Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Sewing Results...using my Serger

Remember when I told you last week that I made six pairs of pajama pants? Well, I thought you'd like to see some of the results. (Charming's pajama pants are already with him, so I can't show them to you, but these are the other ones!)

I found some absolutely adorable fabric for each of us: Frogs on Camo for Valiant (not too babyish), Silly Monkeys on Aqua for Buttercup (fun without being too girly), and Sheep on Baby Blue for me (something to count when I have insomnia?).

I did a few things differently this time, as I am trying to improve my skills. After seeing a blog post at Prudent Baby on using a serger to do neat things (Jaime even did a video to make sure it was clear!), I decided to try some fancy stuff (fancy for me, the still-a-novice seamstress). First, I used the serger to make a waist band by folding over the waistband and creating a channel for the elastic. (I used the technique she used to make the "finished" hem at the end of her video...my folds were just big enough to create the channel for my elastic.) This is a departure from what I normally do, which is roll my fabric twice, sew the "hem" and then struggle to get the elastic in the channel created by hemming the waist.

For the girl pajamas, I added two openings with my button holer and used grosgrain ribbon for the tie. See? Here are the button holes before I opened them.

Then here is a pair with the ribbon tie at the waist band. Yeah, I know the ribbon won't hold up well, but I thought it was a pretty touch and I can always use the extra fabric I have to sew ties that match...or I can add elastic and sew a bow in place where the button holes are.


Finally, as flannel shrinks so much, I left the legs of the pajama pants unfinished except for a rolled hem stitch. When they've been washed and dried a number of times, I'll go ahead and sew a proper hem. In the meantime, the edges won't fray in the wash and everything still looks neat.

If you're interested, I used McCall's Easy Stitch n Save #3006 for the adult pajama pants (basically all the pants, but Buttercup's) and for Buttercup's I used Simplicity It's So Easy #4039 (sizes 7-16). This is the last time I'll be able to use this pattern for her...does anyone want it? I'll put it in the mail to you if you'd like.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow so ambitious!! I love the froggy print.. and oooo they look so comfy!! That would just make my boys just jump up and down singing!! jejeje

Andrea @ The Train To Crazy said...

Sergers really can take so much time off sewing, especially if you don't mind leaving serged edges visible! Love all the fabrics. I was just putting away flannel sheets for the winter and thinking I should make next year's PJs out of them because I'd really like new sheets :) I like the bow idea. I guess you could thread the ribbon all the way through the casing too so that it is a draw string closure. Good idea.

Anonymous said...

I think you need to start you own pajama bottom business. Could you prewash the material to keep it from shrinking so much once they were made? We use fleece with our guinea pigs and I prewash it first. It still shrinks some because it has to be washed in hot to get rid of the smells, but I doubt your kids are going to be making a mess like that in their PJs, or wearing them for a full week. LOL

Tootsie said...

good job!!!

Earth Friendly Momma said...

Aww this is really enat. I need to get back on my sewing too...I am blogging too much my eyes are hurting.

Anonymous said...

I think they look fantastic!

Antonia said...

Oh my goodness. I sewed myself a pair of pajama pants a few weeks ago out of that exact same sheep fabric! I guess we match :)

loveaphid said...

I love my pair of sheepy PJ's So cozy and comfy. Thank you so much again!