Do You Want to See My New Nightgown?

Yeah, I knew you did.  That tantalizing glimpse of the flannel I gave you yesterday only whetted your interest, didn't it?  Oh, did you notice that the fabric was busy enough that it will hide spots (not that I ever get spots on my clothes...ever).

Well, here it is:

Isn't it pretty?  I just love it.  It is long enough and it is girly enough and it is NOT plaid and it IS flannel, so it will be warm.  (Can you tell I'm tall?...I had to hang it in a doorway so I could get the whole nightgown in the picture.)

I added this eyelet to the sleeves and the hem.

I didn't add the eyelet to the neck because I don't like a bunch of stuff at my neck when I'm sleeping.

 I couldn't find a nightgown pattern that I liked.  They all had busy bodices with buttons and lace and panels (which means seams across your chest).  I did, however, find this Halloween costume.  I ended up using McCall's M2337.

 Look at the black pilgrim dress and the blue prairie dress.  I added the elastic and lace to the sleeves the way the "B" view shows, but I kept the neckline and bottom simple, the way the "A" view illustrates.  Since I didn't add the ruffled band at the bottom of the dress, I went ahead and added eyelet at the very bottom of the gown.  The pattern is super easy to use and easy to assemble, but I didn't follow the instructions.   (I never like the order they want you to put your pattern pieces together...it seems backwards to me.) 

A Quick (I swear!) Sewing Project.

Buttercup and I like nightgowns.

Buttercup and I get cold in the winter in nightgowns. (Okay, more me than her, but still...she's cold more than the boys!) Our first three winters here in Eastern Washington, we glammed it up by throwing an over-sized sweatshirt over our nightgowns...it was a "look", let me tell you. This year, I got creative with...wait for it...an old, cute flat sheet and sweatshirts! Yes, I made us nightgowns that keep us warm and (for me are actually long enough) out of a sheet and two sweatshirts. (Look, if you're not tall, you have no idea how much tall girls dream of nightgowns that don't hit us mid-shin...or at the bottom of our knees! Trust me on this, this is a big deal!) This project cost me roughly $12 for two nightgowns! (Sweatshirts were $5 each, the trim was roughly $2 and I had the sheet!)

Here is what you do...

Cut your sweatshirts off below the arm holes, but don't forget sweatshirts (especially the inexpensive ones) shrink up a lot and allow for that. We were going for an empire waist, so we measured about three inches below the armpit.

Then measure the circumference of the sweatshirt bottom and double it--that is how wide you need to make the skirt fabric. Then measure from below your chest to the floor and the is how long you need your skirt fabric to me.

Sew two basting lines - low tension, big stitches - (careful to not cross) across the width of your skirt fabric, one half inch below the top of the fabric...using the basting stitches you work the fabric to be gathered enough that it is now the circumference of the sweatshirt. After you've gathered the materials so that you have a width equal to the circumference of the sweatshirt, sew the skirt into a tube from top to bottom.

Now, you can just attach the sweatshirt to the skirt, or you can get all trick like I did and add contrasting piping first. After that, you just hem it and you're done.

Still not haute couture, but we're warm!

What do you think?