Christmas Jammies!!!

What can be better than cozy Christmas Pajamas?  Only drinking hot chocolate and opening presents in said pajamas, or wearing said pajamas all day long while watching Christmas movies!  In our home we have a Christmas tradition in which the kiddos are allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve and that present is always pajamas (or jammies, or PJ's or jamas in our house.)  My kids LOVE this tradition, but not as much as I do!  I don't know what it is about making Pj's, but it is so much fun.   Maybe it's because they go fast, or because you can go a little crazy with the print.  Or maybe it's because wearing pajamas is pretty fantastic!  These are some pajamas I've made in Christmases past.

Well I just recently finished the pajamas for this year.  Yes I know its early, but when you are planning on making a ridiculous amount of presents for family and friends (I have issues) you start early.

Here are this years Pajamas

These are my son's

I use This pattern by Jalie for the top for all of the pajamas.  These are great patterns! This pattern is 13$, I usually don't like to pay over 5$ (I'm cheap!)  but this pattern includes 27 sizes!  Yes that's right 27.  I can dress my four year old and my 6'5" husband with the same pattern!  The only downside is that Jalie is a Canadian company so shipping is high.  They have a lot of great patterns so I suggest buying in bulk.    

I am in love with this vintage inspired cowboy print!   

These pajamas will go to my youngest.

 I wanted to do something a little different so I added this pleated detail to the hem of the pants and the sleeves on the girls pajamas.    

These pajamas will belong to my oldest.  She is starting to enter the tween zone so I wanted a print that was girlie and fun, but a little less childish.

Now that the 'jamas are done it's time to move on to the other things on my mile long to-do list.

I dream of Shirt Dresses

I've been dreaming for sometime about shirt dresses.  Especially shirt dresses for my girls.  Often times I get an idea for a project and can't stop thinking about it until I figure it out.  I know that in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter whether or not my girls have shirt dresses, but I was obsessed.  There was no point in fighting it! I found an adorable pattern by http://www.oliverands.com (which is a pattern company I love!!) but didn't have the cash flow needed for the 16$ per pattern.  Plus there were slight changes I would like to make to the pattern like pleats instead of a gathered skirt and pockets on the bodice rather than on the skirt. So I went through my stash and found this pattern I had used for Christmas dresses the year before.

I took the original pattern for the sleeve and I made three slits in it from the bottom to just below the top, one in the middle and one on each side.  Then I pushed the pieces together to make the sleeve  narrower.  I taped the butcher paper to the pattern and lengthened it several inches so that I could make the cuff.  (I like to use butcher paper rather than pattern paper.  It's sturdy, farely inexpensive, available, and you can iron it on to paper patterns you use over and over again to make them last longer.)

 I decided how wide I wanted the cuff to be and actually folded the paper in place.   Then I drew the lines.  As you can see the bottom of the sleeve looks a little like an accordion.  I did this to take into account the angle of the sleeve when it was folded so that no puckering would happen when the sleeve was constructed.  I basically just winged it with the tab.  You just want to make sure it's wide enough for your button and longer than your cuff.

Next I made the pockets.I love the look of the pleated pocket and thought it would go nicely with the pleated skirt.

 I took a square of butcher paper and folded it until I liked how it looked. Then I made the piece small enough so it would fit on a bodice.  Be sur to take into account seam allowances and use a ruler so that everything is straight and angles are uniform.

To change the rounded collar into a pointed collar all I did was draw a straight line from center front top of the collar to a point on the bottom I thought looked good.  Then I just folded it under and used that as my pattern piece.

I lengthened the skirt and the facing several inches until I got the length I wanted.

Then I made the belt and the loops.

  I basically just made the belt without a pattern and made it long enough so that it could be tied around the waist and a wide as I liked.  Whenever you make any pattern alterations be sure to take into account seam allowances.  When I was making the belt I drew a long rectangle on the fabric and then added the 5/8's inch standard seam allowance on all the sides that would be sewn.  I would have made the belt longer so that I could tie a bow rather than I know but I was running out of fabric so a know would have to do!  I made the loops about 1/2 wide and long enough to go around the belt with a little bit of ease.So there you have it!  My shirt dress dreams finally became a reality!  I wish I had one in my size!

In The Beginning...

My mom used to try to teach me to sew.  I had zero interest.  I thought only old ladies did it.  I was afraid of the machine.  Then I grew up.  I went to college and needed to take an extra class so I could have enough units to transfer.  My college offered an apparel construction class.  I took it.  I was hooked.  It became a hobby/obsession/therapy.  On this blog I will share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly!  Thank you for joining me!