The Sweetest Dreams

As we wear the things we love, they get a little tattered and rough around the edges.  Or in my partner's case, he gets a massive hole in his pajama pants.

So what do I do with his birthday coming up?  I decide to make him two pairs of pajama pants to replace the ones that are beyond repair.  

I've been working on a lot of pants designs lately, so I will do a blogpost directly about how to get the fit for the butt right and what to aim for with the legs.  With that in mind, I thought I'd focus on what's a little more unique to men's pajamas.  The mysterious little buttoned up hole that I recently found out is not just for aesthetic appeal, i guess I don't ask enough men about their pajamas.

I sewed on a strip of fabric for the cut I made for the opening, and then folded said strip over.  I attached it by sewing in the ditch of the first seam so that my second seam would be invisible from the outside of the garment.  I did this because it will make where the fabric was cut more durable, and so that when I make the button and buttonhole, both will be more secured since they will have more to grab onto.

Once finished with either side of the opening, I lined the bottoms of each together and sewed them thoroughly together so that from the outside you can only see one side of the opening (look three pictures below for reference).

For both pairs of pajama pants I used buttons that would be fun accents (because I refuse to let my previous notion of this opening being a fashion choice die in vain).  

After all of those pieces lined up, I needed to do the waistband.  For that I used elastic and a draw string. 

To sew in the elastic, I made a sewn together loop of elastic that is as big around as my partner's hips, and then I folded the fabric over and under the elastic loop, giving myself enough room with the fabric so that I would have a small allowance to sew on the top and bottom of the elastic without catching the elastic in my stitches all the way around.  As soon as I was finished with a section, I would scrunch up the fabric around the elastic inside, and work on the next stretch so that I would have plenty of room to pin and sew.  I also lined the cord up with elastic while doing this so that I wouldn't have to thread it through when I was finished.

For the pockets, I left a long opening between the front and the back on one side and then sewed the pocket's matching slit to the one for the pants' hip.  I gave myself a bit of a deeper slit on both so that I could sew the up all together (sewing together four layers) so that the pocket would be less likely to tear at the bottom of the opening.

Then when I was working on the waistband, I sewed the top of the pocket into the waistband in the front so that the pocket would stay in place.

Both pairs turned out quite splendidly, and I only have to make minor adjustments to both now that my partner's birthday has come and passed and he's given them a bit of test driving.

I will happily make the adjustments and enjoy the fact that he wears things that I made.

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.