sewing rib knits. It seemed like no matter what I did, the seams would ripple. Now, I just crank the differential feed up to 2 and stitch away! This tee really did whip up quickly. As is typical for Ottobre, it is beautifully drafted. The neckband seemed way to small when I was first attaching it, but it turned out just right. I did lengthen the shirt and sleeves to the next size up, as it looked short in the magazine. On Logan, the fit is nicely slim and the length is good. There is a little room to grow, but not so much that he's swimming in it.

This was supposed to be a PJ top, but when Logan saw it, he told me that it is to wear to preschool. So, you may be seeing some more boy PJs here soon... And a few more of these. It's a good basic, and he could use more long sleeve shirts. It gets cold out there!