Mara pyjama

Like I mentioned in January, instead of making up my own (sewing) resolutions I simply joined the new year's plans of others. Sew Your Pattern Stash is one of those projects and the perfect type of resolution. Unfortunately I did find anybody with an innovative idea for sewing fabric stash. Maybe I should come up with something next year.

This months Sew Your Pattern Stash theme is accessories and pyjamas. I am not the accessories type so pyjamas it is (I just realized my previous post totally falls in the accessories category and I did own the pattern in 2014, so I again have a double entry this month).

A year ago I bought a very soft double gauze at modes4u which my middle daughter immediately loved. The fabric is so soft and she loved the little sheep. I immediately saw a night gown in it, but I did not find a  pattern that really spoke to me. I wanted a night gown that would not need buttons or a zipper (but the double gauze is not really stretchy) and considered making a peasant dress version but in the end I decided to use my Mara pattern (after seeing a great Mara pyjama here).

The Mara is an adorable blouse pattern that I had been eying for a year already but finally bought in combination with the Charles. To create easy entry I made the yoke from knit. I used a T-shirt from my husband for the yoke because I realized I do not own any white jersey. I feared that plain white jersey would have become a bit boring and I decided to use my textile marker once again. Some of the sheep on the fabric have curls and I used a similar pattern for the yoke. While drawing I realized the textile marker is too thick. It was impossible to make sharp lines. The tip of the marker always drew a bit on the side as well. It seems I need to buy a thinner one.

I cut the yoke as one piece and therefore made the pattern piece less wide. I lengthened the pattern to have dress length and flared the bottom out. For my three and a half year old I had to cut a size one year old so I also had to lengthen the sleeves. I opted for a bit tighter sleeve bottoms.

Still trying to master the plush animal on shoulder look.

The whole thing sewed up quickly.  The neckline was the only issue. I could not decide on the optimal finish. The neckline consists of both woven and knit fabric. I did not want a full lining (too much fabric needed) I did not wanted a partial lining (this would give an ending piece somewhere on the inside of a pyjama) and a partial woven partial jersey bias also did not make it to the top of my list. In the end I just opted for a quick solution, keeping in mind that it is "just" a pyjama. I first serged the whole neckline, than folded and stitched in place with a small zigzag. This resulted in a slightly waving neckline even after I steamed the hell out it.  A few washes hopefully do the trick.

The photo's were taken in our back yard. I turned the garden table into a bed and both my son and daughter loved it (my daughter really wanted a lot of "fake sleep" photos). My son even photo bombed the shoot as you can see in the back ground.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).