Just the Bottom: The Agnes PJ's
Do you ever have a project in mind, work yourself to the bone to achieve it only to realise that it’s not going to work? Well this project is one of those times. In fact it happened twice. The ending, although delightful, was not the intended ending.
When I saw this special fabric from Dashwood studios I envisioned a very Love Shack Fancy type top. The pintucks on the front, throw in some lace and some gorgeous full sleeves for good measure. Think dreamy, whimsical chic. I had it all planned. I got the vintage Vogue pattern to do it and was perusing etsy for the perfect trim. But then disaster struck. A rookie mistake. I did not fit into the size range of the vintage Vogue pattern. Determined, I still continued on my quest. I traced out the largest size and attempted a full bust adjustment and some added ease to the side seams. I thought I had it and then disaster struck again! After all that work I realised these pattern pieces were for 56”+ fabric and I had 44”. These pieces weren’t going to fit and even with me trying to tetris them on it wasn’t going to happen. I had to accept defeat at this point and move on to another idea.
That next idea was Agnes PJ’s from Paper Theory. One thing I have not shared is that I’m a huge pajama wearer and I absolutely love them. So it made sense to make some cute pajamas with this fabric. As we’re moving into colder weather I loved the look of the full length pants and long sleeve version. I didn’t waste any time and ordered my PDF pattern and sent it off to print. In three days it arrived and I started tracing it out. I’m not tall so I could already see I needed to trim 4” off the length. I made my adjustments and was ready to cut.
I laid my fabric across the ground and my sweet husband looked at me and I looked at him alarmed. It wasn’t going to fit. What was going on? What had I done this time? I tried my hand with sewing tetris once again and I could not make it fit. It was either just the pants or just the top. I deliberated with my husband and after 30 mins I decided to just progress with the pants. I needed that more and I was happy to settle for what I needed. It turns out I had requested 3m and not 4 like I thought. What a journey to get to this point. Moral of the story: be mindful of how much fabric you order!
All that aside, let's talk about this fabric. It’s a lightweight cotton that holds it’s crisp shape, making it the perfect pajama pant fabric. It also makes it perfect for a button down pajama top but let’s talk about that later as it is still a sore spot. The print makes all my fairy kid dreams come true. The pastel pink with the moths, butterflies and flowers makes me want to head straight to dreamland.
Now the sewing of the pants took 30 mins. I kid you not. It came together super fast and probably would have been faster had I not been dancing so much to the music that was playing. So simple that I have more pairs planned but they won’t be as pretty as these ones. I’m so happy with the final garment but looking at the pictures you wouldn’t have guessed what I went through to get here. I don’t think we share enough of these stories on what doesn’t work out but sewing is very much like this and sometimes we need projects like this to humble us.
Oh and yes, if you’re wondering, these are not just for inside use. I did in fact go out with them and pair them with my Goodnight Day Kelowna Sweater made from Universal Yarn Chunky and Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn (for anyone curious it’s in the colour ‘Foam’). This pandemic finally brought everyone to the dark side that I've always been a part of. Wearing your pajamas outside the house!
