Pa-jam-huzzah!

I wrote the title of this one as pa-jam-as for the simple reason that at certain points during this morning's project If felt like I needed to pause, then jam right along and then went Huzzah when I finished. Think The Patriot for the pronunciation of the last one.

Essentially, I decided to actually make something for myself this morning. To be frank, it goes along with something for Mr. Fiance but since he's sitting right next to me playing Halo I'm trying not to say too much. Back to my point, I actually made something for myself. It was a first for me in the sense that I had never made clothing before and also because I have not made something for myself in many many months.

So my pajamas... well, you would be able to tell from far away that they are unique. One pant leg is shorter than the other, the waist band looks funny. However, given the fact that this was my first second attempt at making pajamas (the first being for Mr. Fiance), I feel pretty good about them. I am looking forward to putting them to use for the evening of December the 24th.

Like the Kindle Covers this tutorial is well documented with pictures. 

Supplies:
A spool of thread in your choice. I did grey because of the fabric I was using
3 yards (or more depending on your person) of 45" wide fabric.
Elastic (same size as the waist of the PJ wearer)
Another pair of PJ bottoms

I first started out by laying the current pair of PJs down on the fabric. I measured and allowed basically 4 inches at the bottom and top for hemming and other things. You will see why I did later. Also, make sure to pull the crotch all the way out to make that "J" shape. Otherwise you end up with four pieces of fabric that are super tough to sew together.

I used a tailor's pen (also called Disappearing Ink) for marking my fabric. This pen is great because it fades away in  the wash.

You can see I allowed for a large seam allowance. I did this because I know my myachine doesn't like straightening pins and I wanted my PJs a bit loose

I left a great deal of room at the top because I was planning on turning the fabric over and essentially encasing the elastic waist band later.

Now just pin away after you cut along you fancy lines.

This picture is to show you what both pant legs look like. DO NOT cut the same lay out for the current PJ bottoms twice. Make sure you flip them. What you also need to do is make sure the crotch area (where the J is) is not completely cut through. This is essentially for having an area that is much easier to sew later.

Remember how I said my legs were two different lengths? This is how that happened?

Then just go to you machine and start sewing.

Here's the crotch area I talked about earlier. I left about two inches of fabric from both sides (and both leg pieces) together. DO NOT sew this area together when doing the legs. Leave it.

Do the other part of the leg...

Make sure to double sew (or go in reverse a few times) the bottom and top sections of the fabric. These are the areas I think would come apart first.

 DO NOT SEW THE TOP SECTION THAT MAKES THE J!!! Leave the alone until both pant legs (outside and lower section) have been sewn.

Lay out both legs next to each other like I did. If you followed the instructions so far, your "J" sections will look like mine did and not be sewn together yet.

 Take your legs and point them in opposite directions. Then bring the J sections together. Undo the pins and join the pieces of fabric together, starting at what will be the back side of the pants and working you way forward.

If only my legs could do the splits like this in real life!

 Your sections should come together and that crotch area/bottom of the J shape should be connected. This will be the toughest area to deal with when using the machine. At least that was my experience.

 Go ahead and sew the pant legs together and if you can, run them through the machine twice... No one like to see holes in your crotch or on your backside. Set aside the pants for a few minutes and get your elastic.

I used about 32 inches of elastic but when I joined it together in a circle, I probably took it down to about 29 inches. I double sewed it and ran it through several times. I do not want to have to rip apart seams to fix these if I don't have to.

 From here, I was silly and forgot to take a picture. But recall that I left a lot of top space when I cut the material? I folded that down once across the waistband. I then inserted my elastic loop and folded the material over again. I made sure to sort of scrunch or fold the material to get the "scrunchy look" you get at the top of your store bought PJs. Pin with straightening pins before running it through your machine.

 If I had been smarter, I would have taken my own advice and scrunched the fabric. I only figured that out about half way through sewing the waist band.

I applied the same technique of the double roll from the waist band to the legs - minus the elastic. I put the pins in the middle of the hem for a reason....

 Both pant legs got the same hem length... I was not going to try and make them the same length. After all these were my PJs and its not like I was going out of the house in them.

When I sewed my pant bottoms. I made sure to do one loop a round that was to the left of my pinning. When I finished, I did a round to the right of the pins

By doing so, I created this more weighted feel to the pants and it was more aesthetically pleasing to me.

Then just turn your pants inside out after you finish the hem and BAM you have a pair of snazzy PJ bottoms.

You can tell there are some defects in mine from this picture. But as I said earlier, these are mine, I'm not leaving the house in them, and the only person who will see me in them is Mr. Fiance. Not that he will really care... his are not as snazzy as mine. :) Shhhh.. don't tell him that.

Wait, what? Yes, I did make a pair of PJ pants for Mr. Fiance. They are in fact part of his Christmas Eve box. He will be opening the box at sunset on Christmas Eve (our first Christmas together) and find himself a snazzy - but not as snazzy as mine - pj pants with beer stein fabric, a new Christmas movie, a giant tub of popcorn, cocoa, and some Christmas mugs. This is a great date night box for you and your partner to start doing. I'm hoping Mr. Fiance picks up on the idea and will enjoy our soon to be tradition. I even wrote him a terrible poem to go along with it.

I'll post pictures of the poem, his reaction, and us in our snazzy Pa-Jam-Huzzahs sometime after Christmas - if not on Christmas.

Do you and your family (or partner or spouse or pets) have any fun traditions?