Pajama Party! KS 2257 & Simplicity 3696

With all this sewing the past 7 months, I haven't made a single thing for my husband. Poor thing. :( This is mostly due to men's clothing being much more labor intensive and tailored than simple women's clothing. It's not like I can sit down and whip up a quick skirt or dress for him. And then it dawned on me - pajama pants! This was particularly timely as the last few months of the year finally got cold enough at night that he started regularly sleeping in pj pants again.

When I went shopping for fabric in the fall, I couldn't find a nice plaid flannel print to save my life. So, I opted for a wacky golf print from the snuggle flannel line at Joann's. I mean, seriously, this fabric is ridiculous, but I thought it was a funny nod to his new obsession and a good way to make a wearable muslin without spending a ton of money on the fabric.
I was originally going to use a unisex pant pattern, but quickly realized that it didn't have a fly front, which just seemed silly to make for Jim. Instead, I bought Kwik Sew 2257, a basic men's pj pant. I have to say, this is only the second KS pattern I've used, but I'm becoming a big fan.
The fly front went together very easily and looked just like the RTW pants he owns. I also particularly like the method of making and inserting the elastic waistband. After folding down the fabric for the casing, you sew the elastic into a circle, slip it under the fabric and stitch the casing closed while stretching the elastic taut. The top of the waistband is then stitched to hold the elastic in place. Gives it a really clean look.
The only major change I had to make was to lower the waistband by about 2 inches, which included shifting the top of fly front down as well and shortening the length. Oh, and I omitted the tie at the waist because of a time crunch - oops. In hindsight, I could probably go down a size for him, as they're a little bigger through the legs than is really necessary.
I wrapped these up for him for Christmas Eve, so he'd have new pajamas to wear for Christmas. I know a lot of people have this as a tradition and I think I'm going to adopt it for our family. Since I knew he was getting pjs that night, I thought it only fair to have a new pair to wear as well.

After being unhappy with the sultan-esque lounge pants from Amy Butler, I bought this Simplicity pattern to give the wide leg thing another go. Not wanting to ruin another pricey piece of fabric, I found some snowflake flannel on the clearance table at Joann's and thought it very season appropriate. And, if I hated them, I was only out a whooping $4.

I'm happy to say that this pattern is a much better style for me. Still a wide leg, but more reigned in than the AB ones. The only change I made was to copy the waistband from the KS pattern, including using a much wider elastic than was called for in the pattern. This lowered the waist band by about 1.5 inches, which was perfect for me - they now sit just above my hips instead of at my natural waist.

And here we are, in front of my in-laws tree, in our new pajamas! We both look so happy in this picture, right?
For some reason he is fine posing with me, but ask him to pose by himself and you get this:
You'd think I was making him stand before a firing squad, not a camera. Although, I guess it's better to only have one ham per family:
Heh. ;)


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After several suggestions from some of the folks on Pattern Review, I think I'll recut the AB lounge pants using this pattern. There should be plenty of fabric and I think it will turn them into something that I'll actually wear instead of something that is just kicking it at the back of my closet.