Christmas Pyjamas - Girl Charlee Tutorial

Hi!  I know it seems a bit early for some to be thinking of Christmas already, but with three weeks to go until my due date I am trying to get organised in advance this year.  Fortuitously,  the very lovely Mark from Girl Charlee gave me some perfect fabric for the Child's Christmas pyjamas and my tutorial is on their blog today!  

Every year I like to make my daughter new pyjamas for Christmas Eve, if nothing else just so she has something unstained by porridge or my bad laundry skills suitable to be photographed on Christmas morning!  This year she is heavily into pink (I am thankful we got to six before she insisted that all the things have to be pink!) so this pink fabric with red fawns is just perfect for her. 

As I did not want to have to buy a whole new jersey pyjamas pattern, I decided to alter a leggings pattern for the bottoms and use t-shirt pattern which I already have (Oliver and S Field Trip T-shirt) for the top.  The leggings pattern I started with is the Oliver and S Playtime Leggings but any leggings pattern will work. 

I wanted a roomy pyjama bottom with plenty of room for growth so the leggings needed more width.  I started by tracing the correct size piece, then marking a line down the centre of the leg.   I cut down this line and moved the two pieces of the pattern apart by 3cm and taped them down.  I then joined up the waist and ankle lines.  Whilst cutting the bottoms out I also added 5cm to the rise for a bit more seat room. 

The final alteration I made to the pattern was to make some cuffs for the ankles.  For these I measured across the bottom of the original pattern pieces (21cm), rounded it down and then halved it (to cut on the fold).  I had already worked out that I wanted a roughly 4cm high cuff so would need double that height plus a seam allowance of 1cm at either side, therefore my cuff pattern piece was a square 10cm x 10cm.  I used some ribbing that I had left over from last year’s Christmas pyjamas for this.

I followed the instructions for the construction of the leggings with the exception of the bottom hems.  To attach the cuffs I first pressed the cuff pieces in half wrong sides together, then unfolded and sewed the side seams right sides together.  I then marked the halfway point on both the cuffs and the bottom of the trouser legs and with the raw edges even on the cuffs and trouser legs pinned at this point and at the seams.  Stretching the cuff slightly, I attached them to the bottom of the trousers.

For the top I followed all the instructions exactly as they are written with the exception of the addition of cuffs again.  I find that the size 6 in this pattern has plenty of room in for my daughter without needing to add any extra.

We are both very pleased with the new Christmas pyjamas, the fabric was a delight to work with and is just perfect for this project.  There is plenty of growth room too so I am sure they will get worn long past Christmas!