Hello, hello! I have a bit of a backlog of sewing projects and I’m working on getting pictures of them all. I figured I’d start out with a big post of the Kid sewing I recently finished before I share more of my makes.
It started with a trip to Hancock's in which Miss K fell in love with this milk & cookies print. She decided I had to make her some new pajamas. She was very specific in what she wanted too – no collar, button up shirt, pants. Ok, I can handle that. She has grown in size since I last made her pajamas like this so a test pair was in order.
Pattern: I started with Simplicity 2046 also known as 2738 for the top and Kwik Sew 3604 for the bottoms.
Size: The reason I had to use 2 patterns was that I last used the Simplicity one in my pre-tracing days (2012) to make rose, squirrel, and ladybug pjs as well as some sports pjs – therefore I only had this in a size 10. K is in a size 10 in shoulders but not in waist/hip. This was easy to fix with the top but I was not in the mood to adjust pants from a 10 to a 12. So I used the pants from Kwik Sew 3604 (because K didn’t want the collar on her shirt). The pants I used a size L (10) for length and XL (12-14) for width.
Fabric: 2 yards of 54” wide Lime Green Dot Flannel from fashionfabricsclub for $9.90 total. I purchased it in January 2015 for a dress for K but I never got around to making it and it screamed pajamas to me. I wanted to break up the fabric a bit so I added some yellow grosgrain ribbon to the bottoms of the pants (I just eyeballed it) and also to the pocket. Then K picked out these sunflower shank buttons I’ve had forever and it was perfect. Although I despise hand sewing, it was worth it to sew on these shank buttons to complete this outfit.
Thoughts: It was easy to sew this up. The directions are super simple in both patterns and I had no issues. The top is a bit poofy on K’s chest and the pants are a bit poofy as well. They work great for pajamas and she always grows.
Next up I set off to cut into Miss K’s precious milk & cookies fabric. I wanted to try a different pattern to get a better fit (dangerous with her favorite new fabric and no muslin of the new pattern).
Pattern: This time I used Simplicity 2771
Size: I used a size Small for the shoulders, Medium for waist and hip. I used a combination of the pants sized Small from this pattern for the front, and the Kwik Sew pants from above for the back. I had K try on a pair of these I made for T (coming up); they were tight on her rear but great in the front. This combo worked out well. I also made these in short sleeves instead of long because of lack of fabric.
Fabric: Milk and Cookies Blizzard flannel from Hancock's. I used almost every darn bit of the 3 yards at 44” wide. It was a real squeeze. It was $9.57 total and we purchased it on June 26th. Miss K went on to Etsy and found these adorable chocolate chip and Oreo buttons that went perfect with the fabric so we had to order them ($6.98 total with shipping and we only used half the package). They were shipped and to us really fast (like 2 days). Ugh to more hand sewing because these are shank buttons too.
Thoughts: K loves, loves, loves these. She wore them right away and actually hounded me for a few days to get them finished! Awaiting the buttons was the hardest part. The fit is great. I like the fit of this top much better than the first Simplicity one above. I do not know how I will get K to take the off to wash them!
I must address the collar of this pattern though. I read on Pattern review that the collar was a problem for some people. I can understand why. The directions for these steps are TERRIBLE! They have you sew 1/2” from the edge as a guide for pressing. They also have you clip the curves along this part – but then they have you align and try to sew this clipped part to the collar. The directions and photo make you believe that you are attaching eh un-clipped side but NO you attach and sew the clipped side to the bodice front!! It is pretty challenging to get around that curved point. Other than this part, the rest was easy to do; you then sew the facing to this band, trim the seam allowance, fold inward and then fold over the other side of the facing’s seam allowance (where you sewed that 1/2” guide and then stitch in the ditch from the front which catches the edge of the folded facing in underneath.
And now for Mr. T
Pattern: Simplicity 2771 pants only
Size: The first pair I made was a test pair before cutting into some special fabric. I traced off a size Medium (10-12) per T’s measurements but lengthened them by 2”.
Fabric: 2 yards of Riley Blake Boy Crazy Stripe Orange cotton that I bought in May 2014 on sale at fabric.com $5.52 total.
Thoughts: The length was perfect on these but they were already showing a bit tight. They fit ok, but not for too long.
So for the special pair I bumped up to a straight size Large (14-16) – I do not want him to grow out of them too fast! I used 2 yards of “Skybound the Walking Dead Zombie Character Black” cotton fabric from fabric.com that I just ordered for $15.96 total. I did not realize how large the print was – sort of disappointing. Mr. T and Dad love to watch the Walking Dead together so I wanted them to both have special pajamas for these nights. T loved his pants. They are a tad big but that is what I wanted. Mr. SunnySewing (aka Dad) also got some pajamas pants but we shall save that for a different day when he’s in the mood for a picture).
So now I’m pajama’ed out and back to sewing for me. I have a top and 2 skirts to show you soon plus I got a new machine!
