Project 12 – August: Mini Bloomer PJ Set

That was a bit last-minute!  Although I am posting this in September, I did finish it the evening of the 31st.

This month was a busy one with LOTS of traveling and after the effort of finishing up my July project I wanted something easy.  When I saw Dana’s summer skirt, I thought I might be able to give “the ugly skirt one more go”.  So I ripped off the waistband and the zipper, hemmed and went crazy with the elastic thread. It certainly fit the bill for “easy project”.  But try as I might, I could NOT make myself like it. Even my super supportive husband said “the fabric wasn’t his favorite.” BOO!!! Then inspiration struck, what If I wore it as a shirt? It worked.  I’m not one to wear tube tops in public and so I decided to make it a baby doll top of a pajama set.

For bottoms, I made Madeleine Mini Bloomers (free from Colette Patterns!).  I’ve had my eye on them since I saw Adrianna’s over at Crafter Hours.  The fabric requirements call for “Lightweight fabrics such as silk or rayon crepe, chiffon, georgette, lightsilk twill, silk habotai, jacquard”. In other words, shiny stuff.  I did not want shiny-ness on my butt. So, I took a risk and went for this beautiful purple jersey.  It is so wonderfully soft and I love the drape.

A word of advice on the jersey.  I don’t think all those rows of stitching on the waistband would have gone as well if I hadn’t used a walking foot. I’m pretty darn proud of how that turned out. I could have used a serger, to finish my seams, but honestly, I was so exhausted when I was sewing this I didn’t feel like setting it up. 🙂 I also skipped out on the ribbon ties for the leg openings.  I used elastic instead.

So this project turned out really lovely! You will have to trust me on that because I don’t feel comfortable posting pictures of myself wearing itty-bitty PJs on the internet.  Trust me that it looks adorable.  The top is just short enough that the bottoms of the bloomers peek out underneath.  Just like I envisioned. It is super comfy too! I tested them out last night.

Exciting things about this project

• Resurrecting a failed project!
• Having some lovely PJs for a change.
• Taking a risk with fabric and not falling flat on my face.
• Making an item from a Colette Pattern.  Her patterns are so beautiful!
• The genius of using a walking foot on knits!
• My husband thinking I look super cute. 😉