Bedtime Story Pajamas – The Finished Garment

One Last Hurrah for Winter

Spring has finally spring here in Montreal, so I thought I’d share my last winter sewing project before it’s embarrassingly late.

Here in Quebec, it isn’t unusual to see temperatures around -30°C (-22°F) in the winter, and then +30°C (86°F) in the summer. It takes two different wardrobes. So each year I box up all the kids’ winter clothes and bring out all the summer clothes and take an inventory. It seems that over the winter my kids have all gone up at least one size, and one thing everyone was missing was pyjamas.

Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, as sewn by The Finished Garment — One last pair of PJs before spring.

Once again I used the Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, for the bottoms, and store-bought t-shirts for the tops. I used flannel for the bottoms, which may sound a bit crazy if you live somewhere warmer. But here, it’s likely be chilly at night right into May. I finished these in March, and they’ve gotten tons of wear. This fabric was chosen by the kids and has sat for ages in my stash, so it was time.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve used this pattern anymore, but it’s a lot. So I was sooooo sad to see that it only goes up to size 8. I’m sewing size 7 now, so it looks like I’ll have to branch out pretty soon.

Hope you’re enjoying the change of seasons.

Summary

Pattern Review: Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver + S.

Fabric: Flannel Star Wars Angry Birds Flannel in Blue from Camelot Fabrics.

Sizes: 3, 5, 7 and 7.

Sewing Level: beginner, intermediate if not just the pants.

Modifications: None.

Results: Excellent! I’ve made these many times before. I would highly recommend this pattern.

Just to be clear: Angry Birds and Star Wars names and images are licensed to Camelot Cottons by Lucasfilm Ltd. and Rovio Entertainment Ltd. The pjs shown here are not official licensed products and are not available for sale. But you can always buy some fabric and make your own!

Summer PJs

Last week was Kids Clothing Week (KWC), and what did I get done? Not much. I did plan a lot of projects though, so that counts right?

The one thing I did finish, was four sets of pyjamas. The spring PJs were a big hit with the kids, and they needed more so I just did the same thing again.

The kids chose the fabrics – all Angry Birds prints. I used the Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, for the bottoms, and appliquéd an angry bird from each print onto store-bought t-shirts for the tops.

I’ve made these pyjama pants eleven (!) times before. Yikes, that is a big number. But they are definitely my go-to pyjama pattern for kids. Quick, easy and great results every time.

Summary

Pattern Review: Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver + S.

Fabric:

Fence in White, Stars in Blue, Rainbow in Pink and Rainbow in Purple, all from the Angry Birds collection and all licensed to David Textiles by Rovio Entertainment, LTD. I bought this at the local chain shop.
Sketch in Grey by Timeless Treasures for the waistbands and leg bindings.

Sizes: 18-24m, 4, 6.

Sewing Level: beginner, intermediate if not just the pants.

Modifications: None.

Results: Excellent! I’ve made these 11 times before. I would highly recommend this pattern.

Just to be clear: The Angry Birds name is trademarked by Rovio Entertainment, LTD and used by the fabric manufacturer under licence. The pjs shown here are not official licensed products and are not available for sale. But you can always buy some fabric and make your own!

Spring PJs

Spring is finally here (sort of). And that means the great clothing change-up. But when I brought out all the spring clothes and put away the winter clothes, what was missing? Spring pyjamas.

This time I let the kids do the fabric shopping (sadly, I still had to do the paying). And they picked some great prints! So cute. The girls all chose prints from the Picture Pie collection by Ed Emberley for Cloud9. And my little boy chose Little Birds from the Havana collection by Monaluna. Cute, cute, cute.

I used the Bedtime Story Pajamas sewing pattern by Oliver + S, for the bottoms, and appliquéd an animal from each print onto store-bought t-shirts for the tops. I’ve made these pants seven (!) times before, so obviously, it’s a great pattern. I hardly even need to say it do I? But as always with Oliver + S, the instructions are super clear and the sewing is a breeze, and this would be a great project for beginners.

The photo session, however, was an exercise in frustration? comedy? Four little kids at bedtime are hard to wrangle sometimes.

This post is part of the Kids’ Choice sew along organized by Elegance & Elephants.

Summary

Pattern Review: Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver + S.

Fabric:

Picture Pie in Raccoon, Fox and Fish by Ed Emberley for Cloud9 (organic).
Little Birds in Blue from the Havana collection by Monaluna (organic).
Sketch in Grey by Timeless Treasures for the waistbands.

Sizes: 18-24m, 4, 6.

Sewing Level: beginner, intermediate if not just the pants.

Modifications: I lengthened the pant leg and folded twice to hem, instead of binding the leg hem.

Results: Excellent! I’ve made these 7 times before. I would highly recommend this pattern.

Valentine’s Day Pyjamas!

Valentine’s day pyjamas! They were supposed to be Christmas pyjamas, but life intervened. Oh well. It’s probably better this way, since the pyjamas aren’t competing for attention with Christmas gifts.

These are the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas. I made them four times, once for each kid, hence the delay. I used a digital pattern (a PDF download) and it worked quite well. The pattern itself is great. The only thing that is unusual is that each pattern piece is separately taped together, instead of having them all in a giant sheet. I copied each pattern piece onto tracing paper, so I had quite a few pieces of paper to keep track of. On the other hand, it means you can print out just the pieces you want, which is handy if you just want pyjama pants. I’m not sure which way is better. As always with Oliver + S patterns, the directions are excellent. I don’t have a single complaint.

I sewed a different type of ribbon into the neck and pants of each pair so that the kids can tell them apart.

This is the second time I’ve made the pants, but the first time I’ve made the jackets. I made sizes 18 months, 3, 4 and 5. I made the larger sizes with ties, but put in snaps for the baby sized once – otherwise, kid No 4 will just chew the ties.

I also started with snaps for the older kids. I wanted them to be able to dress themselves. But small snaps are a bit of a small target, even for little hands. I tried larger coat snaps, but then the kids couldn’t get out of them at all because it took too much strength to open the snaps. In the end I took out the snaps and put in the ties. Everyone seems to like this better.

Bedtime Story Pyjamas — Oliver +S Bedtime Story Pajamas in flannel, size 18m.

The first time I made this pattern, I made just the pants in sizes 12 months, 2, 4, and 5, also in flannel, in a monster print. I think I’ve tried most of the sizes now. The only one I had a problem with was the 12 month size (not shown), which fit a bit tight in the waist and hips.

When I made just the pants, instead of binding the hem, I just lengthened the pant legs and folded them over twice to hem. Then I appliquéd a big monster onto store-bought t-shirts. These were also a big hit with the kids.

Summary

Pattern Review: Bedtime Story Pajamas by Oliver + S.

Fabric: flannel.

Sizes: 12m, 18m, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Sewing Level: intermediate (beginner, if just the pants).

Modifications:

I replaced the ties with snaps on the baby-sized jacket. When I made just the pants, I lengthened the pant leg and folded twice to hem, instead of binding the leg hem.

Results: Excellent! I would highly recommend this pattern.

These are also part of the Stashbusting Sewalong Challenge. I made these for February’s ‘Love’ challenge where the goal is to sew something for someone you love.