Monkey Around: KS2257 and O+S Bedtime Story PJs

Thank you for all of the kinds words after the last post. My absence here wasn't so much due to the fall, but having a crazy week after the fall, being on vacation for almost two weeks after that and then the mad catch up that comes with such a vacation.

Even before I took a header off the retaining wall, we had planned to celebrate Father's Day with my in-laws the first weekend in June since prior plans would keep us from getting together until way after the fact. While I feel like this Father's Day doesn't *really* count for Jim, I still wanted to do something to mark the first unofficial one since he was quite generous to me on Mother's Day.

My husband looooves monkeys. It's his favorite exhibit to visit at the zoo (especially the crazy awesome enclosure they have for them in San Diego), he has t-shirts depicting their likeness and several stuffed versions in his home office. So when I saw this fabric about a year ago from Moda, I grabbed several yards - some in flannel and some in the regular quilting cotton. I figured it would come in handy eventually.

As soon as we found out I was pregnant, I knew that I wanted to finally cut into it and make a pair of pajama bottoms for Jim (in flannel) and matching pajamas for the little one (in quilting cotton). I figured the print was gender neutral and would work for either a boy or girl. To keep things simple, I re-used the Kwik Sew pajama bottom pattern that I first tried 2 Christmases ago and my TNT baby pajama pattern from Oliver and S. Nothing difficult in the construction here and they both went together over the course of several days, doing bits and pieces a little at a time. The lucky part to this was I finished them about an hour before I took that nasty fall, so I still had something to bring for Jim to dinner that next day. Whew!

We found out for sure what we were having a couple of weeks before I completed these, which made the construction even more fun. What can I say, the idea of matching daddy and son pajamas just makes my heart melt. ;) It was nice to see I wasn't the only one though, as my in-laws about melted into a puddle of goo after Jim opened them.

Jim loved them, even though the print is totally silly. This also marks the first garment that I've made for *my* baby, which is pretty much awesome after making a ton of clothes and stuff for everyone else's babies.

Happy very belated unofficial Father's Day to Jim! If his excitement and enthusiasm during the pregnancy is any indication, then I'm willing to bet he is going to be one awesome dad. :)

Baby goodies

Yep, still on baby and kid sewing and will be for the forseeable future. No, I'm not pregnant, it just seems as though everyone I know is. :) After the ~20 babies I knew that were born last year, I think I'm up to ~8 or so for 2010 (most due for later this year). Let's just say that I'm stocking up on Oliver + S patterns, kid friendly prints and lots of minky fabric. Wheeee!

Here are the latest projects:

Contrasting pink and green baby blankets for twin girls that were wished and hoped for for a long time before entering their parent's lives. :)

A pink and orange retro floral minky blanket with complimentary O+S Bedtime Story Pajamas. The mom is another pinkaholic, with a special love for Vespas, so this fabric called out to me when I saw it. It seemed very appropriate for a baby gift for her little girl.

I've got another blanket, blanket/clothing combo and first birthday outfit in the que so more baby goodie pictures later this month.

Tiny Turtles!

I took a small break in my selfish sewing kick this past weekend to work on a baby gift for one of my co-workers. It's too long of a story for the blog, but I just recently learned that this co-worker just became a parent. I worked with her quite a bit during the swine flu bonanza earlier this year and she is just a great person all around and a very easy (and rational!) person to work along side. So, when I heard about her new baby boy, I knew I wanted to quickly whip up a gift.

I've had the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas pattern in my stash for several months just waiting for the right opportunity to use it.

This is the first little boy gift I've tried to make, so I thought a fairly straight-forward pajama pattern was the way to go. For the fabric, I wanted something that was appropriate for a little guy, but also not completely cheeseball. Sew LA had the perfect print - a deep navy cotton filled with tiny, primary colored turtles.

It's just too cute! I paired it with plain green cotton for the bindings and ties.

And what goes better with pajamas than a cozy, fuzzy blanket?

To say this was a hit with my co-worker would be an understatement. Besides cooing over it at the office, she said that when she took it home, grandma took one look at it and decided that they should dress him up in it right away. Keep in mind, the little boy is just barely two months and the outfit is sized for 6-12mo. :) So sweet.

This is now the second O+S pattern I've used and it's another winner. [For my complete review of the pattern, click on the link to Pattern Review.] Their designs are really adorable, the patterns are drafted well and they come with easy to read and follow instructions - what more could a beginner seamstress ask for? Yes, they're pricey, but I really like supporting an independent pattern company, especially one that is so focused on providing a great product for its clients.

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Cost breakdown:

Pajamas:
Pattern - $16
Fabric - $15
Notions - $2

Blanket:
Fabric - $20
[I saw similar blankets at a fancy baby boutique while shopping last year and my eyes almost popped out of my head - they were retailing for $50-$65! I mean, come on. I know I live in LA and everything, but that is just silly.]

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.