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Earlier this year I cleaned my closet and went through my wardrobe. What I found is that a lot of my pajama sets have seen better days. They are over ten years old and pretty much falling apart. So, I made a resolution that I needed to make myself a few pajama sets to replace the old ready to wear ones.
Tilly and the Buttons Pajama Set
Once I decided to make pajamas I started to think what pattern I was going to use for this project.
I actually have a few vintage pajama patterns from the 50’s and 60’s in my stash, but I wanted a quick project, that didn’t require a lot of pattern grading. I also wanted a loose cozy fit.
Margot Pajama Bottoms
I then remembered that one of the first projects in the Tilly & the Buttons Love at First Stitch book is the Margot pajamas bottoms. This is pattern features a drawstring waistband making fitting fairly easy and also has a pretty loose, cozy style.
Since I knew this pjs would be worn mainly in the winter I wanted a nice warm fabric for them. In my winter plans at the end of last year, I had shared some fun flannel unicorn print fabric that I wanted to make pajamas out of. As it turns out one of my sisters fell in love with the fabric and I decided to hold it back for her. So, I took another look at my stash and found more flannel, some blue snowflake, and some purple polka dot flannel.
Agnes Top
I only had enough fabric for the pajama bottoms, but I still wanted a matching top to make a proper set.
Another look through my stash I found some knit jersey fabric that was in matching colors to the bottoms.
Once I had the fabric I knew that the top just had to be the Tilly & the Buttons Agnes top. Since I was making a Tilly pattern for the bottoms, I thought another one would be ideal for the top.
Plus I love the silhouette of the Agnes top and how quickly it whips up.
Making Pajamas
The overall construction of both the bottoms and the top went together very well and I made both pairs in a single weekend.
| Sewing Summary | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Jan 7 |  |
||||
| Pattern: | Tilly and the Buttons – Margot Pajamas and Agnes Top | |||||
| Version: | Top with ruched sweetheart neckline | |||||
| Size: | 7 | |||||
| Notes & Modification: | Cut neckband at 80% neck size | |||||
| Recommendations: | Things to keep in mind for next time | |||||
| Difficulty: | Beginner | Ratting: | ||||
I started this project making the blue pajama set first.
I will say that I like the loose fit of the Margot pajamas, but they are super long and wish that I hemmed it more, but since it was pajamas I wasn’t too concerned.
When made my first Agnes, this past summer, the neckline was way too loose. After seeking advice from the sewing community I found I needed to recut the neckband to 80% the neckline as opposed to the 90% the pattern piece is cut to. Unfortunately, I forgot this when I retraced my pattern pieces and alas, my neckline was too wide.
I used my serger to whip up this top and didn’t want to unpick the neckband. So, my darling husband suggested just to add some neck darts to the back and that worked fine.
After really happy with the blue set I got started with the purple set. This time remembering the neckband alterations.
First up the purple polka-dot flannel for the pajama bottoms was slightly shorter than pattern pieces. But as it turns out it was the perfect length, because even after hemming them they fall at exactly the right place, much better than the blue.
In my stash, I had a small amount of purple ribbed jersey that matched very well with the purple flannel. Unfourrtantly I had a very limited amount of this jersey. So straight away I knew I’d have to hack some short sleeves for the top.
After cutting out the pieces, I then discovered that I didn’t have any at all left for the neckband. However, as luck would have it I did have some white jersey of the same weight and ribbing. Since the bottoms had white polka-dots, I thought adding a white neckband to the top would still match. To make the white jersey blend in more I also made cuffs for the short sleeves.
Most Worn Make
I never thought about making my own sleepwear. I’ve always been too busy making fun dresses to wear out and about. Having said that, now that I made these pajama sets I want to make all my pajamas from now on.
They are comfy, cozy, well made and most importantly me-made. I love coming home and changing into me-made pajamas, it just makes me smile.
No doubt these pajamas will probably be my most worn make of the year, as I wear them more often than anything I’ve ever made. I’ll wash them and then pull them out to wear again.
Have you made your own pajamas? What were your thoughts about them?
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