Harriet’s Ultimate Pyjamas
And this month is no exception! Here goes, I’m not about to break my post-writing traditions for the last month of the year!
When I think ‘Winter Warmers’, I imagine sitting huddled in traditional-style tartan pyjamas and a huge blanket in front of an iconic Christmas film, hot chocolate topped with cream and marshmallows warming my hands while the tree twinkled away in the corner. The only thing that I didn’t have to complete this perfect picture in real life was the tartan pyjamas. Enter Hayley, my saviour.
The fabrics in this month’s box are (are you ready for this statement?) probably my favourites yet. The brushed cotton of the tartan is gorgeous and feels super duper soft, and all of the fabric quarters are To. Die. For. I mean, white and gold? So up my street!
Naturally, I had to go with my ‘winter warmers’ vision. I toyed with the idea of making a snazzy little pinafore, but I’ve never made myself pyjamas – and when would I ever find a fabric this perfect for snuggling up in again? I already had the Sew Over It Ultimate Pyjamas in my pattern stash, so decided to go right ahead with those.
The pattern is only for the pyjama bottoms, and is a really simple make. I whipped them up in just a few hours, with not one single problem! The bottoms are meant to sit on your hips from what I could see, but personally I’m much more comfortable having things at waist height. Once I’d sewn everything up to the point of inserting the elastic around the waistband, I tried them on to make sure that there was enough depth in the crotch seam for me to pull them right up to my waist. This wasn’t really wholly necessary; I knew from the measurements on the pattern that the smallest size would still be too long for me, but it’s always best to check anyway! I cut the elastic and popped it through the waistband no problem, and voilà, the high-waisted pyjama bottoms were born!
Now, in my vision (I know I keep talking about it, just go with me here) it wasn’t just the tartan pyjama bottoms, I had the whole lot going on. I had enough of the main fabric left to make that dream come true. Instead of going for a more traditional pyjama shirt with a notched collar and buttons, I decided to go for a simple top that wouldn’t take me hours to make and that wouldn’t actually be seen by anyone because I’d only ever wear it to bed. Instead, I landed on the Stylish Shell Top pattern by Simple Sew. I hadn’t used this pattern before, but thought that it might be a really great choice for the tartan that I had left, as well as a particularly fabulous way to incorporate one of the fat quarters, which I felt really needed to be in the limelight!
As with the PJ bottoms, I used the brushed side of the fabric as the wrong side, so that the delightfully soft surface would be what was against my body. This was something that I forgot about a couple of times during the making process and resulted in quite a bit of unpicking in the end! The version of the Shell Top that I made uses two different fabrics; one for the main part for the front and back bodices, and a second for the sleeves and front and back yokes. I used the tartan for the squares of the front and back, as they make up the bigger portion of the top and I wanted it to be nice and warm! I opted for the fat quarters with the gold stars – most apt for night time, I thought. The fat quarters do need to be pre-washed because the gold makes the cotton a little bit stiff, but I ran them under the hot tap rather than a full-on wash in the machine.
The top went without a hitch, and is one that I’d recommend to complete any set of pyjamas – it’s really quick and is a great scrap buster!