Pajama Pants: A Range of Sizes and Styles to Consider

My family was fortunate to spend Christmas 2020 together. We accomplished this feat, despite COVID restrictions, by putting all three households in complete lockdown for two weeks prior to the visit. I am aware how incredibly privileged that makes all of us, and I don’t take the gift of that time together lightly. We were tested before and after our trip and had no positive results.

I may have gotten ahead of myself this year. I figured that if we made getting together work during the height of a pandemic, it should be even easier in 2021. I ordered fabric to make matching pajama pants for all the girls in my family (my mom, sister, two daughters, and me). Now it is starting to sink in that with the Delta variant, opening economies, and two kids too young for vaccination, we might wake up to different trees Christmas morning. But since we won’t know until it’s too late to make the final call on my sewing project, and since I already invested in some gorgeous Rifle Paper Co. fabric, I’m going to plod ahead anyway. I will ship the pants and make a collage of photos if needed.

I am hoping for a fairly uniform look but am working with a variety of sizes: infant, toddler, “standard” women’s sizes, and an extended size range. It would be easiest for me if I only had to buy two patterns, one each in child and adult women sizes.

Below is a summary of the patterns I considered for adults. I thought others might find it useful to see what options I found in expanded sizes, factors I considered in selecting a pattern, and which pattern I ultimately chose. The three top contenders were:

Loungewear PJ Shirt & Pant Set by Style Arc

Pros: Prettiest pattern option available in a wide size range; easily my top choice if not for the challenges below.

Cons: Pattern is not layered; each size is a separate file, which makes grading difficult. Designer is known for “sparse” instructions, which worries me as a novice at garment sewing.

Spinifex PJs by Muna and Broad

Pros: Simple-looking pattern with pretty trim; the piping adds interest to the pants.

Cons: Cropped tops are not flattering on me personally. Pant cuffs are presumably cut separately so add a sewing step.

Dani Pant by True Bias

Pros: Stylish pant, simple construction

Cons: Afraid it could look diaper-like with a large tummy. Must purchase separate patterns for size range 0-18 and 14-32.

Also considered:

Emerson Pants by True Bias (pleated front)

Crew Trousers by Chalk and Notch (tie front)

Carolyn Pajamas by Closet Core Patterns (max size is 20; on the list for expansion per Instagram comments on 1/14/21 post; hack for wide leg exists from designer)

Birchgrove Pants by Muna and Broad (balloon shape? similar to Dani Pant w elasticized waist)

Glebe Pants by Muna and Broad (VERY wide leg for pajamas)

Calder Pants by Cashmerette (VERY wide leg for pajamas)

Magna Pants by Cashmerette (from book Ahead of the Curve, which I pre-ordered; U.S. publication postponed from Oct to Nov, and with any subsequent delay, it would be too late for my slow skills)

Hacking: Trying to use the Spinifex instructions with the Loungewear pattern pieces.

I think I’m going to go with the Dani Pant by True Bias for my sister and me. I don’t know whether my mom would also consider wearing these or whether I’ll have to do a second option for her. I am really, really worried about the stomach fit for the apple shapes in our family. I am reminded of a favorite saying from one of my aunts: “Just because it goes around doesn’t mean it fits!”

I’m not very advanced at garment sewing, so I’m not convinced I could do the Loungewear sewing without good instructions and grading options. It’s a pity because I think the pattern looks amazing. I’m waiting with bated breath for the Carolyn Pajamas and am also very excited for the Magna Pants publication. They won’t work for this particular project but are patterns I fully expect to try in the future.

Wish me luck. There’s no way I can sew double the number of pajama pants needed, so I will cut DIRECTLY into my fashion fabric! *gasp*

I sew very slowly and have Halloween to contend with in the meantime, so hopefully I will have a late December (early January) update with my finished makes!

WIP Wednesday: Major Fabric (and Pattern) Purchases

There was only so long I could use scraps from my stash instead of buying new fabric. I may have gone on a bit of a spree. But at least I have a plan for every single yard purchased!

I plan to use this pattern to make an A-Line Skirt out of this unicorn houndstooth fabric.

I plan to use Alexia Abegg’s Michelle My Belle pattern (in the book Liberty Love) to make a dress with this swan fabric. Of course, if I decide to move away from the Michelle My Belle pattern, I could also choose from among the dozen or so 1940s patterns I purchased last week…

Yep, I’m branching out and attempting (or at least planning an attempt) to sew clothing!

I also plan to use this fabric to make a reversible Christmas tree skirt. (I grew up on a farm and hope to have my own acreage someday.)

It all started when I saw a photo of the unicorn houndstooth on Instagram. I saw it was almost sold out and felt pressured to get some right away; I have waited to buy some really great fabrics in the past and missed out, to my regret! Some of this most recent fabric was even on sale… so I’ve decided not to berate myself for my fabric-buying weakness as long as these projects are finished in one year or less!

Embroidered Onesie: the Collaborative Version

I’m not a stereotypically artsy person. I am not laid-back. I don’t spontaneously have an idea that I have to sketch out without using other art as reference. And I’m not good at laughing at myself. So when my boyfriend started offering unsolicited advice about my most recent project, I was kind of peeved, to say the least. Then EVERY SINGLE ONE of his suggestions improved my project! Now I have to offer an awkward thank you for his help.

My aunt had a baby last week, which means I have a new cousin! I knew I wanted to make her something. The baby blankets/quilts/play mats I’ve been making don’t seem to be terribly useful, so I wanted to try something new. I decided to embroider a onesie after seeing this post by Sew Lovely Embroidery.

Shopping for onesies is hard, by the way. I don’t have kids, so I was really out of my element at Target. The regular clothing racks only had pre-designed onesies. I knew there must be blank ones somewhere, so I kept searching. Eventually, I found some plain onesies between the bibs and the blankets in a regular aisle, not the clothing area. They were mostly white. I know you can dye fabric with Rit, but let’s be honest: I wanted to start right away. (I found a few onesies that I thought were blank and colorful, but they had really hideous bears on the front! Ugh.)

I got the onesies home and realized right away they were too thin for embroidery, that my threads in back would show through. I decided I would just embroider on a separate patch of fabric. Enter boyfriend. “That square looks kind of weird. You’re just going to stick it on there?” Um, yes, that was the plan. “Maybe you can change the shape. You know, make it more organic.” Hmm… He rifled through the contents on my desk (NoNoNo!) for a paper and pen to sketch what he meant. His original sketch looked scary, but when I played around with it, I found a hexagon was actually pretty similar to his suggestion. Definitely better than my plain rectangle, but also not as difficult as a circle.

While the boyfriend read a book, I started stitching. I finished the animal and the baby’s name and got to the hearts in my pattern. “These should be the same color as her name, right?” I asked, turning to him. I thought if I asked a directed question, he would just agree—especially since he was reading and not really paying attention—but noooo. “They should probably be a different color,” he replied. “Red?” I asked suspiciously. “Yeah, red.” He’s going to ruin it, I thought to myself. I continued my project, secretly pleased I could blame him when it didn’t turn out. Only the red was really cute. I decided to do red stitching around the hexagon, too, and voilà:

I bought a few more onesies while I was at it. I think they’ll be good gifts. I mean, even the mom with everything can work a personalized onesie into her baby’s wardrobe. I will also try VERY hard to be more receptive to good advice! For example, I have read on various blogs that some people embroider with 2-3 strands of floss instead of all 6. I might give that a try next time.