another present for me? and also one for mr. sew rachel!

You thought you weren't going to hear from me again until after Christmas.... but... SURPRISE! Actually, I thought the same thing, until I saw these Christmas PJs from Did you make that?.  I immediately decided that I, too, needed a pair, promptly ordered the Alexander Henry fabric, and this evening, in about 3 hours start to finish, I made myself another Christmas present to me!

I've been itching to try the Tofino Pants pattern by Sewaholic, but with a print like this a simpler pattern was needed, something that wouldn't break up the print. I decided to go with Simplicity 2258. I had made the skirt from this pattern before and loved it, so this time I chose view D, the capri option, lengthening it to pants by tracing some RTW pajama pants. 

I love the pockets on this pattern. It goes together very easily, too. I spent longer cutting out the pieces than I did sewing! With any large-scale print (and especially this particular print!) you'll need to make sure your pattern pieces are cut to avoid awkward print placement. I also wanted to make sure I had an even distribution of the dudes on my PJs.  I ended up cutting each piece out in a single layer, so I could select how the print would look on each individual pattern piece. I was so tickled with myself, I even cut it so I have one of the guys peeking out of my pocket!

...that is until I tried them on. The waist band was too high, hitting at a spot not only unflattering but uncomfortable! I sadly had to trim the rise on the waist down another 1.5", re-cut my waistband, and cut off the head of my pocket dude.

Before

After

Oh well! I'm still very smitten with them. I added a little satin bow to the front, just for a feminine touch, and I took a risk attempting to match the print over the center seams... look how well the back came out!

That tree ended up matching perfectly at the back center seam!

I didn't even notice until Mr. Sew Rachel pointed it out.... the print matches up when I'm standing

And Mr. Sew Rachel got some new jammies too! Since we recently bought our first house, we decided to not exchange gifts this year. BUT a pair of his wore out catastrophically last week, and I thought it was only fair for us both to get new Christmas PJs. I decided to try something new and make him some jersey pants using New Look 6165. (Ok! So I picked this pattern in part because I liked the women's options that came with it. What a selfish seamstress! But hey, more bang for you pattern buck!) He usually goes for grey or navy, but I spotted this lovely cranberry red in a thick jersey. And you know what? He loves them and the color looks great!

Instead of a 1" or 1.25" elastic waistband, this pattern divides the waistband into three casings, the top and bottom for .25" elastic and the middle for a drawstring. Very cool design! I improvised the drawstring out of white, single fold bias tape that I folded in half and top-stitched with cranberry thread. A simple knot finishes each end, and you have a good-looking, study drawstring. I'm also pleased with the double line of top-stitching on the pockets. I think these came out pretty polished!

I constructed both pants on my regular sewing machine (using a slight zig-zag stitch for the jersey pair), after each seam finishing the raw edges on the serger for a polished look. I particularly love my serger when it comes to hems! All I do is go over the raw edge on the serger, then fold over and stitch once on the machine. Viola! Two new Christmas PJ bottoms!