CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS

Hope everyone had a peaceful, healthy and merry Christmas! We stayed in Houston, so we did not get the chance to be with our families. Yet, thanks to skype, it almost felt as if our family was here with us.

Alike last year (though I never blogged about them...), I managed to make matching pajamas for Teresa and Manuel. 

The fabric is a jersey blend knit from Girl Charlee. I choose red and green for Teresa and blue and green for Manuel. 

The fabric is very soft and I really love the print. The only issue is that this jersey only has 30% stretch, which can be problematic depending on the pattern used.

I used the Heidi and Finn's All you need Jammies. I think this pattern is perfect! It comes with a number of options: long sleeve t-shirt, t-shirt, leggings, lounge pants, shorts, gathered t-shirt and nightgown.  So, if you have this pattern you really do not need to buy any other pattern for knit pajamas. The instructions are also clear and the construction is flawless. Perfection! 

I chose the long-sleeve shirt with leggings for both Teresa and Manuel.

The pattern asked for a fabric with at least a 50% stretch, which was a problem, since my fabric only had 30%. I decided to use one size up, 5 for Manuel (which fits a 4) and 10 for Teresa (which would fit a size 8 with a different fabric). I was a little worried, but it worked! 

I like how they turned out and most importantly Teresa and Manuel don't want to take them off. 

You may have noticed that I made a mistake when cutting Manuel's t-shirt and the pattern is upside down... 

It took me a while to convince him that frogs and castles are way cooler that reindeers and hearts...but he was convinced!) Uff...

Happy Holidays!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I know, I know, it's been almost two weeks already, but it is never too late to wish you all a Healthy, Happy, Successful and Peaceful 2015! 

For the last night of the year 2014, I made new clothing for the children! I had so many doubts about what to make for Teresa to wear that when I finally decided I nearly had no time to complete it. My big indecision was whether I should make her a fancy dress (that she would wear once or twice) or a more practical piece that she could wear more often. I finally decided to make her a sweatshirt and shorts and I am very happy with my decision! This year I will try to be more practical! (I will be telling you all about that in a different post, stay tuned!)

To make the top I used a white cotton knit, from Joann's, a white cotton woven fabric from some old sheets and snaps (I had to use pink snaps because I only had these at home...). 

I did not used a specific pattern for this sweatshirt. I used Heidi & Finn's All you need Jammies Pattern for the top with some modifications: added 1 inch to the collar of the top and made an opening in the back for the snaps. I then added the collar, which are two rectangles with different widths, I also used rolled hems in these triangles, so that the finishing of the collar would be more special. 

To complete Teresa's outfit I made her another version of Willow and Co.'s Clover shorts. I used a lightweight grey corduroy from Robert Kaufman. This pattern offers two versions of the shorts: a more bubbled version (you can see that version here) and a more tailored version. This time I made the tailored version. I like them both!

For Manuel I made some shorts on the same grey corduroy that I used for Teresa's shorts. I used (again I know) the Two Haute Shorts Pattern (I can almost make these with my eyes closed ;-)). But what can I say the pattern is great and he looks so cute in these shorts!!

To complete their outfits, they wore burgundy tights and Teresa wore velvet burgundy shoes as well.

I could't get many pictures of them, because they were so excited that wouldn't stand still. Here they are:

PAJAMAS' DAY

Today is Pajama's Day at Teresa preschool! I was only informed of this yesterday afternoon, when I picked her up. Advising on such a short notice that our kids need to go to school on their pajamas may be ok for most mums, but that is definitely not ok for a sewing mum. If Teresa needed to go to school on her pajamas, for me this meant that I need to make her new special pajamas!

Luckily I had some cotton knit on my stash that I knew Teresa would love to take to school. So, after putting the children to bed I was able to make her new pajamas! I used Heidi & Finn's All you need Jammies pattern. This pattern is great, it has a lot of versions and the instructions are really helpful. So far, this is my favorite pattern for knits. I opted for a full tee and leggings, but I also wish to try the lounge pants and the gathered tee! For the fabric, I used 100% cotton jersey purchased at Joann’s. I added three little pink heart buttons to the top, because I knew she would love that.

She was so happy and proud when she saw it this morning!

Last week I also managed to sew a couple of pajamas for Manuel. I used the same pattern and also 100% cotton jersey from Joann's. I also added some cute lion and tractor buttons, for him to play. He loved it! Sadly, I wasn't able to get any proper photos. Sorry!

So, here are the three pajamas!