Butterick 4406 FO

It's been far too long since I've done any sewing at all, I just haven't been in the mood to get into the sewing room, but from the weekend onwards I've been starting to miss it and needed a new fun quick project to get me going again. These pyjamas were just that.

They are made from killington flannel which is a lovely soft double napped flannel (which means it's brushed on both sides) and it comes in a natural unbleached shade. I threw it in the machine with some burgundy dylon and because I dyed so much fabric with one tub of dye it came out this dark pink shade. It was a stroke of luck though as the fabric totally matched the thread I bought the other week to use on one of my sister's presents!

The pattern is one of their Fast and Easy ones and it was all that. These took me two mornings to put together and only a couple of hours in each of those sessions with plenty of breaks for other things. I used size Large (I am so happy, before my weight loss I'd have to have used the XL so it's a real accomplishment for me to get into the larges!) and changed the pattern slightly by adding two inches to the body of the top and 3 inches to the length of the sleeves as on the pattern they're 3/4 length and I like to hold my sleeves in my hands when I'm going to sleep.

The sewing was simple, it's actually the best v-neck I've ever sewn as I didn't have to re-sew it due to it being off-centre like I normally do. The top stitching I added, the bottoms call for you to sew down the elastic casing and then top stitch around the top of it and I liked the effect so much that I used it on all the hems and also top stitched around the neckline. I then decided that I wanted the facings to stay laying flat, I can't imagine anything more uncomfortable than facings being all rumpled when you're trying to sleep, so I sewed them down as well.

I was considering putting on an iron-on applique onto the top but I couldn't make up my mind so they will stay plain and unadorned for now until I can come to a decision. I also didn't sew up the back of the elastic casing as I'm hoping to have to adjust the elastic in the new few months as I continue to loose weight (I'm feeling pretty motivated right now, long may that continue!).

I'm really happy with the way these came out and they feel so soft and should be really warm which is good as this house is colder than the old one. I'm also happy to have a slightly more 'grown up' pair of pyjamas in my drawer, all mine are kids prints and really baggy flannel pyjama bottoms with t-shirts and I'm starting to feel a bit of a mess in them, so having something slightly smarter is great.

I think I will be using the bottoms pattern as my standard pyjama bottoms pattern too, I'm fed up with the tapered legs of my current pairs and these are nice and straight without them being huge and really baggy, plus I didn't have to shorten them 4 or 5 inches like I do most pyjama patterns.

Now I need to make sure I keep sewing, Christmas presents are calling and I have some easy and fun things that I want to get made so I need to keep the momentum going.