Sewing kids PJs should be easy, right?
I am back to sewing again, only this time it is the flannel pjs I had promised my kids before Christmas. Yeah, that late.
For the kids I am working on this Simplicity pattern, which for the most part is pretty easy to put together. I plan on making this for both kids. It comes all in one size package, which is great as I can also make this for my husband or me, if I wanted. Right now I am focused on the kids, as Rob said he can wait for next fall. I started with our daughter who loves Tinkerbell.
I am making it a little bigger so they can grow into them, and trying to make sure I put in extra for their hems - which leads to the first personal lesson of today, when marking on a pattern that it is extra long, make sure both front and back pieces actually are extra long before cutting the fabric. Seems I made the back piece extra long, but not the front piece. Ah well, it is still kinda long on her from being a size larger than she currently is. I also have extra so if I need to add in more later I can.
But even tho the label on the pattern is "Easy-to-sew", this pattern isn't all easy-peasy, as there were some problems in the instructions as they wrote it. First was the neckline in the back. They tell you to use bias tape from the store. Anyone who has ever used that stuff (as I do from time to time) knows it is made from a cotton/poly blend and is rather stiff, and scratchy. Yeah, they want that at the back of the neck. And the way the instructions reads, it is not all that clear if they want you to open up the tape to bind the collar within the bias tape, or if they want you to keep the tape folded, then sew it, then flip it over to sew down the bias tape, which ends up folding the seam allowance (sa) with the tape as a cover. I tried to do the second as that is what the itty bitty diagram seemed to show, and there was nothing said about removing the seam allowance. I did it, and when it flipped over to cover the sa, well the binding folded edge ended up poking out into the neck area. Like any kid I know wants something stiff and scratchy at their neck area. Uhm, no. So I ripped that out, cut a piece of the flannel on the bias, cut off the sa, then sewed the bias to cover that edge. The shoulder joins are not as pretty, but the kids won't be complaining about the itchy back of the neck area.
The second complaint is the sleeves are just a little longer than the armhole area it is supposed to go into. I like that the sleeves do not have a high armscye area, which makes movement easier for a person, but the sleeve head has extra fabric, that needs to be eased into the armhole line. But does the pattern mention this? Of course not. They just tell you to match the dots and sew it together - rrriiiiiiight. Thankfully I know how to ease a garment with pins and which side needs to go next to the feed dogs to help sew down the ease (the side that has the extra fabric). This should have been noted in the instructions for those who are beginners.
Third complaint really takes the cake. It is the length of the sleeves. It seems that this was fit on an adult, but never fit onto a child. The sleeves are supposed to be long, to the wrist, with 1.25" hem. After giving my daughter an extra 1.75 inches for future growth, I still had to cut off 5.5" from the end. That is a total of 7.25" extra!! I guess they were thinking children had monkey arms for all that extra. The smallest sleeve on the pattern was still several inches too long for my daughter, and would just about be the right size for my son after I give him extra to grow into. So, when working with any pattern, especially a commercial one, measure everything and compare it to the person you are sewing for, before cutting into your fabric. And if needed, make a mockup. I didn't want to do a mockup for this, since it is just a pair of pjs, but I should have measured more than just for her size, but all the aspects of her, as if I was making the pattern myself.
I am almost done with the top. The seam allowances have been serged to finish them, the sleeves are nearly sewn together (after cutting off that extra), and it should be done tonight. The pants maybe in a few days (after I double check the leg length). Then on to a larger duplicate for our son.
For the kids I am working on this Simplicity pattern, which for the most part is pretty easy to put together. I plan on making this for both kids. It comes all in one size package, which is great as I can also make this for my husband or me, if I wanted. Right now I am focused on the kids, as Rob said he can wait for next fall. I started with our daughter who loves Tinkerbell.
I am making it a little bigger so they can grow into them, and trying to make sure I put in extra for their hems - which leads to the first personal lesson of today, when marking on a pattern that it is extra long, make sure both front and back pieces actually are extra long before cutting the fabric. Seems I made the back piece extra long, but not the front piece. Ah well, it is still kinda long on her from being a size larger than she currently is. I also have extra so if I need to add in more later I can.
But even tho the label on the pattern is "Easy-to-sew", this pattern isn't all easy-peasy, as there were some problems in the instructions as they wrote it. First was the neckline in the back. They tell you to use bias tape from the store. Anyone who has ever used that stuff (as I do from time to time) knows it is made from a cotton/poly blend and is rather stiff, and scratchy. Yeah, they want that at the back of the neck. And the way the instructions reads, it is not all that clear if they want you to open up the tape to bind the collar within the bias tape, or if they want you to keep the tape folded, then sew it, then flip it over to sew down the bias tape, which ends up folding the seam allowance (sa) with the tape as a cover. I tried to do the second as that is what the itty bitty diagram seemed to show, and there was nothing said about removing the seam allowance. I did it, and when it flipped over to cover the sa, well the binding folded edge ended up poking out into the neck area. Like any kid I know wants something stiff and scratchy at their neck area. Uhm, no. So I ripped that out, cut a piece of the flannel on the bias, cut off the sa, then sewed the bias to cover that edge. The shoulder joins are not as pretty, but the kids won't be complaining about the itchy back of the neck area.
The second complaint is the sleeves are just a little longer than the armhole area it is supposed to go into. I like that the sleeves do not have a high armscye area, which makes movement easier for a person, but the sleeve head has extra fabric, that needs to be eased into the armhole line. But does the pattern mention this? Of course not. They just tell you to match the dots and sew it together - rrriiiiiiight. Thankfully I know how to ease a garment with pins and which side needs to go next to the feed dogs to help sew down the ease (the side that has the extra fabric). This should have been noted in the instructions for those who are beginners.
Third complaint really takes the cake. It is the length of the sleeves. It seems that this was fit on an adult, but never fit onto a child. The sleeves are supposed to be long, to the wrist, with 1.25" hem. After giving my daughter an extra 1.75 inches for future growth, I still had to cut off 5.5" from the end. That is a total of 7.25" extra!! I guess they were thinking children had monkey arms for all that extra. The smallest sleeve on the pattern was still several inches too long for my daughter, and would just about be the right size for my son after I give him extra to grow into. So, when working with any pattern, especially a commercial one, measure everything and compare it to the person you are sewing for, before cutting into your fabric. And if needed, make a mockup. I didn't want to do a mockup for this, since it is just a pair of pjs, but I should have measured more than just for her size, but all the aspects of her, as if I was making the pattern myself.
I am almost done with the top. The seam allowances have been serged to finish them, the sleeves are nearly sewn together (after cutting off that extra), and it should be done tonight. The pants maybe in a few days (after I double check the leg length). Then on to a larger duplicate for our son.