Carolyn Pajamas for Christmas (WKSA 21- Final)

Happy new year folks!

Today I can proudly present you this year’s Christmas dress, my Christmas pajamas. It actually finished on time for Christmas Eve and the sewing went without major disasters.

I really like the end result. I decided on a dark green plaid flannel, paired with velvet ribbon and golden buttons – all from Stoff & Stil and the Caroyln Pajamas by Closet Core Patterns. It turned out to be very festive, doesn’t it? In fact, I wore the top to my mother’s Christmas dinner. I don’t think it was noticed at all. Maybe I should show up in my pajamas more often 😀

Only the motivation to take photos has been very limited in the last few days and honestly it still does, so sorry if I don’t seem so motivated in the pictures – at least it’s not because of the pajamas!

When placing the ribbons, I used the original placement of the piping for inspiration. However, it failed at the collar, because it didn’t work well. I suspected that right away, but I had to give it a try. That wouldn’t have been nice, however.
Instead of sewing them like piping, I simply laid the velvet ribbons over the seam between the sleeve and the cuff and sewed it on. It didn’t turn out quite properly. I sewed the tape on by hand on the second sleeve, but I don’t think the end result is that nice. At least in relation to the effort, so for the trousers I took the machine again.

I love love love this breast pocket by the way. Otherwise when I see patterns that contain breast pockets I tend to ignore them completely in my mind. But it still somehow gives the whole thing that bit of extra – especially with the golden ribbon as an accent.
Unfortunately I just noticed that one of the sleeve bands is already starting to fray. I was hoping the selvage would be strong enough to withstand more than two washes. Let’s see whether this occurs in other places. It can be exchanged quickly if it must and I still have enough left over.

Sewing

The fabric was easy to work with and ironed like a dream and I like it very much.
Unfortunately, there are many little fabric knots on it. I don’t know for sure if it’s pilling or if these are from the pillowcase I used for washing. I’ll have to watch that. In terms of color, they don’t match too well, but they are tightly felted in. And of course only on the right (smooth!) side. There is no single knot on the fluffy inside.
After the wash (maybe even before) it was also warped a lot and so I didn’t care too much about pattern matching. In some places it worked out quite well, but more by chance.

I applied the pattern pieces individually and not cut them in double layers of fabric in order to be able to keep an eye on the pattern matching at least a little – or to imagine that I do. Except for a back part that I cut incorrectly, the cutting went smoothly.
I tend to get confused with the sides when I put the pattern pieces on individually. And if I cut something wrong the next time I am so confused that I usually cut it wrong again, so I am quite happy is was just a single piece.

Incidentally, that would not have happened if I hadn’t sewn a back seam. The original pattern doesn’t have one. I put it in to have a bit room for a swayback adjustment on the go. However, I did not use this option either on the wearable muslin or on the Christmas pajamas. I can still change it – but I don’t think so. It bothers me a lot less than I thought, that little extra fabric on the back.

In general, it is interesting how many points on the muslin bother me unbearably, but then I don’t care about them on the finished one. But maybe I’ve become more relaxed over time.
A word about the pockets. First of all pockets! I think these are my first pocket pajamas – how could I ever survive without them?
However, they also made sure that a paper tissue was left in there before the laundry.

Adjustments

I actually didn’t make that many adjustments. I once sewn the shorts version of the pants from an old bed sheet and then immediately sewed a wearable muslin from another bed sheet. The legs are much too long for me in the original version. I had cut them off at the line that was intended for the cuff-variant, but this way they had the perfect length (including hem allowance) so that I didn’t do the cuffs on the first two pants. For this one, however, I shortened the legs by the length of the cuff in order to keep the same length.
I also enlarged the pockets a little so that my phone fits in.

I straightened the shoulders on the top and moved the shoulder seam to the front. In retrospect, I should have left the last change, the seam gets enough to the front through the shoulder straightening as I suspect and is now too far forward.
In addition, I did make a tiny FBA because there was a bit of pulling over my chest. And finally there was the useless addition of the back seam.

On the sleeves I also put the shoulder point forward and added a little more upper arm width.

I think I did not properly transfer the changes to the front facing. Interestingly enough, on the one side it fit exactly, on the other it was too short at the bottom – or, as I suspect, it was sewn on incorrectly somewhere and slipped. But because I was too lazy to sew it on again, I only cut the hem a bit at that point, now it is hardly noticeable.

I also screwed up the hem again. Somehow I never manage to fold hems properly and then only catch half of them when sewing over them and have to finish them up by hand, no matter how hard I try.

Right now I can also see, but I only noticed it in the pictures, that the collar to the button placket part doesn’t lay right. But I think that’s more due to the fabric as this doesn’t happen with the muslin. At least I think so…

All in all, I have now achieved a fit that is similar to that of my (RTW) planet-blouse. The top is also very, very comfortable for lounging on the sofa, knitting or sitting at the computer. But when I move, I notice that it is not yet perfectly fitted. It is then a bit tense and annoying, especially in the sleeve and shoulder area. For the planned purpose, however, this is completely sufficient and I am very happy with it.

Incidentally, it will be presented to you today in a lifelike manner with creases and my sleep-hairstyle. And unfortunately without a Christmas tree, because taking photos inside just doesn’t work. As compensation, there is a wintery-fat and -fluffy micro-Wolfgang.

Linked to MeMadeMittwoch (WKSA)