Pyjama No.5

I know this is a little later than planned but I'm currently up to my eyes in pyjamas, as well as other commitments.

Today I wanted to share with you the complete set of pyjamas that I'm giving my sister for Christmas. The first of the bottoms, is made out of two angel pillow cases, whilst the other is made out of a really cosy throw. The angel shorts matches with one of the men's pyjamas, whilst the throw is completely unique to her. It's up to her, whether or not she wants to match on the night.

The set includes:

Long sleeved top: Primark (£3.50)

Shorts: Made by me out of second hand pillow cases.

Trousers: Made from a tartan throw, I found in a random shop.

I made a pattern for the bottoms by borrowing my sisters favourite pyjama bottoms but of course me being me, I added probably a little too much wriggle room.

When it came to making these shorts, I wanted to keep the ruffle that was already on the original pillow case, so I simply made the ruffle the bottom of the shorts. I also think, that although they are shorts, the angels add a bit of Christmas spirit to them.

I couldn't get the full trousers into the photo, but you get the general idea. Again I used the detail on the throw to create detail on the bottom of the trousers, which can be seen bellow.

I hope this has inspired you!

Pyjama No.2

Hello again. I have another set of pyjamas to share with you today. This is the set that I will be wearing on Christmas eve, which is when I plan on giving everyone else their pyjamas.

I used the same fabric as I used for my Grandmas Pyjamas which you can see here. But decided to get myself a different coloured top, which also has a slightly different style.

Top: Primark (£1.80)
Bottoms: Made and designed by me. The Fabric is from a charity shop but was originally a bed sheet from H&M.

For the top, I decided to draw attention to the more purple pinks in the fabric,so I got this super soft t-shirt from Primark.

I made myself a pair of shorts for pyjama bottoms, as I already have a couple of longer pyjamas. Also I didn't have enough fabric to make something longer. To make them, I simply created a pattern by drawing around some of my existing pyjama bottoms and then simple added a couple of extra centimetres for wriggle room. I have included a useful video bellow to show how you too could draft yourself a pyjama bottom or another type of trouser.

I hope this has inspired you!

The plan

So I know I haven't posted in a while but I've been busy balancing my work and my sewing. This week was also the week where I finally decided what I would make for Christmas.
I was having a little noisy at some Christmas vlogs on-line, when I noticed that a lot of them seemed to feature family members all receiving matching pyjamas. I couldn't help but think how cheesily (I'm not sure if that's a word) cute this ritual was, when it dawned on me that I could make pyjama bottoms for the whole family.

So here's the plan (which I'm half way there to completing).

I'm going to make pyjama bottoms for each family member that I will be spending Christmas with. The bottoms will be made out of either the same fabric or matching fabric. Each person will have a different style of pyjama, as that way each person will still be an individual and the pyjamas won't become some kind of weird uniform.

As I'm already half way through this project, I've already sourced the fabric.

I had to also share with you where I got the fabric for this project from, as it's probably one of the best finds I've had in a long while. I've found bedding sets at my local charity shop (the equivalent of a thrift store). This means that the fabric is cheap and pre-washed, which saves me a job and makes the whole process quicker. Out of each double bed sheet I can get 2 to 3 bottoms and for every single sheet, I make 1 to 2 bottoms. Finally, I've bought several matching tops, in every ones sizes at Primark, as I don't think these pyjamas will be worn more than once, but hey, they'll make great pictures.

You may be asking how many bottoms I need to make.

Well I've got to make bottoms for six people and I'm making a night dress for my cousin to send off in the post, as she won't be spending Christmas with us this year and I didn't want her to miss out. However I've made two options for my sister, one long and one short, so that she will have an option. Another reason for this is because I think the long ones may be a little too long (I'm sure she'll grow into them at some point, right.)

I'm going to give out these pyjamas on Christmas eve!

My blog post won't just be on Sundays and Thursdays now in the run up to Christmas. so stay tuned, as you never know when a post may appear.

As always, I hope this has inspired you!

One hundred posts later...

I can't believe it! This is my 100th post and to celebrate I thought I would look back at some of my favourite posts.

I posted about this skirt back in February and since then it's become one of my all time favourite skirts. Its tartan pattern is similar to what's in trend at the moment but the fact that it's jersey makes it so comfortable. If you're interested in finding out more, take a look here.

 These shorts are made from a pair of old t-shirts and I made them for my sister back in March. Since having posted about these I have also made a pair for myself and the shorts have been a real hit with my sister over the summer. To find out how you could make a pair for yourself simply take a look at my post.

Although the headbands above where my most recent project, I still had to share it as one of my favourites just due to the amount of fun I had making and designing them. If you'd like to find out how you too could make a headband like these, then take a look at this post to find out more.

I hope you've enjoyed looking back on these posts as much as I have and of course, I hope this has inspired you!

High Waisted Summer Shorts

I made these a while ago (at the very beginning of summer) but just haven't got round to posting about it. On my travels I took these photos to show you what they look like.

I made the shorts from an old pair of jeans that I had worn in at the knee because I just couldn't bring myself to throw them away. I'm so glad I didn't throw them away, as they make great shorts. 

You can find out how to make your own pair of shorts from old jeans here.

 For hemming I chose to roll them over rather than under and just sewed them into place.

 It was so easy and fast for shorts that just seem to last forever.

The best thing about these shorts is that they will last well into winter by just pairing them with leggings and boots.

 I hope this has inspired you!

Elf shorts

A while ago for my school textile project I had to make a pair of pyjama bottoms. I made mine for my little sister. I used a thin green and whit polka dot cotton material and lined the hem with red ribbon, as I finished quicker than expected. My final decoration was the green and red bows.
Once I had finished my classmate commented that they looked like elf shorts, which was kind of cute as I finished them a couple of weeks before Christmas.

This was also the first project I had done using an over locker.

Sadly these shorts no longer fir my sister but I'm keeping them anyway because of the memories they hold and how cute they are.

I hope this has inspired you!

Exams are OVER!!!!

All my external exams are over for this year. Yay! So to celebrate I pulled out some old torn jeans and made yet another pair of shorts. How I make my shorts can be found here.

This is how they used to look before they became ripped and then became my newest pair of shorts.

This time I made them a lot shorter than I have before because I wanted something different, which would give me more options with my wardrobe. I also zigzag stitched the bottom of them and deliberately let them fray (in my option short tighter fitting shorts look nicer when allowed to fray).

I'm not sure how much use they will get (other than being worn with leggings) because the weather has taken a dramatic turn.

I hope this has inspired you!   

Denim Shorts Tutorial

Back in april I posted about my denim shorts.  And when I was making another pair for my sister, I thought I'd take some photo's as I made them.

As you can see they where far to short for her but we just hadn't got rid of them yet. So I set about making her a pair of summer shorts. Firstly while she was wearing them I made a litte make to indicate the length she wanted (it's best to do it while wearing them as you can never be quite sure if you've got the right length other wise). Then when she had taken them off with a ruler I marked on a cutting line.

Then I cut along the line. I must warn you though that the front of the trouser leg may be longer than the back because of the knee (but you won't have this problem if they a short shorts). After cutting one leg I folded it over onto the other leg (as shown bellow) to make sure it was at exactly the same length.

Then I simply zigzag stiched the bottom with some red thread I found at the bottom of my sewing box.

And voila! A pair of summer shorts.

I hope this has inspired you!

Demin shorts!

I'm the kind of person who wears jeans to death! I wear them every day, so it was hardly suprising when my favourate jeans got a massive whole in the knee. I was still abit annoyed because I loved them.

This picture is from this post.

But yesterday I had a great idea; why not make them into shorts? So I cut of half the legs (just above the whole) and hemmed them, to create amazing shorts, which I know I'll wear to death this summer.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. All together it took me about 30 minutes, mainly because I was trying really hard to make both legs exactly the same length. I used the same thread that I used for my denim skirt and had the hem line at about 1cm.

 What's great, is that they're ready just in time for spring and summer.

I hope this has inspired you!