I cranked out the first pair of PJ pants this past week! I actually cut 2 at once, which took a little more figuring out than I had anticipated, and ultimately I forgot one major tenant of garment sewing that differs from quilting... the idea of mirror image as opposed to symmetrical! As it turns out, I cut out 4 right legs (at least I think they're the right leg) instead of 2 rights and 2 lefts. Thankfully the pattern is quite forgiving and you can hardly notice the mistake once they're on.

This pair uses a print from the Andover fabric line "The Red Thread" by Marisa and Creative Thursday.
(please excuse the "just out of bed" hairdo!)

Oh, and here's a blatant promotion for my friend and former classmate Blue Mitchell and the fruits of his creative labor. He has spent the last several years developing and publishing Diffusion Magazine (among many other endeavors!), an annual publication highlighting non-traditional photography created by artists using a wide variety of techniques from digital manipulation to 19th century wet emulsion processes and everything in between.

I have to admit that I am on the fence about whether I should go ahead and sew the pair I cut out from the Birch Fabric "Scamper" fabric. I was considering buying another 2+ yards and cutting out two left legs and making 2 pairs of the same PJs, but that is EXPENSIVE fabric (though absolutely lovely)!!! However, I suppose I could find a friend of a similar size who might enjoy them, or consider it an advance finish for a holiday gift... Hmmm, I might have struck upon something there.

Well, in the mean time I now have cute new PJs to take with me when I go visit HS and college friends and their families this coming weekend - so much better than boring old yoga pants!

Thanks to J for taking these lovely photos of yours truly this morning so I can share with all of you out in blogland!

For ages I've been meaning to make myself pajama bottoms from cute fabric. Ages, I tell you! Somehow there's nothing like visiting with friends to get the spark afire.

Sitting over morning coffee with a childhood friend whom I've known since we were about 10, both hanging in our respective PJs, we discuss what we want to do for the day. I ask her if there's anything special she would want to do or look for in her brief visit to Portland (we had already done our damage at Powell's the day before!). She says that if we should happen to pass a boutique that carries cute pajama bottoms, she's in the market.

Well, we didn't end up going shopping, but I offered to try my hand at making some myself. I went online to find a free pattern, but that is only relative... I found several free, downloadable patterns this one from Simplicity and this link from Martha Stewart, but apparently once you try printing out the pattern pieces it adds up!

I also found a couple of sites/articles that show instructions for drafting your own pattern based on an existing pair, such as this one. However that's no help if you want to make them for someone with a completely different body type, or for various folks.

So, after leaving work I headed to Fabric Depot and searched the BIG pattern books for something. And lo and behold I found the perfect pattern (or so it seems) for unisex adults from Simplicity - and for only $2.49! Less than it would have cost to print out 20 sheets of paper and then the tape and time to put them together!

Of course I have to test out the pattern before making something for anyone else, right? And this is the perfect excuse to allow myself to buy some organic fabric I've been eyeing since it arrived at Cool Cottons...

Aren't those raccoons freakin' adorable??? The yellow one with the raccoons is from Birch Fabric collection "Scamper". And the darker one with the little bunnies from Andover collection "The Red Thread" just came in in the last week or two and spoke to me LOUDLY. Apparently I'm on a critters kick. So, why make just one pair when I can double up and make two at the same time?? I'll post photos when I have something to show for my efforts. And this may just lead to inspiration for this year's holiday presents, too.