Shark attack pyjamas

Time for some winter pyjamas for the boy!

The last time I made him pyjamas in a woven fabric he hardly wore them and has declared he "prefers stretch fabric for sleepwear" (seriously, I've created a monster alright).

Well he's eaten his words 'cause he LOVES these pyjamas. Now, he has qualified his demands as stretch all over, or a stretch top with woven pants is also acceptable.

The shark flannelette came from Spotlight ages ago when they were having a sale. Either I stashed it for a very long time and there might once have been enough for top and bottoms, or it postdates the pyjama edict and I only bought enough for bottoms.

He tried A's Bedtime Story size 8 pyjamas on and they were too small, so that pattern's finished for him. I went back to the Sleepover Pyjamas which go up to size 12. I thought I could simplify them by leaving off the bottom cuffs. I cut a size 10 with size 12 length, but that wasn't long enough. The cuffs really do add considerable length and without them the pants were ankle grazers.

From the tiny bits of leftovers I could cut a pair of arbitrarily sized cuffs and threw a bit of navy flat piping in the seam to break up the print mismatch.

The top is fun, and also uses up the last of some thick, navy cotton lycra knit I've had for ages. It's the Jalie Nico raglan in size O which I already had traced from his recent T-shirts.

I didn't have enough fabric for any kind of acceptable sleeve length, but could cut some cuffs from the odd shaped scraps and I think cuffs always look more pyjama-y anyway, right?

The shark scrap is stitched to the back side of the T-shirt with a close zig zag stitch and then the T-shirt knit cut away leaving a small raw edge.

He hasn't not worn these to bed since I finished them. Enough to almost tempt me to restock the stash with more flannelette on sale...

But that's not the point. I'm endeavouring to use stuff up and add less. 

And so, after I cut the pants and there was about half a metre of fabric left I thought of how I could use it...

And I ended up making the cutest thing ever! 

Using the Oliver + S Teaparty Playsuit as the base, I overlapped the bodice and body sections to cut a one piece. I omitted the shoulder button closures and just closed the shoulder seams. The seam allowances were cut off the neckline and armholes so they could be finished with bias binding. As the Teaparty playsuit already has a centre front seam allowance (on the body part at least) it was no biggy to put a zipper down the middle.

The leg length came from the Oliver + S Lullaby Layette pants, and the whole thing should be a reasonable approximation of a size 12-18month.

The shark flannelette was quilted onto some bamboo quilt wadding (again using some last remnants - yay!) before cutting out the pattern pieces. 

I used the freemotion quilting foot that I'd bought ages ago for my machine (don't ask why). That was wild and a bit of fun. It took some getting used to the complete loss of control but I ended up going with the flow and I think my watery ripples around the sharks look great.

The lining is a cool striped knit that has also been in the stash forever. I found the zipper in the zipper box and some small remnants of blue knit that were just enough for making binding. Except for the striped knit there was nothing left to put away again by the end.

Frighteningly, I'd already quilted and cut this before I realised his pyjama pants were too short. So those cuffs really were a miraculous scrap buster.

Befitting a one year old's playsuit, the legs close with snaps. Yep, my snap stash had exactly the right shade of blue. :)

A friend's baby has just turned one and I was delighted to deliver this to him. I hope it fits and keeps him snug and warm during winter. 

While P was revelling in his pyjamas, A was watching me sew this and declared she wanted a pair of quilted overalls! :) Um, no, but I do have some awesome silver/black stretch denim to make her some overalls.

I can't wait to see this worn, and if it works well, then I'll keep the pattern for some of my other small, leftovers of flannelette. There's nothing more satisfying than using stuff up!

Details:

Patterns: Oliver + S Sleepover Pyjama pants, Jalie Nico Raglan, self drafted overalls based on Oliver + S Teaparty Playsuit

Size: Pants: 10 , T-shirt: O, playsuit: 12-18m

Fabric: Spotlight novelty flannelette, stashed striped knit and navy knit.

Notions: Quilt batting, knit binding, snaps, zipper all from stash