Finally succumbing to the lure of pyjamas

I have always professed to have little to no interest in pyjamas or loungewear, so although they look great, those comfy hoodie, jogger and pyjama sewing patterns have never been on my sewing list. It took an almighty convergence of circumstances (and fabric) to bring handmade PJs into my life, but I’m sold, friends. Fully sold. Who knew pyjamas were so awesome? 

So what are these circumstances that brought round a complete 180? Firstly, the pattern. For the last couple of months I’ve been working with The Avid Seamstress. As part of the content creation I’ve been doing for them, I made a pair of The Pyjama Bottoms (which featured on The Craft Store, eep!), so the pattern was sent to me. I honestly don’t think I would have made a pyjamas sewing pattern any other way; it literally had to make its own way to me and place itself in my hands. 

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And the fabric? Another fluke. A few months ago I bought some cotton lawn from Shaukat to make a dressing gown for my step mum who was recovering from surgery. I ordered a pink colourway for her, and the same print in yellow for myself. When the fabric arrived the pink didn’t look quite right for her, so I used the yellow to make her gown. This left me with 4 metres of gorgeous but kind-of-unwanted pink fabric. Ah. Quite the pickle. 

However, combine these two: the pattern and the fabric that fate brought to me, and we have…THE ULTIMATE PYJAMAS. 

The Pyjama Bottoms from The Avid Seamstress is a perfect beginner’s sewing pattern. The steps are really clearly explained and illustrated, and there’s even a whole guide to sewing at the beginning of the instruction booklet. For dipping my toe in the pyjamas water (weird metaphor, but let’s roll with it) I opted to make shorts instead of trousers. To do this, I simply held the pattern piece up to myself and drew a line at where I wanted them to sit. I also added a couple of centimetres to the width of the hem to give a bit of wiggle room, and a little turn up detail. 

For the top, I used the Ogden cami from True Bias. I normally take the sides in by a few centimetres as it’s quite a wide cut, but as comfort is key here, I kept the full width. It’s tricky to tell the front from the back so I also added in a little label from Kylie and the Machine, which always makes me smile. 

I’m really surprised at how much I LOVE these pyjamas; my family basically did a double take when they saw me wearing them as I’ve never been a pyjamas person until now! I’d always underestimated the satisfaction that comes from making something really comfy to relax and unwind in, but come 6pm each day I’m slipping into these bad boys. Luckily I have enough fabric left to make full length pyjama bottoms too, so you can bet your last finger of KitKat they will be the next garment in my home-sewn pyjamas collection.