Tuesday 16 February 2016

Houndstooth Pyjama Pants

It's winter in Canada and our heat pump isn't working properly (Lennox is working on it). We're not in danger of freezing. We have a wood stove and tons of wood, and our heat pump has a backup electric coil that does work. But the reason we had the heat pump installed was to save money.  Electricity is expensive here, so we don't want to use the electricity unless it is absolutely necessary. Our wood stove is great at heating the basement, but the heat that it generates doesn't get circulated around the rest of the house very well. What does all of this have to do with anything, you ask. Well, it means that the main floor of our bungalow is cold. And most of the time, I'm on the main floor. So I need to dress warm, especially in the evenings.  I like to sit down and watch Downton Abbey or Agent Carter in the evenings. And if I get chilled, I find it extremely hard to warm up and I can't sleep. So, I decided to use that houndstooth flannelette that I used in the Valentine's Day Dress and make myself a pair of pyjama pants.

Once again, I called on Simplicity 3696, the same pattern envelope that I used for the Reindeer Robe a couple of weeks ago. Through trial and error, I've learned that even though my waist and hip measurements fall into Simplicity's XL category, I prefer to wear a smaller size. This time I made up the pants in a size L, but I extended the rise to the height of the size XL, because I don't want to hear my kids singing, "I see London. I see France. I see Momma's underpants!" and it's easy to take away extra fabric if need be.

So anyway, I made up my pyjama pants in a size L, praying the whole time that they would be large enough to go around me. I sewed the inseams, I sewed the crotch seam and I sewed the outer seams. The  moment of truth had arrived... were they big enough to go around me? 

They were HUGE! I put them on over my yoga pants and my very bulky (maternity) sweater! No, I'm not pregnant, but like I said, I have to dress warm, and this old maternity sweater is long and warm.

I don't like to feel constricted by my pyjama pants when I'm sleeping so I decided to leave the fullness in the waist and high hip, but from there down the pants were just too full for my liking.  Circumference alterations were needed. So, I turned the pants inside out, put them back on and used a few pins to mark where I thought the pants could use a little slenderizing. When I took them off, I lay them flat, and used my French curve to mark a new stitch line that's more representative of my body's curves. After resewing the seam and removing the excess fabric (8 inches off the leg opening of each leg!) I finished the waistband and hem.

Simplicity 3696

This time when I tried them on, I realized that the extra length in the back crotch depth is awesome, but I don't like it in the front crotch depth. I unpicked the waistband, lowered the centre front by 1.5 inches, tapering to nothing being removed at the side seams, and reattached the waistband. I think I've created the perfect pair of pyjama pants for my body!

The waistband is now parallel to the floor,
and the side seam is perpendicular to the floor.

The pattern calls for a 1/2" wide elastic for the waistband, which I think is kind of small, to be inserted in to a waistband casing.  I decided to use a 3/4" wide elastic, but to sew it directly to the edge the waistband, turn it under and stitch it to the pants a second time. It's a neat little method. It saves you from having to thread the elastic into the casing, which I honestly don't mind doing. It keeps the gathers all perfectly spaced throughout the waist. And it keeps the elastic from flipping in the casing. The drawback is that it makes waist alterations harder.  

I made the same alterations to my paper pattern tracing, so next time I want to sew up perfect pyjama pants, I won't have to spend the time figuring it out all over again!

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