New year means new PJ's!

January 10, 2019

Last year (I'm talking about Christmas 2017) I made the kids and myself matching PJ's. I love how they turned out and I really loved the family photo we got in them!

These PJ's were some of the inspiration for starting the #52wonderfilledweeks challenge. This year I had every intention of doing the same but work (horn playing) and other commitments (family) kept piling up and our Christmas PJ's turned into New Years PJ's and then I missed that deadline too! I did manage to make both P and Bubba new jammies the first week of 2019 but still haven't made my coordinating set yet...I guess you could say this is one of those "learning to let go" moments!

Part of the reason it took me so long to get these done this year was that I was torn on what pattern to use. P has fallen in love with night gowns (of course she is all pink and princesses all the time). I had planned to tweak a pattern I already had to fit the bill but I just wasn't sold...so I sat on it...then I discovered the Ellie and Mac, FREE, Grow with Me PJ Pattern. It was perfect! I love discovering new (to me) pattern companies and trying out a free pattern is a great way to "size" up the pattern maker, see if you like their fit, their directions, etc. I did change a few things on the nightgown but overall I really like the PJ's for both kids and the "grow with me" option is great since not only is the custom fabric I used cute, but expensive and this way the kids can wear them longer!!

I made P the nightgown with the standard cuffs. I figured I could always add longer cuffs in the future if we needed them. The jammies are fairly roomy to begin with but after checking her measurements against the pattern I always err on the side of the next size up. She can still wear her Yeti PJ's from last year! The only bummer about her wanting a nightgown is that Bubba can't wear them when he's older...oh well! The nightgown option comes with several ruffle options, on the bodice and on the arm and leg cuffs. I choose to add the ruffle along the color blocking bodice.

I also prefer easing a sleeve in on the flat verses the round, or continuous, which is what E&M direct you to do. The last thing I changed for the night gown was adding a 3 inch ruffle at the bottom.

When Super and I were looking at the jammies we both just felt the bottom needed something extra. I struggled because I didn't want to "waste" fabric on fluff...but then I realized these jammies are why I bought the red and that P would get so much use out of these...also...why create if you're not going to follow all the way thru with the idea...that would truly be wasteful. I sewed up one side of the jammies and measured across the bottom and doubled that number. Then I cut strips 3 inches wide (it took two strips sewn together on end to get the length I needed) and ran it through my serger to gather it. *Side note, if you haven't mastered using your serger for this purpose you are missing out!* With my strip all gathered I sewed it to the bottom then finished up the other side of the PJ's. The bottom ruffle makes it EXTRA girly and extends the length by 2 plus inches so I know she will be able to wear these for a few years!

She had so much fun modeling them for me...finally...it only took a year for her to start to cooperate with me on this blog, ha!

For Bubba I made the two piece set. I also chose to add the sleeves in the flat but did add the cuffs (both arm and legs) in the round as I prefer to not have any serger seams on the edges of my garments. His little arm holes were tiny and I was pretty sure I might finally cut my finger off on my serger blade but no digits were harmed, hooray!! I used the grow with me cuffs for his jammies. All that means is that the cuffs are twice as long so you can fold them up and in half when the kiddos are smaller and extend them as they grow. I didn't have the correct size elastic for his pants...and since he was in bed when I was putting these together I couldn't measure his waist properly so the band is a little on the loose side but since we cloth diaper it actually turned out to be okay. I had fun stripe matching, it's a total OCD thing to focus on but there's something so pleasing about it!

And I was super happy when I saw all the seams landed in the right place on this arm as well!! Holla!!

I'm telling you it's the little things! Aren't Bubba's adorable??? This fabric is from one of my most favorite custom fabric groups, Sahara Fabric. Run and check them out. You will never be disappointed. This is the Milk and Cookies print, with their yarn dyed stripes and their solid CL Red. Their fabric washes well and sews so smooth. It's really a dream to work with.

You can see the folded cuff on the left and the fully extended cuff on the right.

Bubba is starting to get the hang of this "modeling" thing too...what a cheese ball. I take their inability to sit as a good sign as they just wanted to run and twirl in their new duds!