Today is my stop on the Sew Family Jammies blog tour being hosted by Mac, who is one of the wonderful creatives behind Sew Altered Style. This was my first time to make my entire family Christmas pajamas!!!

When I first set out to make everyone pajamas, I thought “Pajamas are easy. I am going to just knock this out really quick.” Then, time went on, and my thoughts quickly changed to “Wow, I have 5 kids. This is going to take forever.”

Don’t worry. It didn’t take forever. I chose quick knit patterns for both tops and bottoms and did not use the same fabric for more than two people. I didn’t want to get bored half way through, so I used several fabrics that worked beautifully together.

Now, let’s dive in to the patterns I chose and then we will chat about fabric, where we all have worn our pajamas, and of course, holiday cheer!

Greenstyle Brassie and Iron Joggers

For my husband I used the Greenstyle Iron Joggers*. This is his favorite lounge and pajama pattern, and he asks me to make him more all the time. In fact, I have several pairs in the queue for him as Christmas presents.

For my joggers, I used the Greenstyle Brassie jogger pattern. It is my absolute favorite jogger pattern for women and is so comfy! I used the mid rise and did not add buttonholes or grommets. Instead, I shortened the width of my waistband and added some height.

You can see the sew along I did for the Brassie and Iron Joggers here.

Greenstyle Green Tee

For my top, I used the FREE Greenstyle Green Tee pattern. I always size up on this pattern for extra ease. I also added a cuff (and removed 4 inches of length off of the long sleeve to accommodate the cuff) so that it has a more pajama feel.

I did not make my husband’s top. He said he already had one picked out that he wanted to wear, so I saved some time on him!

Striped Swallow Juniper Joggers

For my youngest four kids, I used the Striped Swallow Juniper Joggers as their pajama bottoms pattern. I love the ease in the Juniper pattern because it means the bottoms will fit my kids for more than a month. I have sewn other pajama patterns that were nicely fitted, and then, my kids outgrew them so quick that it just was not worth my time. On my middle kid, I left his loose on the bottom and just hemmed them, while I used the included cuff piece for my other kids.

This jogger pattern is super quick to make because it doesn’t have a side seam or pockets. It is seriously 30 minutes from start to finish.

Greenstyle Everyday Yoga Pants

For my oldest daughter, I used the Greenstyle Everyday Yoga Pants*. She is now in the women’s sizing on the pattern, so I removed length (4.5 inches) for her height.

I straightened out all the leg seams to give them a loose fit. I used my big quilting ruler and drew a straight line from crotch to hem. Here is what that looks like:

The Made by Jack’s Mum Eclipse Top

For my two oldest daughters I used the MBJM Eclipse top, one in long sleeve and the other short sleeve. I used soft jersey fabrics without spandex. I found the fabric on my shelf but have no recollection of where it came from!

Made for Mermaids Lee Raglan

For my middle son (the boy with dark brown hair), I used the Lee raglan by Made for Mermaids. I made him a size 8 according to his measurements and didn’t alter the pattern. He is such a sweetheart!

Sew a Little Seam Movie Night Pajamas

For my youngest two kids’ tops, I used the Sew a Little Seam Movie Night Pajama top. It is a free pajama pattern that also includes bottoms. I have made the pajama bottoms before, but they were more fitted, and my kids grew out of them too quickly.

I had to adjust the Movie Night Pajamas top pattern for both of them because they are skinnier and taller than the pattern is drafted for. (My son is a 6 height and 5 width, and my daughter is a 2 height and 12 month width).

For some reason, the pattern recommends adding length only in the body, but I did not adjust like the pattern recommends because I knew they needed the extra length also in the armscye, not only in the body. So, I used the bigger size for the armsyce and the width of the smaller size.

Fabric

Now let’s talk about all the fun fabric I used!! The main prints that I used were (1) stripes from The Fabric Fairy, (2) Christmas Unicorns from Joann, and (3) Buffalo Plaid from Hobby Lobby. The coordinating red, black, and green solids are cotton lycra from Made Whimsy Fabric.

The Fabric Fairy Stripes are yarn-dyed. This means that the yarn is dyed and the print is the same on the front and back. I used the 3/4 inch stripe size for the red and white and the 3/8 inch stripe for the green and white.

This fabric is just so soft! I LOVE it!! I was worried the red would not be the right Christmas shade I wanted based on the listing photo, but once I received it, I was ecstatic that it was the perfect Christmas red shade.

My daughters are really into unicorns lately and got so excited when we spotted Christmas unicorns at Joann. Stripes, hearts, unicorns, joy, pink, red, and mint!! It is just perfect. This one is in the doodles section and is cotton with just a little spandex. I have heard it shrinks a lot, so I always buy extra.

I just can’t get over all things plaid this year so I couldn’t pass up the Christmas buffalo plaid at Hobby Lobby. They had it in knit, fleece, and flannel. I went with the knit!!

We took photos of our matching pajamas on Saturday and afterwards made a trip to Costco. We didn’t have time to go home to change so we just wore our pajamas!

Before we walked in, one of my kids said, “Mom, everyone is going to stare at me, and I am going to be so embarrassed!” To which I replied, “You don’t need to be embarrassed. Just look at all the JOY you see on people’s faces.” When we were back in the car, I turned around to see a crew of smiling faces and heard, “Mom, I made their day.”

I am SO GLAD I took the time to make us all PJs. I am such a sucker for Christmas and have been singing and playing Christmas songs so much lately and it took my Christmas JOY to a whole new level.  Sew Family Jammies may now just be a tradition for the Aguilars.

Thanks for stopping by today! I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

*Disclosures

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.

XO

I am a chino shorts kind of girl! Every year in late spring, I stop by the Gap, Old Navy, and Target and buy myself several 5 inch Chino style shorts to rotate through all summer. Sewing shorts and woven pants with zipper flies, belt loops, and welt pockets just intimidate me to be honest. I would look into the insides of my favorite pairs and just marvel at the pockets, bias tape, zipper finishing, and all the little details.

This year was a little different; I just could not bring myself to buy chino shorts. I knew I needed to get over my intimidation and just make some. It also helped that when I spied into this year’s selection at Target that they only had high waisted jean shorts and a few 3 inch inseam chinos. Whew! They didn’t even have what I was looking for.

Well, last month, I tackled the Greenstyle Taylor shorts, which was my first official pair of handmade zipper-flyed woven shorts, and it gave me so much confidence. They were surprisingly rather quick to make, and the instructions were so straightforward. I seriously made three in a week in the middle of all my other testing and sewing commitments and have worn them nonstop and have gotten so many compliments for them. I blogged about them here if you are curious.

Then, I saw the testing call for the Sew a Little Seam Linden shorts for women a few weeks ago. The designer, Kelly Ballou, included photos of the insides of her shorts, and I literally gasped. They had all the inside finishings of my store-bought chinos. The difference in these and the Taylor shorts is that you need to be prepared for MANY pattern pieces. You have facings, welt pockets or patch pockets, topstitching guides, back yolk options, bias tape, belt loops, coin pockets, flat felled seams, skirt options, jeans options, knit comfort options…   I am not even sure I named all the options! This is not a quick pattern, but it is so worth it! It took me at least 3 days to sew up one pair, and that includes several really late nights (some with a seam ripper in hand).

Another challenge for this pattern for me was fabric choice. I really had to force myself to sew basics. On my pretesting pair, I used a bright apple green and instantly regretted it. They are the perfect most comfortable shorts fitwise, but they are in a color that I don’t often wear. I used my least favorite fabric first since it was a pretest, but looking back on it, I should have jumped for the capsule basics first. The seams on the pattern are 5/8 inch, which gives plenty of room for fit adjustments if you need to make any (I did not need any!!)

If you are going to invest this much time in a project, use fabric you know will coordinate with a lot in your wardrobe. For pair number 2, I chose a navy twill that goes with so many tops in my closet. I know navy is not terribly exciting, but I learned my lesson from my first pair (keep reading and you will get to see my bright pair too!)

I love how professional the welt pockets are on this pattern and how deep the front pockets are.

Here are the BEAUTIFUL insides. I made my own bias tape to finish the inner waistband on both pairs of shorts I made. The pop of pink and orange just makes me happy, even if I am the only one who will see it.

Next up, I made a mini skirt. I used velveteen for it and used the jean style option with a back yolk. I did not use the jean patch pockets, though, and opted for welt pockets again.

The jean style option on the pattern has a back yolk and curved front pockets. You can also do a coin pocket to make it look like traditional jeans. On the jean-style waistband, you topstitch around to finish and have a inside waistband piece that is the same size as the outer. On the chino shorts, you have bias tape to finish the inside and stitch in the ditch around the outside of your waistband to secure it.

The skirt feels a little short for chasing kids, but I think it is the perfect date night skirt. I can’t tell you how excited I was to recreate my favorite J Crew skirt!!

I love how soft this fabric is and how the welt pocket turned out! I have been saving this velveteen for the perfect skirt pattern! I have a few other prints in this velveteen so I may need to make more of these skirts!

My favorite part, of course, are the details on the insides. I did not do the flat felled seams everywhere on the inside of the skirt. After doing the flat felled on the yolk, I realized how thick this fabric was and decided to finish the rest with a serger.

Last, but not least, is my bright apple green pair that I made in pretesting. I have actually been wearing them a lot. They are just so functional and comfortable that the green may just be growing on me.

Sizing

I made a size 0/2 based only on my high hip and full hip measurement. My waist and thigh measurements were actually in the next size up, but I did not take those measurements into account. If my high hip and full hip measurement were different, I would have need to grade accordingly. I felt the sizing was perfect on this pattern. If you are using a stable knit, you may need to size down.

This fabric base is a cotton sateen. It is a twill weave that is incredible for chino shorts. It is soft, has a great weight, and is easy to work with. I think if I use it again, I will get the maize or magenta colorways because they coordinate better with my wardrobe.

These shorts are so comfortable! Instead of buying a stack of chino shorts at the end of next Spring, I am just going to need to add a few more of these to my collection. I will also get a lot of wear out of them this fall. Texas falls are still really mild, and on a chilly day, I can wear a button up or sweater to keep my arms warm.

Those insides though…

Resources – Patterns

1. The Linden Shorts/Skirt Pattern can be purchased here. There is a coupon code to get a discount on the pattern through the rest of September. You can find that code in the Sew a Little Seam Facebook group.

2. The top that I am wearing with my Blue shorts is the Toaster Sweater #2 by Sew House Seven.

3. The top that I am wearing with the velveteen skirt is the 5 out of 4 Camilla that I blogged about here.

4. The top that I am wearing with my green shorts is a slimmed down Sewholic Renfrew top (which was my first V-neck that I made several years ago before I knew about PDF patterns!)

Resources

1. The Navy 6 ounce twill came from Imagine Gnats

2. The quilting cotton that I used for lining the Navy shorts is Juliana Horner Rosette.

3. The velveteen is Anna Maria Horner velveteen Innocent Crush Maybe

4. The quilting cotton that I used to line the velveteen skirt is Anna Maria Horner True Colors Filigree in Coral

5. The Green Twill is Free Spirit Cotton Sateen in Apple.

6. The quilting cotton that I used for the lining of the green shorts is Anna Maria Horner Field Study Raindrop Poppies.

7. The zippers came from Wawak.

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope I have inspired you! You may follow me on Instagram or receive updates by liking my page on Facebook. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.

Disclosures: I received this pattern for free as part of the testing process to give the designer feedback about the instructions and fit of the pattern. This post also may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. There is no cost to you.  Any and all opinions expressed are my own.