::Sewing:: Pj trousers for Pyjama Party '13

I've been wistfully reading along with Karen's Pyjama Party Tofino Style posts.
I wasn't going to play along even though I'd already bought some lovely flannel to make a pair of pyjama trousers as the ones I made last year get so much wear in winter.

I really wanted to buy Sewaholic's Tofino pattern when it first came out, but couldn't justify it. I really like this version from Suzy Bee Sews with pocket built onto the side panel. POCKETS! You know how I feel about pockets :) The tutorial for how she added pockets is here.

So I thought I'd sit out for this pyjama party and play along at my own pace. But...after seeing all the posts about pyjamas in the blogosphere after the pyjama party launch I couldn't not join in.

So last night I laid out my fabric on a freshly vacuumed carpet and cut out the pattern I used for the last pyjama party. (Note to self: cutting fabric on carpet is dumb!) Snip, snip!

I chain sewed the inner leg seam (there's only one leg seam on each leg. Totes awesome if you need to whip up some pyjama trousers in a jiffy). Zoom, zoom!

I chain overlocked the leg seams.  Brrrm, brrrm.

I did the same for the crotch seam. Zoom, brrrm!

When I went to try them on. I stopped. Which way was the back? I'd overlocked the crotch seam without thinking to mark the back (or front for that matter) in an obvious way. Gah!

I took my pattern out again and compared the shape of the crotch curves and decided which way was the back and stuck a safety pin in the back seam allowance to mark the back. (I'm pretty sure I've made that mistake every single time I've used this pattern. Derp!)

This is the back Vanessa. The Back!

I tried them on and they fit like a dream through the leg. I marked where I wanted the waist top to be folded over and pressed. (To make my pants sit level I needed to remove more from the front than the back. Hmmm interesting. The signs of the need for Full Butt Adjustment/Swayback Adjustment me thinks.)

Woohoo! Halfway there! All I had to do was to elasticise the waist and hem the bottom. It was getting on in the evening and I had to get some sleep.

This morning I was laying in bed pondering about how I was going to attach the elastic in when I remembered this post from Sarah at Sew Squirrel which led me to Melissa's fehr trade post.

Overlocked and tricot stitched waistband.

Using only the LH needle I overlocked the elastic to the WS of the waist. I aimed the elastic to the marker for the RH needles so that it wouldn't get chopped up by the blade. Then I turned it down on the WS and tricot stitched it down. No twisty elastic for me HAH!

If I were to do this method again I would overlock the waistband to the RS of the waistband then turn in to the wrong side and then turn it under again (does that make sense?) That way the elastic would be completely concealed. It may create a bit of bulk, but with pyjamas, it's probably not that big a deal. (Or maybe flatlocking could help reduce bulk. Hmmm.)

Anyway, I wanted to take pictures in natural light so this morning after I'd attached the waistband I took a couple of piccies. One of the few times when the only full length mirror in the house happens to be the mirrored wardrobe doors in your bedroom :)

Bounce!

Finally, these evening I hemmed my pyjamas and I'm wearing them RIGHT NOW! And they are lovely and flannely and cozy and lovely. And I'm sooo glad I made them! And that my friends is how you go from 'Nah, I'll sit this one out' to 'Hey, hey! I've made pyjamas too!' in 48 hours :)

So now that I'm finished I'm gonna link my red fabric with white star clad butt up on Karen's Pyjama Party Launch post.

Until next time, I hope your getting involved with things that make you cozy.
Vanessa xoxo