Pajama Party!!

I made pajama pants for myself using the same pattern as my presents to the kids. I thought I would go into a little more detail than in the previous entry, because this time I made them for myself. Making gifts you have a different mindset than when it is for yourself.

The pattern is a free one from Simplicity so the price is right! It’s a pdf and is absolutely horrible to put together, because it doesn’t quite match up right. Unlike other pdf patterns that have tabs in the middle of the pages to show where to join, this pattern has them on the side and there are three indicators only one of which is the one you go by to match up the pattern. Now that the pattern is together, I will never need to go through that torture again, but it was seriously horrible.

The pattern is pretty straight forward and meant to be a very loose pj pant. Wearing them on myself, however, I noticed things that didn’t pop up or occur to me as I was making them for other people. The pant leg tapers in at the bottom, which makes it difficult to hem the bottoms. The tapering is actually more extreme in the larger sizes and something I will be straightening a little more for any future garments. I made smalls for the kids so I didn’t notice; this is graded to an XXL, because I wanted a super loose pj pant, but the XL is still pretty massive.

Other than that, it’s a great free pattern and a breeze to sew up: sew up the pant legs, sew up the crotch, sew the waistband, make the drawstring, put in the elastic and the drawstring, hem the pants. Basically an hour or less even with my standard french seams. I think all in all the two pairs took me two hours with fitting checks. When I made them for Christmas presents, they took even less time: more like an hour and a half for two. A note for the drawstring: I didn’t sew it inside out and then turn it around. I did that in one of the pj pants for Christmas and wanted to scream. Instead, I pressed it under like I was making double fold bias tape and sewed up close to the fold. At the ends I turned the raw edged into the folds. It’s way way easier that way than the sew and turn method. I even used tricks for that method and it was just not my thing.

I probably won’t make this pattern again for a while. I really want to make Sewaholic Tofino pants in the short version as part of my summer sewing plans.

The fabrics are flannels from Joann’s.

TL:DR Review

• Pattern: Free Simplicity PJ Pants
• Pros: Did you read free? Also, very simple pattern. And it’s free! FREEE!
• Cons: Tappered pant leg makes it difficult to hem, especially in the bigger sizes. Recommend straightening a little more for future garments. PDF is an absolute pain to put together. And of note, if you are making it for other people, the pattern doesn’t provide a standard measurement for the elastic. I recommend doing a quick standard measurement search for that.
• Make again?: Absolutely! Considering I never will put that pdf together again.
• Rating:  3/5 stars (star lost for pdf pattern torture)

Here’s a goofy pajama party photo shoot:

       

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