It's Time for Christmas Jammies!

It's that time of year again!  Time to make the Christmas Jammies.

Last year, I made really cute reindeer pajamas for E at Christmas.  I went to the store and picked out material that I thought was cute and went with it.

Big mistake.

My very independently-minded daughter flatly refused to wear them.  Ever.

I think maybe I convinced her to wear them on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure if that happened or if that's my imagination making me remember something that never happened.

Well, whatever really happened, I know that those pajamas sat at the bottom of her drawer until she no longer fit into them.

So, as I approached this year, I decided it would be better to just let her pick out her own material.

At least then my work would not go to waste and she would wear them.

She chose a Hello Kitty fleece.  As much as my inner self rebels against giving in to the character prints, I knew that if I wanted her to wear it, it was her decision.  Not mine.

She also decided she wanted a nightgown instead of pants and a shirt.  Fine.  I measured her up and threw together this nightgown in about an hour and a half.  Literally.

I have to say that I LOVE sewing with fleece if for no other reason than that you don't have to hem it.  Awesome.  

For the elastic around the neckline and sleeves, I used a shirring technique (elastic thread on the bobbin) instead of making a casing for elastic.  Even easier!

It's pretty much a wearable blanket.  But she LOVES it.  

And wore it for about a week straight right after I made it.

It is so snuggly and warm.

I'm just relieved she likes it!

Now for H's.  She (of course) wanted the same fabric as E.  Hello Kitty fleece, it is.

While I was ok with them matching, I wanted pants and a top for H.  I just know that a nightgown would end up all bunched up and she would be freezing.

I have this great pattern that I adjust and use for the bodice or shirts/pants for many projects.  This is one of those projects.  I used the bodice pattern from the dress for the top, and the pattern for the capris for the pajama bottoms.

The bodice was simply lengthened to shirt-length and the sleeves were also made long to match H's arm length.

Here's the end result:

I just love the ruffles at the bottom!

And here she is modeling it for us.

Cuties.  

I had the hardest time getting a good picture of both of them together.  They were just playing around and bugging each other the whole time!

And now we are ready for Christmas Eve (and all of December).

I'm just so relieved that, this year, the pajamas will be worn!!