Thursday 24 February 2011

BurdaStyle 11-2009-143 boy's pyjamas

On my list of burdensome fabric, this one was very highly ranked. About 2 years ago my mother's friend gave me woven and knit camo prints, and some green ribbing that she had bought to make clothes for her son as a pre-teen. He is now about 20years old. I am glad I am not the only one with an aging stash! This fabric had instant appeal for my children, and my poor-sewing neglected son has been gently reminding me for about 12 months that he wants me to sew him something else from this fabric (He has grown out of his woven fabric camo trousers).
Finally I made him some pyjamas. These are from Burda Style 11-2009-143, which is the pattern for both parts of the pyjamas.

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My son has the width measurements for size 110 (5 years) and the height measurements for size 128 (8 years). The pattern did not have lines for size 110, so I used the width of the size 116, and the length of the size 128, thinking that pyjamas could afford to be a bit loose. As these are long sleeved pyjamas, even though made of t-shirt weight fabric, he will probably not be wearing them for a few months yet, so has a chance to fatten up a little.

The pattern calls for a satin star applique. Not having any satin to hand, other than some luscious purple that was rejected as "too girly". I used a sturdy cotton flannel for the applique. I think this will stand up better to washing than satin anyway.

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The pattern has a drawstring with elastic inside the ribbing waistband of the pyjama pants. It calls for metal eyelets for the drawstring, but thinking of both potential scratchiness and my trepidation regarding applying eyelets to super stretchy ribbing, I chose to use tiny buttonholes instead. This was a particularly good call, as somehow in a moment of inattention I applied the waistband inside out, and the eyelets right next to the skin would not be terribly comfortable, whereas now I can pretend that this is a deliberately designed concealed drawstring. You can see that I used a scrap of the knit for the drawstring. I hope this does not pull apart with use, but I could not find any matching tape.
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My son is extremely pleased with his pyjamas, although complaining mildly that they are rather baggy (I think this means he is growing out of all his other clothes and that they are too tight). This made me feel quite guilty about not sewing for him more often. However, he was scowling ferociously in all the photographs.
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Here he is just looking as if the applique has dubious girly tendencies.
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I assured him that it was very manly.
Big boy sewing is nearly as boring as man sewing. I am off to sew something frilly.

8 comments:

KID, MD said...

Cute (but in a manly way!)! Alas, it's true that big boy sewing is boring. And tedious. We must love our boys. ;)

Anonymous said...

But isn't it great to have your pain-in-the-butt fabric gone (or at least going)?

... that being said, I haven't yet been able to bring myself to make any pjs for my kids. Nor do I really see it coming. Still, that is an awesome use of questionable camo-print. Good for you!

kbenco said...

It is definitely good to have this fabric out of the stash. I have now used up the last skerricks of the knit- but there is still some equally questionable camo in the woven version. Sigh.

Mary Nanna said...

Cute - both PJ's and boy, in a manly way of course. I find it hard enough to use up my own stash let alone someone else's and I'm still smiling at your last post - the comment about everyday sewing not being considered domestic use. Actually I am a bit of a dither at the moment about what to make next. Sometimes just the right fabric with just the right pattern fail to appear, despite huge numbers of both loitering in my sewing room. I keep thinking "maybe this or maybe that" and then the voice of reason pipes up "maybe not."

Liz said...

They look great! And a good use of aging stash fabric. Which reminds me that I have plenty I bought years ago to make pj's for my kids. Oops!

I do have to say that boy sewing can be fun - I love sewing shorts for my boy, all the pockets and top stitching looks great.

Debra Martin said...

Great use of stashed fabric. The pjs look comfy and sufficiently masculine. And the facial expression in his picture is just adorable, too.

The Slapdash Sewist said...

You are a nice mom! And so great to use up stash fabric like that. Good on you!

Joy said...

Practical and great use of stash! And the dubious scowl is very cute.

I tried putting eyelets in ribbing recently. How long did they stay in? One fell out while I was putting the other in ): I guess it makes sense that, if the fabric stretches, so will the eyelet hole.