sewing again and evergreen's nightgown

My poor neglected sewing machine has been ignored all summer. For a good six months really. I have been buying fabric - and then I will make this! And then I will make that! And then...nothing.

So, nothing like some good incentive. It is rainy out. And also, its supposed to snow. WAH. Eh. And little man is suddenly growing out of all his clothes. Or rather, shorts season is over, so the two inch gap at his ankles from the pants that fit last spring is now noticeable. Little girlies, no longer able to sleep in t-shirts and old shorts need nightgowns. No one sells night gowns anymore. What is up with that?

So, after a depressing visit to the thrift store, what does resourceful mama do? Resourceful mama (in need of escapism anyhow) puts the kids in front of a movie and proceeds to make a giant mess in the sewing room and ignore the disaster house and the bickering...AND SHE SEWS.

AND SEWS. AND SEWS.

Are you done yet? they ask.

NO I say.

But we are hungry!

Here are some snacks! Wanna watch another movie???

HA.

But. I managed three pairs of play pants and some sleep pants for little man and these nightgowns for the girls.

The long and the short of it is as follows.

For little man's play pants. I totally cut up an old pair of dada's pants, cut a new waist line and the curved crotch seam and then sewed them up and sewed on a piece of jersey knit with elastic inside for the waistband. This is the best way to make pants. Especially if you can get away without cutting any new side seams, they look "store made" then, with the hem and side seams, etc.

So, DONE.

Same pretty much for the sleep pants. I used new flannel though but did use the elastic waist band (cut up) from dada's old sleep pants for the waist and a bit of that flannel for a pocket. To get the rise right I cut around a pair of his old sleep shorts.

For these night gowns, well, I looked at an actual pattern. Mind you, I didn't CUT OUT the pattern, but I did LOOK at a pattern. HA HA HA.

I am truly pathetic.

Below is a rough drawing. As an explanation first sew the four pieces (front, arm, back, arm) together (where I have labeled a number one)

Then sew the arm - sleeve tip - to the bottom of the nightgown in one L shaped seam. Upside down L. You know what I mean.

Next make a long hem with a gap for the elastic at the neckline. It will look enormous but then it gathers right so, cut big. Notice in the pics the girls sleeves are all too short! Cut the sleeves longer too, because two inches is used up for the elastic, if that makes sense...

So, now squeeze through the elastic. I hate this part. It is easier if you tie a little knot in the end and just feed it through slowly.

Now, using jersey knit, I made arm bands for the end of the sleeve. Simple enough and looks better than a plain hem. You can also do elastic here too for a gathered look.

Evergreen's was too short, so...HMMMMmmmmm...I went and found a cast off shirt in my "clothes to cut up" bag (bagS, way too many bags) and cut off the bottom (already hemmed, YAY!) and simply did a running stitch to be able to gather it a bit. Then I sewed it on.

VOILA.

As you notice Ever's gown doesn't have separate sleeves. I just cut out one t-shape and sewed up into a shirt shape, then gathered the neck with elastic. This is just because of the material that was left, what I had to work with.

In any case.

I kind of love them. Soft simple cozy. Not covered in Disney princesses (the only way America buys little girl PJs apparently)

So, that was my day. Now its time to make pizza and watch another movie. AND PUT THEM TO BED. Crafting saps all parenting energy out of me. HA.

FRIDAY mamas. FRIDAY!