Pajama Time

When I woke this morning, the earth was already soaked to the bones and the sky hung dark like a velvet cloak - a sure promise of more rain to come. Regardless of where I needed to be, it was the kind of morning that made me want to linger in my pajamas. This not possible, I began to linger on pajamas, instead, Audrey's to be exact, or her lack thereof. While Audrey has plenty of pajamas to keep her warm, her summer stash consists of one lonesome nightgown. Working in the found nooks-and-crannies of the day (and just finishing while Jason performed bath duty), I took action to begin to remedy this problem before the rain stops and the heat sets in.

First, I grabbed the pants in the photo above, snatched from a destined-for-Goodwill pile at my parents' house. Then, I grabbed a pair of shorts that already fit Audrey well. Taking advantage of the workmanship done before me, I folded the shorts in half and lined them up with the bottom edge of one of the legs. After pinning them in place, I cut around the shorts, adding 1/2 " to the side and 2 1/2" to the top. I took this piece, lined it up on the other pant leg as I had the first, and cut out a second identical piece.



Cutting the pieces out this way meant the hem was already finished for me, as well as two of the sides. I finished the other sides using the serger (just to make sure they won't fray - pinking sheers can be used, too). I lined my pieces of fabric up, right-sides together, and sewed along the curved edges (basically just the slope you see in the picture above). This creates the crotch of the pants. Then, I turned the shorts (with right-sides together still) and pinned together the short bottom edges. Stitching these together creates the inner sides of the legs (the seams that you have just sewn essentially create a cross). The legs sewn in place, I created the waist. I turned the top edge down 1/4" and pressed it all the way around with a warm iron. Then, I turned the top down an additional inch and pressed it again. I sewed two rows of stitching (the second for reinforcement purposes) as closely to the bottom edge as possible, leaving a space about 1 1/2" wide to slip the elastic through. I believe I used 3/4" wide elastic (it was leftover from another project and no longer labeled) that I had wrapped around Audrey's waist to make sure it would fit. I fished the elastic through my newly created waistband using a safety pin attached to the end as a guide. Once through, I put one end of the elastic on top of the other and stitched over both pieces several times. The ends got tucked into the band and the 1 1/2" opening stitched closed.



Of course, the final step was having Audrey try them out. Here she is, running around the room as I try to take pictures, telling me how much she likes her new underwear. Hmm...who knew she was a boxers girl?

These are by no means fancy or the cutest pair of pajama bottoms on the block, but they will be a little more comfortable this summer than the flannel pajamas that have gotten us through the winter. I envision them with a sweet white tank top, but that's a project for another rainy day.