I made these pyjamas because I wanted an excuse to buy the fabric. Initially I thought the whales might make nice shorts for Small Boy, but he vetoed the fabric because there were "too many whales". Instead the dinosaurs caught his eye, so Baby Boy got the whales because he's too young to voice an opinion. Small Boy wanted PJs, so PJs it was.
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| Baby toes!!! |
The fabric was from
Backstitch and is gorgeous. It's by Lizzy House from the Natural History collection. It's quilting fabric, but it's lovely and soft and makes very nice pyjama bottoms. The colours are beautifully vibrant. The tops are made from
this oatmeal ponte, also from Backstitch. I wanted something very stable, as befits boys' tees. This is a cotton/viscose mix, which is ideal as Small Boy suffers quite badly from eczema, so breathable fabrics are better. It's also lovely fabric. It's quite thick, but very cosy for winter 'jams, and at 160cm wide, I got both tops from 1m.
For the tops I used the
Titchy Threads Rowan Tee, previously made
here. I made a size 5 for Small Boy, who's 5 1/2 and the 2T for Baby Boy, who's 20 months. In truth, Baby Boy's is too big, but one thing you can guarantee with kids is that they'll grow. And we've had issues in the past with his wee chubster arms not fitting into long sleeves, so I erred on the side of caution so they'd fit comfortably. I made the patterns pretty much as directed, although I did use a slightly larger SA on Baby Boy's. Instead of attaching the neck binding as directed, I tried
this tutorial by Megan Nielsen, which worked well. The tees are sewn with a zig zag on my sewing machine, edges left raw. Small Boy's top has the hems and neck twin needled, but the stitching has already popped on both sleeves and the hem. I saw that
Kathryn has had similar issues and recommended wooly nylon thread in the bobbin. I didn't have this to hand, but also spotted this week that
Sallie has had a similar issue and instead uses her triple stretch stitch, so Baby Boy's hems are done with this stitch. I will see how it holds up. It doesn't look as professional, but it's kid's pyjamas, so I'm not going to get too upset about it!
The bottoms are the FREE
Sunny Day Shorts pattern from Oliver + S, lengthened to trousers. I based the leg length and width for both sizes on existing pyjama bottoms, which worked out OK. Small Boy's bottoms are the size 5, and again the 2T for Baby Boy. Hilariously, both boys have exactly the same waist measurement!!! The 2T is fine, but doesn't leave a lot of room for a nappy, so I'd probably size up for him next time. I sewed a ribbon into the waistband of each pair, so we can easily tell the front from back.
I didn't initially plan to do the applique, but I wanted to somehow tie the tops in with the bottoms, and to brighten up the tops as the oatmeal colour doesn't do much for their pale, Scottish faces! Co-ordinating ribbing would have been nice, but I didn't want to add any more cost to the project. This was my first attempt at applique, and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. There is room for improvement, but actually I think it looks good. I used my walking foot and a very short zigzag stitch. The curves and corners were pretty difficult, but with patience, I got there. The jersey stretched out slightly, but fortunately I managed to steam it back into shape. I found the templates on Pinterest, and looked for the simplest versions of dinosaur and whale shapes that I could find.
I'm chuffed to bits with these. I really enjoyed making them, as they were a very simple sew. I'm not sure I'll be making them PJs too often though, as the fabric alone cost me £37, so at £18 a pair they are the most expensive pyjamas they have ever owned. Still, it was nice to do, and they both love them. Hopefully Baby Boy will get wear out of the dinosaur ones once he is big enough too.
And the title of this post? When Small Boy was little he used to call pyjamas "pan-pams", and that, or "pams" for short, has kind of stuck in our house.
