Speedy Christmas Pyjamas

 I couldn't resist these cute Christmas knit prints that were on sale at RubyJam recently

1m of each is enough for a short sleeved T-shirt (Oliver + S School bus tee) and a pair of pull on shorts (Oliver + S playtime leggings) - and should somebody have a Christmas season baby there's probably enough leftover for a novelty romper!

The ribbings were whatever colour there was enough of in the fabric stash. By putting ribbed cuffs everywhere instead of hems, they're super quick to sew. Not even sew to be honest - bang out on the overlocker is a more fitting description.

Both kids got size 12 (cause it was traced off and ready to go) for top and bottoms with just adjustments for their preferred leg/sleeve length.

Quick and cute and Christmas ready.

Pyjama time: episode one

Between sewing these pyjamas and getting around to blogging about them (and fixing all those broken image links on my blog - grrr Blogger), I've already made some others. But that will be episode 2.

My kids both love knit pyjamas and P is still wearing some very short and tight merino knit thermals that I made years ago... It was time for more.

I bought these fabrics from Nerida Hansen when they had a sale on some seconds quality cotton knits.

I only bought a metre of each fabric as I hadn't had a plan for them at that stage. Then the kids started loudly demanding winter pyjamas and so that became the plan.

The quality is really lovely. With these two prints I can't work out what it was that made them seconds, however the one other print I bought has a very slight dye run mark that repeats. It's barely noticeable.

The pterodactyls are awesome. It's hard to find good non floral prints for boys that aren't diggers and toy trucks and too childish. Pterodactyls wearing sunglasses and singlets makes a really cool design!

Hers is a May Gibbs design and is lovely with little flowering gumnuts amongst the native Australian floral background.

Both kids are actually wearing the same pattern sin the same size with just alterations in length:
It's the Oliver + S School Bus T for the top in size 12 for both of them, with about 15cm added to the sleeve length for monkey-boy (and then the cuffs as well. Yep, seriously!)

The leggings are the Oliver + S Playtime leggings also in size. The length was cut to make use of the remaining fabric (no scraps left behind) but then A insisted hers should be shorter, like gym shorts.

The ribbing I had in the stash and I wrote a blog post ages ago showing how to turn these two patterns into pyjamas using cuffs. You can find it here.

Quick and easy to sew and in soft, good quality cotton knit they're a delight. Only 1 metre each and they're very affordable too.

The kids were trying to recreate an old photo that I still have as the screensaver on my phone. Let me find it....(November 2016 - and yes they still wear those pyjamas in summer. Honestly, they're the best value things to make for kids!)

Details:

Patterns: Oliver + S School bus T and Oliver + S Playtime leggings

Size: 12, both kids - with sleeve and pant length modifications;

Cuff modifications to make them more pyjama-y

fabrics: Nerida Hansen knit

Book Week and Bits 'n' Bobs

Last week the kids had their annual Book Week with the parade that involves dressing up as a book character.

Now, as you may already know I'm not one for passing up a chance to make a costume, and I'm absolutely fanatical about books, more books, great books and reading. This year I was pretty busy and so the costumes were kept simple, but we stuck with the reading theme (no superhero characters that happen to have a merchandise colouring book tie-in will get past me as book characters. No sir.).

Marisa recently posted a lovely dress for her daughter on her blog, ThirtyNine, and in the comments section a discussion of books for reading aloud to kids kicked off. The conversation continued via email between Inder, Rachel, Marisa and I, and I'm happy to say I've found quite a few new recommendations for books to read. Coming from different parts of the world we all have very different experiences of being read to and which books floated our boats back then, and which still do now.

One that I recently saw on a shelf in a bookshop is The Phantom Tollbooth (by Norton Juster). It looked vaguely familiar and when I picked it up and read the dust jacket it all came back to me. This was a book from my childhood. The main protagonist is called Milo, and as that's my nephew's name I instantly bought it.

Well, once the kids and I had read it together we were never going to give it away. So, I bought another copy for Milo, whose birthday was last month and posted it off, along with another outgrown coat (his biennial sewing gift :) ).

In the story Milo travels to two cities, Dictionopolis and Digitopolis in search of twin princesses, Rhyme and Reason. It's full of verbal puns and number games and I often had to show the kids the writing on the page for them to get the joke.

The best joke of all was my son wanting to dress up for book week as Tock the Watchdog....

For Tock is a Watch Dog, whose job it is to make sure that time is valued and appreciated. When he first encounters Milo and asks what he is doing, Milo offhandedly replies that he is killing time and Tock becomes apoplectic (and his alarm goes off)

“It's bad enough wasting time without killing it.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Well there is no greater time waster than my nine year old boy, so, loving the irony we went ahead with a costume.

The grey tracksuit that was first an elephant, then a mole, and is in regular use as pyjamas, could serve duty as a dog suit. Luckily, I had kept these small and probably otherwise useless remnants of the same fabric, and from that came a hood with ears, and a tail.

The hood is the largest size of the Cozy Bear Hood from Little Things To Sew, just with some ear modifications. The tail was just a tube closed at one end, turned and stuffed then attached to waistband elastic.

Cozy Bear Hoods - bear style

I was very happy that A was willing to not dress up as a character, but to wear a T-shirt that my brother had given her for Christmas last year. It cracks me up.

"Read or Die"

And to get in the right frame of mind she practised her "Read or Die" laser eye death stare on our new pet dog.

Her pants are the one sthat I made back in early July and which have been worn a lot but not yet been documented....

On an afternoon off work I went through my wardrobe and did a big clean out of things that didn't fit, that I didn't like or just that never got worn. I was never going  to repurpose fabric, I have to much to be bothered with that and most of the garments might be perfectly OK for somebody else. So a lot of it went to the charity shop. The only thing that was chopped up was this trial run of a dress, as I knew the skirt portion would be perfect for jeggings.

I used the Oliver + S Playtime Leggings as the base pattern, size 6 maybe? I forget. Anyway I didn't have enough fabric length for the full leg, so I added a cuff at the bottom.

At the top I decided I wanted pockets, so I used the pockets from the After School Pants pattern in whatever size I had drafted, maybe size 4?  The way the Playtime leggings are constructed is that the top of the waist is folded to the inside to make the waistband casing. That wouldn't work with my  additional pockets, so I added a waistband of ribbing.

Which, had I thought about it, meant I didn't need a good few inches of height at the top of the pattern and could have moved them on the fabric and got the hem length afterall. Anyway, I like the cuffs, so lets call them a design feature. I took some off the top but with the added waistband they are still higher rise than the pattern intends.

It doesn't show well in these pictures but I used the twin needle to double topstitch all the "jeans" seams. That way the seams still stretched. They've turned out to be very practical pants and dressed up with a fancy coat they look ok!

With Book Week done for the year it must soon be time to start thinking about Italian Day...

My friend Morag has put in a request for last year's outfits to appear on the blog (previously only on Instagram). So here's what you can do with two sombreros, a plastic laundry basket and some cardboard - why you can make it into a flask of Chianti Classico and a round of Parmiggiano cheese!

Snow play time!

Back at the start of June we found ourselves with a free weekend, which is a rarity, and it happened to be the opening of the "snow season".... So we went to the snow, or at least what there was of it.

Northern hemispere blog readers might find this hilarious, but we had a great time tobagganing on the swimming pool sized patch of man made snow. At least we did until midday when it had turned into the consistency of a 7-Eleven slushie, and parents were seen dragging their kids down the tobogganing slope.

While we might not have serious winter snow falls I was still going to make sure the kids were warm and comfy for their snow play. So, I hit up the fabric stash for the cuts of merino jersey I always buy when it's on sale at The Fabric Store.

P got leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt made form an olive green merino jersey I'd previously used here, and an almost-co-ordinating stripe used for his own jumper here, and some electric blue leftovers that date way, way back. The sleeve piecing was due to fabric shortage.

Patterns are Oliver + S Field Trip Raglan T-shirt and Playtime leggings. Both size 8 but lengthened by virtue of adding cuffs.

I didn't make any notes of measurements. Neither did I bother with stripe matching. Nor did I care at all about the construction techniques. These were banged out fast on the overlocker in order to do the job and make the deadline.

And then A got exactly the same. Size 6, I think. Also entirely leftover fabrics: Leafy brown dress here, pink deer skivvy here and cuffs from another of my skivvies in the earlier post link.

We hired snow suits, snow boots and a toboggan each for the kids and kitted them out in some super warm alpaca socks from Creswick Wool Mills. Perfectly toasty warm and dry for playing in the snow.

Neither of them had gloves, and since the bike commutes to school are getting pretty nippy on the fingers I decided to knock out a couple more pairs of mittens.

The pattern is from Little Things To Sew. I used some of the amazing double sided bonded, windproof fleece that I'd bought for school vests and only used once before, here. It's fun to be able to swap the fabric sides for red on blue, or blue on red.

Each pair of mittens was lined by creating another pair of mittens from the scraps of merino jersey. Then, instead of an external casing for the elastic I sewed a channel of both inner and outer mitten, threaded the elastic in, then closed the channel. The wrist edge of the glove is then finished with quilting cotton bias binding.

Here's the lining mittens pulled out to show. The jersey is so stretchy compared to the windproof fleece that the lining mittens are probably a bit big and wrinkly. I'd also enlarge the thumb piece if I was doing this again as that seems to be the smallest part, especially when doubled up.

I did point out to the kids that the mittens would not be waterproof, but of course they dragged their hands in the snow and got them soaking wet, then complained. Still, now that they're clean and dry, they're in steady use for the commute to school.

...and the thermals? Well they're turning out to be both kids preferred pajamas. Makes sense as the bedrooms in our house are about as cold as that snowfield was!

Which brings me to that inversely proportional law of enthusiasm about a sewing project. You know, the more you care for something, the less they like it. Well, it turns out the most useful things are those that sit right in the middle of the graph. No-one is overly enthusiastic: they're not that exciting to make; they're not what you're going to choose to wear to the school disco. But gee if they're not the most useful clothes of all.

For me, I was just delighted to be able to dig out my old gear and use that all over again. But you can see I did have my matching olive-green merino skivvy underneath.

Summer Pyjamas and a Christmas Giveaway

Hello! I'm over on the Oliver + S blog today with a super simple idea for turning some great knit patterns into pyjamas.

 

The idea came about to use the Oliver + S School Bus T-Shirt and Playtime Leggings patterns to make pyjamas. Now there's nothing overly original in that, but in case you thought you needed a dedicated knit pyjamas pattern, I'm here to show you that you don't! Click the link above for the Oliver + S blog post.

My kids love wearing pyjamas made from stretch fabric - their Tron pyjamas are all time favourites, and so I thought it was time for some summer versions.

We'll start with P, 'cause you've just seen Flipper expertly modelling that same awesome Pacman fabric. Now check out the boy's moves... :)

Oh, and he's decided this one is his "signature move" (oh for goodness sake)

His are straight size 8 short sleeved School Bus tee and arbitrarily shortened size 8 Playtime leggings. The cuffs are 1 and 3/4 inches deep.

I had just enough of this fabulously fun Lillestoff knit for A's summer pyjamas and she wasn't going to be left out of the wacky poses game:

Hers are size 5 with the T-shirt hem length at size 6 length. I probably left the legs a bit too long, but hopefully they'll fit for a while like this.

So that was easy, quick and cute, but it didn't really convey the Christmas winter pyjama vibe that was the brief for the Oliver + S blog. Even though we have Christmas in the middle of summer, I kind of wanted to make some long sleeved, long legged pyjamas with a "holiday season" feel. Since joining the online sewing community I've learned of this idea of sewing a new pair of pyjamas for the kids for Christmas. Often they're very Christmassy fabrics and sometimes with a whole matching family of kids. Something that can ONLY be done with pyjamas in my book! :)

Off to Spotlight to see what they had on the knit table...

They actually have some really great looking knits there now. A lot of them look oddly similar to some of the "designer" knits that one might see on the interwebs. There were quite a few that would make gorgeous gender specific winter pyjamas but I fell hard for this faux cross stitched pattern.

Add in that it is delightfully soft and not too thin and I knew I had my Christmas in winter pyjama fabric. 

The drawstring bag from Little Things To Sew is the perfect storage or gift bag to put a pair of Christmas pyjamas into. I already had the pattern pieces drafted (I've made the whole book, you see) and the scraps bucket yielded exactly the right navy and burgundy as well as some leftover embroidery thread.

My "make one extra pair just to be on theme" project was starting to get a bit elaborate. Of course it was! 

I used DMC waste canvas to set out the cross stitch pattern and spent one lovely long evening on the couch stitching away. That stuff is so cool. Watching it dissolve and leave your stitching behind is like magic.

So there they are: One pair of size 5 winter knit Christmas pyjamas and a gift bag. Now they're of no use to us, so I had planned all along to share a bit of Christmas love and post them off to anyone who has an appropriately sized kid and who anticipates a Christmas without bush fires and heatwaves.

If you are a Christmas pyjama sewist and as bad as I am at planning ahead and allocating enough time for your projects then I strongly recommend going down the knit pyjama path. As much as I love a special pair of button up pyjamas they are a serious time drain when it comes to sewing hours.

Here's the body measurements from Oliver + S for size 5:

Chest:   23 1/2"         60cm
Waist    22"               56cm
Hip       25 1/2"         65cm
Height  42-45"          107-114cm
Weight  39-44 lbs     18-20kg

If you have, or know of, a little northern hemisphere tacker who might like these for Christmas then throw your hat in the ring by using the Gleam widget below. I'm happy to post them to anyone, anywhere in the world, in order for them to be worn and loved.

Christmas Pyjama Giveaway
 
Leave me a comment (don't forget an email address if you comment anonymously). As a suggestion for a comment, how about a short tale of your most last-minute, over-done holiday project.

Here's mine:
When I was first dating my husband, my sister-in-law decided that the colour theme for the Christmas table was to be "burnt orange' and I was to provide the crackers. Well of course burnt-orange crackers didn't exist, and after much hunting, I ended up staying up late, carefully covering dark silver crackers in a layer of orange cellophane and then retying the ribbons. The next day the table setting looked fantastic and my on theme crackers were much admired.
The time came to crack our crackers and I was introduced to how the sister in law's family did it which was to cross arms and form a giant circle around the table with a cracker end in each hand.
Then everyone just gently leaned back...
And nothing happened...
Cellophane is seriously strong stuff.
To break those suckers required two people pairing off in the centre of the room and performing what looked like an inverse Sumo wrestling match.
Personally I thought that was a lot more fun.

More Autumn basics and GIVEAWAY winner announced

The mornings have become quite Autumn crisp, the skies are blue and it's just perfect weather for cycling.

Oh, and perfect weather for leggings. The last lot were getting a bit tight so I whipped up more Oliver + S Playtime leggings for A. This time in size 3 with size 4 length. Perfect!

They've all been worn and washed quite a few times each over the last couple of weeks. Curiously, the pale mint ones on the far right have shrunk further and are now only just long enough compared to all the others.

To go over the top, and since she loved the last one so much, I made another one of these tiered skirts from this Japanese pattern book. Nothing better than easy do-it-yourself dressing on cool Autumn mornings.

Now, courtesy of my losing track of my pattern stocktake, here's the winner of the Garden Party dress pattern!

Blog birthday pattern giveaway

Congratulations Brittney. I'll email you for your postal address and then post it off.

Speaking of posting things, this dress is about to go off to northern England to live, and this one recently departed for Tasmania. I have a limited number of local recipients for outgrown girl's clothes. Heavily worn or the occasional store bought garments go to goodwill, but there are some special Oliver + S clothes for which it seems only right to offer up to other Oliver +S enthusiasts. It's fun imagining them being enjoyed all over again. What do you do with your outgrown sewn clothes?

KCW Spring (Autumn!) 2014: Day 7

Here we are at the end of the week and I'm delighted to say I managed some daylight sewing today (for only the second time this week) and finished off my last project....

 

...which is brought to us courtesy of my stalker! Somehow she has found out where I live (oh that's right I gave her my address to post the Japanese pattern book to) and has studied me enough to know what kind of fabric I'd take home from a Clear It store. So, being the lovely stalker that she is, she posted me a package of fabric!

 

And I made an Apple Picking Dress, a Flashback Skinny T and another, final pair of Playtime leggings.

 

The dress fabric is a thin, synthetic woven with a tiny self rib almost like rip-stop nylon. I've no idea what it is, but even a brand new, sharp needle had to punch through to make a hole. It was also insanely resistant to pins which is less surprising as my pins are all appallingly old, bent and abused. While it appears to be a flimsy, pretty dress I am happy in the knowledge that my daughter will be very well protected by any attacks from rampaging porcupines!

 

Because it was thin (albeit tough) fabric I decided on full undergarments using the mystery brown knit fabric that was also in the package.

 

 

The knit is quite thin compared to my cotton lycra, has a slightly shiny underside, but is wonderfully soft, super stretchy and deliciously brown. Thanks J Wo for both fabrics, I love them!

 

That was the end to today's photo shoot, as the native grass she's holding is known, at our house, as tickle grass and there was a big brother to chase after and tickle.

 

tickle grass securely attached to handlebars and off she goes!

And the end of my Kid's Clothes Week. I'll take a few on-the-hanger pictures and do a round up post in a day or two. We played "favourites" this evening at the dinner table. A declared her favourite was the brown leaf dress, P's favourite was the Playtime dress "cause it was so funny that she couldn't find the pockets for ages and ages", Flipper looked blankly and said nothing, and I think this one might be my favourite.

 

So now that my favourite little girl is well dressed I'll have to do something about my favourite little boy. But not for a week or two perhaps!

 

 



KCW Spring (Autumn!) 2014: Days 5&6

After making so many pairs of Playtime leggings it was time to make the dress!

I'd read in the Oliver + S forums that the dress tends to run a bit large, so I chose a size 2 width with size 3 length. The fabric is a stretch cotton poplin from The Fabric Store.

The dress has a really cute faux collar done with topstitching. I used Heidi's trick (seen here) and used two threads through the same needle to get enough oomph for the topstitching.

The topstitching continues around the back and down the placket:

And the in-seam pockets are also outlined with topstitching.

What pockets Mum? I can't find them!

Oh, there they are!

Found them!! Look mum!

Perhaps inseam pockets on a three-year-old's dress aren't such a good idea after all!

My casual approach to fabric cutting has continued (those Weekend Getaway blouses bled me of all cutting patience) and I realised after cutting this dress that the little flowers are probably upside down. Unless of course they're hanging from a vine. That would do as an answer should the kids pick up on my error.

Odd that the only dress this week not to get a matching pair of Playtime leggings was the Playtime dress itself. But it does get a matching cardigan:

This is pattern "j" from Let's Go Out Girl's Clothes. I found the fabric by chance as I walked past a big, city fabric store that was closing down and everything was half price. I didn't know what the fabric was and it was a bit thin for this jacket. It was priced at $30/metre and felt like wool, I guessed the price probably suggested wool. I bought one metre for $15 and then went home and threw it in the wash. That confirmed it was definitely wool as it came out of the wash half the size and twice as thick! It wasn't intentional, I'm just a very lazy laundry person and so I pre-treat fabrics as I intend to treat them for the rest of their lives (which can be very short obviously!). Anyway, now it was perfectly thick for a little jacket!

The pattern is super simple; a set in sleeve, and then the binding around the neckline that becomes the ties. The pattern showed a neat illustration for sewing a gathering stitch inside the front curved seam allowance to help turn the hem nicely. This could be my first "miss' of the week as it was worn happily for pictures but then taken off. The dress however, was declared to be "perfect for a ballet mum to take her ballet kids to ballet school"

...and off she went with a Puffin and a Pig in a pram!