Yay my Pyjamas are done! You can read about me putting them together here.
Here's a couple of quick action shots of me wearing them.
They are sooo comfy, I like the loose fit, the long length and the not too tightness of the waist elastic (I detest it when trousers ride up to my waist as I go about my business)
Also, as per request from Karen, I'm still in the midst of reading Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories - Volume II.
I really enjoy this read. I really feel sad when I finish a book I really enjoy, so when I find one I really like I savour it and take as long as possible to finish it. Another book I'm slowly making my way through is Roald Dahl: Collected Short Stories. I really enjoy the interesting twists in these fantastic bite-sized stories. Just fantastic.
To finish I'd just like to say a big 'Thank You' to Karen of Did You Make That. This is such a fantastic idea for a Pyjama Part Sewalong and I really enjoyed it.
I hope you're relishing what you're reading at the moment.
V xo
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Pyjama Party Sewalong - Elastic Casing, Hemming, and Done!
When I last left you all I needed to do was sew the elastic casing and hem my pyjamas.
My plan was to do this during the week. In fact we even had a public holiday in the middle of this week, but alas, as it sometimes does, life got in the way and I lost my sewing mojo.
So in order to make sure I was on time with the Pyjama Party Sewalong I quickly sewed the last few bits this afternoon.
First off I with inspiration from the Pyjama Party Sewalong hostess Karen, I sewed a hanging loop for the back of my pyjamas.
2 inch strip of fabric |
folded RST |
sewn a 3/8 inch seam |
pinked the fabric fairly close to the stitch line |
turned the fabric tube RSO |
pressed and it's ready to install |
The (not) fun part of measuring and pinning the elastic casing and trouser hems came after that. While I was measuring, pinning and pressing I thought I may as well do it for both the waistband and trouser hems at the same time, it saved me having to go back and do the other.
Now I was ready to sew! Woo hoo!
I was pretty pumped to insert the elastic, it meant I was an little bit away from being done. Oooh Yeah!
to make sure the elastic didn't get lost in the casing I safety pinned one end to the inside near the opening I had left. I inserted the other end into my trusty (and sometimes frustrating) Clover Easy Loop Turner.
the elastic al ready to be threaded through the waistband elastic casing |
I threaded the elastic through, making sure not to twist it as I was moving it through the casing. Once the elastic had been threaded through the casing I safety pinned the two ends together and tried them on to see if there was too much slack in the elastic. There was a little so I readjusted my safety pinning to make the elastic a little shorter and that did the trick. Not too tight, so as to cut of circulation, but not too loose that I'd be worried my trousers would drop at any moment.
the elastic after I had fitted my trousers |
the elastic ends all fastened together and ready to keep my pyjama trousers from falling down :) |
the waistband elastic casing opening stitched closed |
Aaand then they were done! Oooh yeah! Sooooo great! In fact I'm wearing them now because there are sooooooooo comfortable.
Here are my jammies, done and done! |
the inside and the hanging loop |
the hanging loop in action - what a brilliant idea! |
And that's all she wrote! (well that's all I've written about my pyjama trousers anyway)
Hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labour!
V xo
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Pyjama Party Sewalong - Sewing the Crotch Seam
When I last left you I had two pyjama trouser legs ready to be joined together for as long as they both shall trouser.
So from here I had to turn one leg right side out (RSO) and insert it into the leg that was wrong side out (WSO) so that both trouser legs were RST. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? Check out my visual below.
So now when I held hold front and back of the crotch seam and spread it out I got a lovely bigsmiley crotch single crotch seam.
Now when I pinned together this seam I started by matching up the seams that had been created by each trouser leg.
I pinned on either side of the seams as I find this stops the seam allowances (SA) from moving around too much as I'm sewing over them.
After matching up the seams I pinned together the notches at both ends of the seam.
Then I just pinned at regular intervals along the crotch seam between the start and end, notch and trouser leg seam pinning I had already done.
Then I just s l o w l y sewed the curved seam.
Check my awesome seam crossover section. I'm pretty pleased with it.
I pressed the seam open by laying first the front and then the back over the pointy end of an ironing board.
To make the inside look nice and neat, and hopefully make my pyjama trousers snuggly-ness last heaps longer-er, I overlocked the seam allowances of the crotch seam.
While I had the overlocker out I thought I may as well do the waist and leg openings too (this is mainly because I'm a lazy bum and just wanted to put my overlocker away :) )
2 single pyjama legs aren't very useful |
So from here I had to turn one leg right side out (RSO) and insert it into the leg that was wrong side out (WSO) so that both trouser legs were RST. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? Check out my visual below.
1 - Turn one leg the right side out (RSO) |
2 - Insert the RWO leg into the other leg |
3 - The crotch seams should be matched up |
4 - Here you can see all the layers Now the legs are Right Sides Together |
So now when I held hold front and back of the crotch seam and spread it out I got a lovely big
matching crotch seams |
Now when I pinned together this seam I started by matching up the seams that had been created by each trouser leg.
matching leg seams |
I pinned on either side of the seams as I find this stops the seam allowances (SA) from moving around too much as I'm sewing over them.
securing the seam allowances from the leg seams matched up |
here you can see the back of the seam pinning |
After matching up the seams I pinned together the notches at both ends of the seam.
pinning notch seam clips |
Then I just pinned at regular intervals along the crotch seam between the start and end, notch and trouser leg seam pinning I had already done.
pinning on the crotch seam |
Then I just s l o w l y sewed the curved seam.
sewing over the pins - AGAIN! |
Check my awesome seam crossover section. I'm pretty pleased with it.
pant leg and crotch seam crossover. |
I pressed the seam open by laying first the front and then the back over the pointy end of an ironing board.
pressing the crotch seam open |
To make the inside look nice and neat, and hopefully make my pyjama trousers snuggly-ness last heaps longer-er, I overlocked the seam allowances of the crotch seam.
One side down, the other to go |
While I had the overlocker out I thought I may as well do the waist and leg openings too (this is mainly because I'm a lazy bum and just wanted to put my overlocker away :) )
overlocked waist opening |
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Pyjama Party Sewalong - Sewing Leg Seams
Sewing the inner leg seams is the easiest of the easy steps for these pyjama trousers. I folded each leg right sides together (RST), matched up my notch clips and pinned the sides.
my pinning and you can see the notch clip, pinned second from the left |
You can see where I forgot to kick out my seam. Oops! |
I'm naughty, I sew over my pins. Shhh don't tell! |
the newest member to my sewing team-Janome 8002DX I bought it a couple of months ago, but it's still new to me :) |
the different stitch lengths on either seam - strange! |
my pair of pyjama legs - Woohoo! |
I'll catch you later with some further progress soon!
Hope your doing something that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside (but please don't eat any wool!)
V xo
Monday, 16 April 2012
Pyjama Party Sewalong - Cutting Pyjama Fabric
On the weekend I thought I'd better cut out my pattern pieces for the Pyjama Sew along. That way I'd have a whole 2 weeks to take care of the sewing part.
I had already printed, assembled and cut the pattern for a previous project. I initially thought I'd cut a large, but then thought about it a little took my measurements again and looked at the finished measurements of the garment on the envelope and decided I wanted to cut an x-large, like I did for the other pants I made from this pattern.
So I setup my cutting table, which is just the dining table with everything cleared off :)
I laid out the fabric and place the pattern on top, but the very edges of the pattern went over the edge of the fabric. So I decided to cut along the large line on the font of the pants and the x-large for the back of the pant.
I had to snip the front centre seam line on the pattern to get close enough to cut the front out properly (my trusty paper-only scissors for snipping the pdf pattern).
Here is the back centre seam for the pants with my trusty pattern weights.
When it comes to notches, I don't actually cut little triangles. I Just snip into the seam allowance. Timesaving and effective. I don't remember exactly where I learnt it, but I think it's fine especially when working with a fabric that is less likely to fray like this one. I might over lock the seams on these pants anyway to give a cleaner look inside. I guess it depends on how quick I am to sew them up.
I cut the foot hole hem seam for the medium size, I think they'll still be a little long, but that's fine, I like dragging my hems on the floor in pants intended for homey winter wear anyway.
One thing I did learn from this exercise is that I should really buy more jumbo hardware washers for paperweights.
Depending on how I feel about the final produce I might add patch pockets with the excess fabric, just because I can :)
That's all for now folks.
Have you cut anything out recently? What are you working on at the moment?
V xo
I had already printed, assembled and cut the pattern for a previous project. I initially thought I'd cut a large, but then thought about it a little took my measurements again and looked at the finished measurements of the garment on the envelope and decided I wanted to cut an x-large, like I did for the other pants I made from this pattern.
So I setup my cutting table, which is just the dining table with everything cleared off :)
my expertly prepared cutting space :) |
I laid out the fabric and place the pattern on top, but the very edges of the pattern went over the edge of the fabric. So I decided to cut along the large line on the font of the pants and the x-large for the back of the pant.
I had to snip the front centre seam line on the pattern to get close enough to cut the front out properly (my trusty paper-only scissors for snipping the pdf pattern).
snips in the front centre seam line |
Here is the back centre seam for the pants with my trusty pattern weights.
back centre seam line held down with pattern weights |
notch snips instead of triangles |
hem of my pyjama trousers/pants - I'm holding up the folded part of the pattern |
Depending on how I feel about the final produce I might add patch pockets with the excess fabric, just because I can :)
That's all for now folks.
Have you cut anything out recently? What are you working on at the moment?
V xo
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