Pajamas, Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, my current sewing project is a set of pajamas for my daughter.  I do have a little bit of progress to report!

I am using this pattern, McCalls M4643:

So far I've only completed the pajama bottoms.  I have the pieces for the top cut and ready to go, but haven't started on it yet.  But the pants turned out really cute!

The flannel I am using is from Joann's.  I have heard all over that most of the big pattern company's patterns run large, so I made this in a size 1, although my daughter is 18 months old and wears anywhere between an 18 months and 2T in clothing.  This was a good decision, as the pants are nearly exactly the same size as a pair of her store bought pajama pants that I was using as a guide for sizing, which are a size 24 months and a little big on her right now.

I didn't need to modify the length of the legs at all, they are to the pattern measurements, and are about an inch shorter than the legs of her store bought pants (which are a little long, so that's fine), and the same width.  I did have to shorten the pattern at the waist though.  If I had created the waistband casing according to the pattern directions, the waist would have been about an inch and a half higher than it is in the picture above.  I just laid the pants over her store bought pair, matched up the crotch, and figured how much I need to cut from the waist in order to have the right amount of fabric to turn over for the casing and end up with a finished crotch-to-waist length the same as her store bought pants.  But other than that, the pants are made to the pattern size 1.  I haven't tried them on her but I assume they will fit as when I lay them on top of her store bought pants they are nearly identical.

Next up is the top.  It is intended to have velcro at the shoulders, so that the top opens up for the head to go through, and then the shoulder pieces velcro together. I don't know if I like that, so I am thinking of sewing shut one shoulder panel, and then on the other side, instead of velcro, putting a couple of buttons, or maybe snaps.  Or maybe I'll just stick with the velcro on the first pair and think about modifications to further sets after I see how this one turns out.

Overall, I am super happy with the pants, and if the top turns out well, I think I will make several more sets of these PJs for her for this winter, as I've got a stack of flannel sitting here (and I actually just ordered some more tonight from Joann's website, now that it's back up and running after its Thanksgiving weekend crash, and they are honoring the Black Friday sale price of $1.99/yard on their flannel through tomorrow night). 

Maybe I can come back tomorrow with an actual picture of my daughter wearing the pants...