Finished (Unselfish) Project: Blank Slate Patterns - Pocket PJs

A couple of months ago, when our local Hancock had its big "Going Out of Business" sale (*sigh*), I stopped by with my daughter Eva to pick at the corpse like vultures see what sort of deals there were to be had. Most of the remaining fabric wasn't anything that I was interested in, even at sale prices, and they had already shipped their stock of muslin to another local store (darn!), but I did manage to stock up on quite a few notions. I also let Eva pick out a couple of cuts of fabric for future unselfish sewing projects.

Between sewing for Eva and a few unsuccessful projects for myself, I went most of last autumn and into early winter without many wearable additions to my wardrobe, so for the past few months, I've been concentrating on sewing clothes for myself. In recent weeks, however, Eva has been showing more and more interest in watching me sew, and I felt that it was time to finally make her something from one of the cuts of fabric that she picked out. Given that she's (almost) 3 years old, everything that she picked out was a quilting cotton with a licensed character on it, so my pattern choices would be limited to pajamas. Given that our temperatures have rocketed into summer, I needed a woven PJ pattern, preferably without a collar. Enter the Blank Slate Pocket PJ pattern, which I purchased to fill out a bundle a while back, but hadn't made up yet.

This pattern not only has a collarless placket-style opening, it includes two front patch pockets, which are the perfect size for carrying around a couple of Fisher Price Little People:

Blank Slate - Pocket PJs

Blank Slate Pocket PJs on my sewing table

It's not shown in the line drawing or in any of the sample photos, but the pattern does include an option for short sleeves, which I used. I also cropped the pants at knee-length make them more appropriate for summer. I did not use a contrast fabric as was shown in the samples. Other than my changes, though, you can see that my version is pretty close to the sample photo and line drawing:

Blank Slate Pocket PJs - sample photo and line drawing

Fabric and Notions Used

 

• Fabric: Minnie Mouse quilting cotton purchased from Hancock
• Buttons: Basic shirt buttons from stash

 

Pattern Sizing, Drafting, and Alterations

 

This pattern is available in Blank Slate kids' sizes 18M - 8.

As with every Blank Slate pattern I've sewn, this one runs close to RTW sizing, maybe a touch larger. I sewed a size 3T, which is Eva's current RTW size, and it fits nicely with just enough extra room that I'm confident that she'll be able to wear it through the summer without growing out of it.

You do not get the huge amounts of excess ease with Blank Slate patterns that you do with some Big 4 kids' patterns, which is why I will happily pay a few extra dollars for these patterns rather than trying to hunt down a Big 4 version. It's nice to just be able to sew my child's RTW size rather than play sizing guessing games.

The only pattern alteration that I made this time was to shorten the pants to shorts. The short-sleeve option is included in the pattern, although not pictured anywhere on the Blank Slate website.

I ran into one issue with the drafting of the pattern, and it's one that I've encountered before with Blank Slate, so I'm guessing that this might be a drafting block issue--the sleeve cap did not have enough ease to need to be eased onto the armscye--in fact it was the other way around where I had to ease the armscye onto the sleeve. It's an easy fix to add ease to a sleeve cap, though, so I'm noting it and will adjust for the future.

Note that unlike some children's patterns, this pattern does include separate front and back pieces (clearly marked) and the curve of the sleeve cap is appropriately longer on the back side than on the front.

PDF Assembly

I didn't run into any issues assembling the PDF for this pattern. I've consistently found Blank Slate's PDF patterns to be clearly formatted and to not have any issues with the pattern lines lining up correctly.

Pattern Instructions

I found the pattern instructions and accompanying photos to be very clear. I had never sewn this type of placket before, and not only did I not need to get out the seam ripper, I think I ended up with a pretty nice-looking placket on my first try.

Not bad for a first attempt at this type of placket, right?

I only skimmed through the rest of the instructions but I found them to all look pretty reasonably easy to follow.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Eva asked  to wear her new Minnie jammies two nights in a row, so I know that I have a hit here. These pajamas are a fun twist on traditional pajamas, and what kid doesn't love pockets? I forsee this pattern getting quite a bit of use in the coming years.

They made Eva so happy that she felt like dancing!

The Minnie Jammies Dance

Finished Project: Blank Slate - Sleepover PJs

Apologies in advance for the craptacular iPhone pics with bad lighting, but I wanted to blog about these while they were still fresh in my mind and before I get sucked into the mini-wardrobe contest vortex, starting tomorrow.

We've got a heat wave forecast for this week (Temperatures in the high 80's! In Seattle!), so I wanted to whip up a couple more quick sets of summer pajamas for Eva. I'd previously made the Peek-a-Boo Patterns Alex & Anna summer PJ's, but was intrigued by the envelope-style neck opening on Blank Slate's summer PJ offering and so decided to have a go at the Blank Slate Sleepover PJs:

Blank Slate Sleepover PJs

The version pictured is actually my second go at these. In the first version, which Eva wore and wound up in the wash before I could photograph them, the bottoms were too big and I had some bad gaping at the neckline. The second pair (pictured) turned out pretty much perfect, with a few minor tweaks:

• In my experience, Blank Slate patterns run very close to RTW sizing for major kids' clothing brands (Carter's, OshKosh, Old Navy, etc). We've been buying 2T size sets of things for her, but she's really still in the 18M size in pants, shorts, etc. I made her a 2T in the shorts on my first pass at this pattern, found them to be a bit large, and then went with the 18M in the pictured version. The 18M fit is spot-on.
• The neckline binding, as drafted, is probably too long for all but the least-stretchy of knit fabrics. Being inexperienced with this type of neckline (outside of a couple of onesies when Eva was a baby), I wasn't sure if I'd need to ease the binding onto the neckline to avoid gaping. The answer: Yes, you want the binding to ease onto the neckline to avoid gaping, same as you would with a t-shirt or other knit top. For the "good" version of the PJ top, I shortened the binding pieces by about 2" from the original draft.

Outside of those two things, this is a nice little pattern that goes together very quickly. It took me around 2 hours to complete the set from start to finish. I like the envelope neck opening because it makes it easier for Eva to put the top on and take it off herself--something that she's very keen on being able to do right now.

Here's the line drawing, so you can see that the final PJ's match the line drawing very well:

Blank Slate Sleepover PJs line drawing

As always, I found Melissa's instructions to be clearly written and photographed. She uses a method for applying the neckline binding that is both easy and produces nice results.

If I were to compare the Peek-a-Boo to the Blank Slate version of knit summer PJ's, I think that they're both good patterns, and if you have a preference for one version over the other, go with that. The Peek-a-Boo version runs a little smaller/more snug by design and is a little shorter. The neck opening on the Peek-a-Boo is a bit on the small side. I like the flexibility of the envelope neck opening on the Blank Slate, but like I said, watch your binding length when you pin on the binding, and adjust as needed before stitching.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be diving into my first garment for the mini-wardrobe contest. I'm looking forward to hopefully putting a small dent in my fabric stash and tick a few patterns off my pattern stash list in the process. And assuming that everything goes well, I'll have a few new outfits at the end of the month, too!

Cursed projects: McCall's 6458 - Toddler pajamas

Note: I actually completed these back in 2013, but since they were a Christmas present for my daughter, I didn't get a chance to photograph them or really want to talk about them much before she had seen them. You have to keep some things a surprise, even for toddlers!

You know the type of sewing project...the ones where they should be easy, but it seems like every little thing goes wrong and every Big 4-ism seems ten times more annoying than it should be? These pajamas were one of Those Projects. Toddler pajamas.

McCall's 6458

A little history

A few months ago, shortly after purchasing my new-to-me Babylock Evolve serger/coverstitch, I   broke one of the two needles that the machine came with because I forgot to re-engage the knife when switching back to serger mode. Doh.

After running to several different local stores trying to find the correct needles for my machine, I ended up at Pacifc Fabrics, a store with a few locations around Seattle and a FANTASTIC selection of nice fabrics. While stopping by to get the needles, one fabric caught my eye. (Even though I wasn't fabric shopping and therefore not looking at fabric. At all. Pacific Fabrics had a nice beefy cotton flannel with a licensed Yo Gabba Gabba print. My daughter loves Yo Gabba Gabba. I had to buy the fabric, right?

I felt even more pressure once I got the fabric home; every time that Eva was in my sewing room, she'd manage to find "her Gabba fabric" (as it became known) and point to and name the different characters on the fabric. "Muno! Toodee!" She'd manage to find it even when I'd shoved it onto a shelve, pull of the fabric, and name characters. At this point, I decided that Gabba pajamas would make a great Christmas present, and I couldn't wait to see her face when she unwrapped her present and found that she could now actually wear her Gabba fabric!

The project

Toddler pajamas. What could be easier? Just a pair of elastic waist pants and a shirt with a convertible collar? I even found some really nice piping at Rose City Textiles on our Portland trip, so I decided to use McCall's 8458 for a pattern. Here's the line drawing--it looks like a pretty innocent pattern, doesn't it?

Granted, one of the reviews for the pattern was pretty negative, but I'm a reasonably experienced sewist, so how difficult could it be?

• The first issue that I ran into is that the pants run ridiculously long. I chose the 2T size, figuring that they would be a little big but would then give my daughter more months of wearing. I had to shorten the pant hem by 3 inches once they were complete to make them wearable. (She's 18 months old and just over the 50th percentile in height for her age, to give you reference.)
• The second issue that I ran into is that I stupidly followed McCall's construction order (sort of) for attaching the piped cuff. I have a fairly small free-arm space on my Bernina Activa 230, which allows me to sew into tight places pretty easily. The width of the cuff with the piping was too small to fit over the free arm, and with the added stiffness of the piping, this was a bear to attach. And the McCall's instructions actually wanted you to slip-stitch the inside part of the cuff to the sleeve. On toddler pajamas. I don't think so.
• The third issue is that I had two glasses of wine before deciding to attach the button band to the shirt. When I went to attach the button band to the shirt front, I found that the button band appeared to be about 5/8" too short. So I shortened the button band by 5/8". Doh! The shirt runs nearly as long as the pants, so a pair of scissors and re-hemming the shirt fixed my mistake. (Full disclosure: I am still not sure whether the button band actually runs short or if post-glass-of-wine, I had misaligned the seams.)

After the button band incident, I was completely over this project and was actually glad that I'd be away from my sewing machine for two weeks.

I should note that the pattern envelope has the following warning:

"Note: The garments in this pack are not intended for sleep apparel."

I guess that makes it a perfect match for the fabric, which had the warning that it was "not suitable for children's sleepwear". Or maybe I should have taken those to warnings together as an omen?

The result

Thankfully, in spite of drafting issues and boneheaded mistakes, the final pajamas turned out cute:

Eva celebrates her Christmas PJ's with her bedtime bottle:

Conclusion

No, I don't think I'd sew these again. If I wanted to make toddler sized piped pajamas, I'd check out the Lazy Day Pajamas from Blank Slate or Sleepover Pajamas from Oliver + S. The only reason that I didn't do that this time was that I was cheap (McCalls were on sale for $1.99 at Hancocks) and lazy (didn't want to tape pages together from a PDF or trace). I think I've learned my lesson here--when there's an option from an established indie, go for the indie over the Big 4 pattern for toddler patterns.

Would I recommend this pattern to others? Eh, there really aren't many piped pajama patterns out there for toddlers, and you can certainly make this one work, but I'm not sure that it's worth the headache just to save a few dollars. Just be forewarned. At least the finished pajamas turned out cute, and my daughter loves them. That's what matters.

Finished Project: Simplicity 1505 Big and Tall Men & Husky Boys' Pajamas

Given the lack of men's patterns in general, and the nearly complete absence of any patterns for a man who wears larger than a 2X, I was really excited to see Simplicity come out with a new Big and Tall men's pajama pattern in their most recent collection (October 2013).

Not only do the men's sizes run from 1XL-5XL, the pattern actually uses the pieced/colorblock trend that we've been seeing for the past few years. And a v-neck! Imagine that, a Big and Tall pattern that's reasonably fashionable!

The pattern includes both the men's and boys' pattern pieces with views for pants or shorts. You can't really see it in the line drawing, but the pants/shorts have inseam pockets--a bonus when your husband never wants to be too far away from his phone.

My husband desperately needed new pajamas, since he'd pretty much destroyed the set that I made him last year (he's rough on clothes). For the pants, I used cotton flannel that I'd purchased from Fabric Mart's $3/yard sale last winter. For the shirt, I used coordinating cotton interlock that I'd had in my stash for years that I'd bought at fabric.com. (The interlock was purchased before I'd figured out how important lycra/recovery is in knit tops...but for a set of pajamas, I figured it really didn't matter.)

I actually finished these a couple of weeks ago (grabbing a few minutes here and there while working on my Red Velvet dresses). Here are the finished pajamas:

Sizing-wise, the sizes seem to run very true to RTW. I chose my husband's RTW sizes for both the pants and shirt, and they both have the roomy (but not huge) fit that most of us like to have in our pajamas. The pattern went together well, and other than a few quibbles that I had with the order of construction (repeat after me: It's easier to sew in-the-flat than in-the-round for many things...), the instructions were fine. Note: My husband is 6'2" (he has a VERY long torso), and I did not need to add any length to the shirt. The only other time that I haven't had to add length to a shirt of his was when I made up the now-out-of-print Simplicity 4957: Big and Tall Men's shirt for him.

I'm really happy that Simplicity included this pattern in their last release. Since they sunsetted the old 4975 shirt pattern, I've been hoping that they'd come out with an updated men's shirt. These pajamas might not be that shirt, but they are a nice option if you are a Big and Tall man or have a larger man in your life. It's really nice to be able to sew something right out of the envelope for my husband without having to grade up multiple sizes. Outside of the Islander patterns and the occasional McCall's that run up to an XXXL, I'm not aware of any other sewing patterns for men that go past an XXL. I read a lot of valid complaints from plus sized women about the lack of sewing pattern options out there, but larger guys have it even worse in that department.