Tag Archives: pj pants

2015 catch up

Here we are, almost halfway through February, and I still have not posted about all the things I made in the tail end of 2015.  Let’s take care of that now before 2016 comes to a close and I am in the same spot again.  In the last two months of 2015 I used 40.5 yards of fabric for my own projects.  This total doesn’t include the fabric I used from the Bristol Opera House to make costumes for one of their productions.  Those 40.5 yards made up 15 new garments for myself and others, none of which have been blogged about.

What did I make?

I made another version of McCall’s 6744 back in August. This time I made view C, the short faux wrap version out of a purple floral ITY I got at a fabric sale we had at work over the summer.  This version and the first version both remain unphotographed as I am never going to wear them in public as dresses. The amount of ease in the pattern makes them so incredibly unflattering on my body. This is one of the three baggy fitting dresses I made in 2015.   I will wear them as swimsuit cover ups for when we next go to Dale Hollow Lake, but that is it.  It is just not something I can wear and feel confident in.

I made a couple of Halloween costumes in October for Eric and my niece.  My niece requested a Wonder Woman costume way back in March, so of course I put it off until October.  I used a Jalie 2792 to make it.  I am going to write a  tutorial for October about converting this pattern because it is so versatile.  What Wonder Woman costume wouldn’t be complete without a cape?  I drafted a simple cape to go with her Leotard.  I also made Eric a costume for our annual Halloween party.  We went with a carnival theme this year and he was the carnival barker.  That meant he needed a great tail jacket.  I had some iridescent red/black shantung that had been languishing in my stash for ages.  I used McCall’s 6143, which I have used before, and it turned out perfectly.  Between both costumes I used a bunch of scraps and 3 yards of stashed fabrics.   I tried to take some pics but they turned out pretty bad, too dark, kinda blurry, just all around not great on my part.  So I do not have anything that I am willing to share for these.  Although you can see the Wonder Woman leotard in my Instagram feed.

Musings of a Seamstress - summer concert tee

I started November off by making another Dixie DIY’s Summer Concert Tee. This is my fifth version of this tee.  Goodness, I love this pattern and for good reason!  It is such a quick easy make with only three pattern pieces, four if you use the sleeve bands.  The pattern hack options are virtually endless too.   It is super flattering when worn belted at the midsection too.  For this version I used two yards of a super soft jersey knit from one of the Girl Charlee Knitfix bags.  I call this tee secret pajamas because it is so incredibly soft and comfy.  You can check out a few of my previous versions here and here.

Musings of a Seamstress - PJ pants

Between the end of November and December I made nine pairs of pajama pants, one of which is not pictured above. Four of the pairs are for myself, two are for Eric and three are for gifts.  I used 12 yards of stash flannel and 10.5 yards of new flannel that I purchased on Black Friday from Jo-Ann Fabrics.  One of the pairs I made for myself is even sewing themed!  I love making pajama pants because they are quick, easy and a great stashbuster.  I am wearing the pink fox print pair right now and they are super comfy.

I even squeezed in two new vests for Eric, but have not managed to photograph either one. One is a brown plaid with a little bit of orange in it.  The other is a gray and black plaid.  These have been on my to do list for at least a year now since he has been asking for a brown vest after I made the very first one.  I am glad I finally got around to making them.  I, of course, used my TNT vest pattern, Simplicity’s Project Runway 2870. This pattern is sadly now out of print, but if you have it in your stash I recommend it.  I have lost count of how many versions of this pattern I have made.  They are definitely a staple in Eric’s work wardrobe.  Most of the fabrics for these came from the stash, since they have been on the to do list for awhile.   Between the two vests I used up 3 more yards of stash fabric.  I only had to purchase 1.5 yards of lining for one of them, which I used all of.

I did end 2015 with six UFO’s!  I am not pleased about having any UFO’s, but six isn’t too bad when I look at the total of what I did complete.  Sadly, one of the UFO’s just needs a rolled hem and it is done.  A couple of them are undergarments for my next renaissance costume, so those are definitely going to get done this year.  The others are summer garments that I hope to get too in the spring.  I am not feeling motivated to sew the swimsuit muslin and subsequently the actual suit when there is snow on the ground and icicles hanging from my gutters.  To be fair though, I am also not motivated to sew the winter coat I want to make either since it has been a much milder winter.  What can I say, I am a fickle sewist!

For now it is back to February sewing and stashbusting.  How is your 2016 going so far?

April Round-up

Another month has come and gone so quickly.  At this time last month I started re-watching Sex and the City, now I am almost finished with it.  I have gone through 94 episodes in one month, only watching while sewing.  Whew!  I think next month I may re-watch Friends. We’ll see.  Now for the real reason for this post, because you know it wasn’t to discuss Carrie and Mr. Big.

I have had another great stashbusting month with no new fabric purchases!  I used 12.5 yards of stash fabric for April, which brings my year to date fabric total to 48.75 yards.  I have been sewing like mad these past 4 months.  I am on track to have a record sewing year and I am super excited about that.   Sew, what did I make this month?  It was definitely not keeping with the stashbusting theme of vibrant color, that’s for sure.  I really wanted to stay on theme but I have been on this black and white kick that I couldn’t seem to get enough of.

B5153 Starting with this past Sunday I made a new pair of pajama pants using my TNT B5153 pattern.  I went on a work trip to Chicago and decided that I should have new pj pants to wear.  I used 2.75 yards of cotton flannel from Jo-Ann’s that I got on Black Friday in 2013.  Total cost for the fabric: $4.79.  I love the print because it has owls hidden in it.  Look closely and you will find them.

Before that I finished sewing a dress I cut out inMusings of a Seamstress March.  I also made a non-traditional denim jacket, which I posted a sneak peak of on Instagram, and a chiffon kimono cover up.  I have yet to photograph any of those garments or two garments I made way back in February.  It has just been too chilly for me to want to go outside in dresses for a photo shoot.  Luckily it is supposed to be in the 70’s this weekend, so I will make sure to do it and share all my new lovelies with you.

Simplicity 2621

I did also post a picture of cutting out my corset for my renaissance costume.  It and the hoop skirt are cut out and ready to be sewn.  I will post reviews for each once they are completed as part of a series for building this costume.  I have been putting this project off for far to long now, like 3 years too long.  It’s time to take the plunge into the deep end.

The upcoming Stashbusting Sewalong theme for May will be lingerie, hosted by Andrea of Obsessive Creativeness.  We will see how I do with this theme.  Does my corset count?  Also, it is Me Made May.  I am going to participate this year.  I will wear something me made everyday.  I will post daily on Instagram and do a weekly round up here on the blog.

January Round-up

While watching the Broncos get trounced in the Super Bowl tonight I decided to do my January Round-up. I had quite a productive January.  I made two garments for Jungle January, which was a blast this year!  I love that February is now Ferocious February too.  I have a couple of other projects that I have to complete first but if I can get them done before the end of the month I will definitely be making something for Ferocious February.

So, what all did I accomplish this month?  Well lets start with fabric totals.

This month I brought in 36 1/2 yards. I got 3 1/2 yards of black swimwear lining from Jo-Ann’s to line maxi dress I made this month, but more on that in a moment, and 8 yards of a cool royal blue for costuming purposes that I got for free. I also made an early purchase from Fabric Mart when I was snowed in and they had an amazing sale on chiffon and charmeuse.  I ended up with 25 yards of fabric.

 3 yards of each polka dot chiffon – one coral, one white and one black.

3 yards white with yellow print charmeuse.

7 yards of hunter green polysatin moleskin

6 yard free mystery bundle (not pictured)

The charmeuse is going to be a future coat lining, not sure what yet, so for now it is stash.  The moleskin is for my March of the Shieldmaiden costume next month. The coral polka dot will be an amazing Archer sometime soon!

 

I used 13 3/4 yards and gave away 14 yards for a total of 27 3/4 yards out.  That leaves me with + 8 3/4’s of a yard for the month.  I am working hard to be in the negative for February.  It is hard to keep the fabric purchases in check, but I am getting there.

The fabric that I did use included the 1 1/2 yards of leopard burnout for my Snow Leopard tunic that I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

Musings of a Seamstress

Musings of a Seamstress

 

I also made a new maxi dress to wear on my New Orleans trip in June.  I made it now for Jungle January.  I used 3 1/2 yards of a zebra/tiger print with a metallic leopard print over top stretch swimwear fabric with 2 1/4 yards of black swimwear lining.  I used McCalls 6700.  This is the first time I have made this pattern too.  Yay for patten stash busting.  Check out my review of PR of the pattern.  Side note, I am for sure wearing jeans and boots under this dress.  It was only in the 20’s a and snowy covered when I went outside to take the picture today.

 

Musings of a Seamstress

I also used 3 yards of plaid flannel for pj pants with pockets for Eric and 3 yards of the heart flannel for pj pants for myself.  The pink horses and purple/gray print were UFO’s that I finally finished.  These were intended to be Christmas presents for family 2 years ago that I cut out and never made.  Well it was time to get them out of my sewing space!

Musings of a Seamstress

Lastly I used 1/2 yard of mouse printed sweatshirt knit from Girl Charlee Fabrics to make a new infinity scarf.  I love it!  I debated making leggings for my nieces but I got a little selfish and decided I could not part with it.  This was my first purchase from Girl Charlee and I really like their stuff.  I will be purchasing from them again.

For February I do not have a lot planned, just one quick and easy project for me and one super indepth, challenging and time consuming project for Eric.  The big project is going to force me perfect my welt pockets and mens’ tailoring, which make me super nervous.  I have put this off long enough, time to make it happen.