Sewing Some More

Hello Lovelies,

once again I have found myself doing some dressmaking this week. This wasn't a project I had been planning at all, it just sort of happened..........as many of my creative projects do.

At have a pair of P.J. trousers that are super comfy............or should I say I HAD a pair, as at the weekend this happened...........

I was very sad as they were favourites. I've worn them so much the fabric had become very thin and then torn.

I found these blog pictures of them when I first got them back in April 2011........

I like to wear cotton trousers and a t.shirt in bed when it's chilly

They came from a charity shop and loved the combination of  floral and stripy fabric. That patch pocket is so sweet don't you think.Nobody really needs a pocket in their P.J. trousers , but I really it.

Here they are hanging out to dry that same month.........

The soft cotton fabric and the wide elastic made them super comfy.

On Monday I had an idea how I could recreate my favourite jammies.

On Tuesday I watched the Great British Sewing Bee  with interest.......they too were copying favourite their garments.........I loved it and greatly admired their creations.

My make is much simpler, and I planned to dismantle my worn out trousers, to use them directly as a pattern.

On Wednesday morning I started. The unpicking seemed to take ages.........all the seams were over-locked and seamed separately.....

My plans always change and evolve as they go, and once  I reached this stage I made two decisions.......firstly to leave the side seam intact as it was straight and I didn't see the point in cutting out four leg pieces, when two would do.
Secondly I decided to create a paper pattern as I thought it would be easier to cut around accurately.........

Here it is........it's one complete leg, so I just needed to cut two of these and a waistband..........

Next I headed off to the airing cupboard to find my fabric. This candy stripe sheet was originally my Nanna's.
 I love it, but I don't use it and thought I would take the plunge and turn it into something I will.........

I measured the original seam allowance, and sewed the same narrow seams.......

 I don't have an over-locker, so I tried to replicate it's stitching with a second row of straight stitch and a zig-zag............

I was keen to have a mix of stripes and flowers in my recreated version, so I searched my stash for something suitable.

This is a thrifted duvet cover that  I picked up ages ago because I liked the mix of fabrics...........

Those ditsy lilac flowers looked just right for the waistband

And here is the 2" elastic I bought from the market on Wednesday afternoon...........

Along with some seeds...........Thank you for your great suggestions to my query in THIS post lovelies.

It's a very different experience, sewing like this instead of following pattern instructions. There are so many decisions to make, about the order of things and how to tackle each stage.

The waistband was troubling me from the start, but in the end it came together fine.

this is the inside.

And here are my finished pyjama trousers.........

Ta-Dah..........

Oh, I'm really thrilled with them. I love the fact that they fit exactly like my old, worn out pair. I love too, that they are made from recycled and sentimental fabrics. And I'm so happy  that I managed to make them without a bought pattern.

The only things I did buy were that wide elastic and this cute crochet trim............

It was part of a very inexpensive haul I found in "The Works", of all places...........

This is the waistband up close. To avoid the elastic twisting in it's fabric sleeve I anchored it to the fabric every couple of inches.........I didn't fancy trying the stitching that the original garment had.......

It's that cross stitch in the centre.

Here is the back...........

Yes, you knew there would be a pocket didn't you lovelies.

It was my favourite part of the originals so I couldn't leave it out :0).............

It's made from a different part of that duvet cover and includes this fake ric-rac that seemed perfect for this pocket.

I wasn't going to model these, but what the heck.........don't laugh.....

I'm looking forward to many comfy nights sleep in these recreated favourites and I hope you enjoyed this rather long post about how they came to be :0)
Jacquie x