New PJs, Me-Made-May-2015 and new fabrics!

I've made a badly needed pair of PJs! This is the final thing I made during my indulgent sewing week off at the end of March. I've just been pacing myself in blogging about all my makes from that week!

So here they are and I love them because they fit me. And that's not a statement I can ever make about RTW PJs. I chose a 100% cotton poplin so it's fine enough for pyjamas. Pre-washed it as usual before cutting out.

I bought my first every Kwik Sew pattern, 2811, because it has shorts and short-sleeved options too, so this seems a good all-year pattern. However, the seam allowances are not 5/8". I know that I would forget that when sewing them up, so I cut out the pieces with 5/8" seam allowances to avoid an inevitable disaster! I added lots of length to the legs and not so much to the arms. I can't remember how much exactly as it was a wee while ago.

Now for the piping. I used No.1 piping cord and some cream sating bias binding. I like the contrast between the cotton and silkiness. Here's a close-up of the sleeve cuff.

Isn't that a good join? I'm proud of that. I also added piping to the leg cuffs, around the collar and the pocket. I was going to add piping down the fronts too but the facing is part of the front pattern piece. When I realised it, I'd already cut out the PJ top pieces and didn't have enough to cut separate facings. It's not a deal-breaker and I'm happy with how they've turned out.

For buttons I tried getting as close a match to the bream coloured bias binding. I eventually bought fish-eye buttons and sewed them 'fish-eye-down' if you know what I mean. I prefer the plain-ness of them this way. I like how these pyjamas have turned out, despite the annoying seam-allowance thing and I'll use it to make more pyjamas again. It's just wonderful to wear something that fits!!!

You've probably seen the Me-Made-May-2015 at the top of this blog. Yes, I've signed up! Although it's a small pledge because I don't have enough to wear a garment every day. Maybe next year! Things will be worn more than once too. I already know there are lots of gaps in my me-made wardrobe - summer jackets, trousers, summer tops, summer pyjamas - so it'll be interesting to see what I think the gaps are at the end of May!

I've been so busy the last few weekends, when I get most if not all of my sewing done, that I haven't really made anything recently. Last weekend we went to Glasgow for a couple of nights as a wee break. One of the first places I went to was the magnificent Mandors. Imagine it, I had a full one hour and 40 minutes to browse all the dress fabrics, which I did. Then I bought this little pile of beauties! Lovely staff who were very helpful too. I was on the hunt for khaki/dark green linen to make a Minoru jacket for summer and some burgundy/wine corduroy to make another Minoru for now. I found both in Mandors...but there was only about 1.5 metres of each and I need about 3 metres. So now I'm hunting the internet.

Anyway, I also bought two cream fabrics- a cotton/spandex jersey and a woven cotton/viscose/spandex. I haven't taken any photos of those as they've been pre-washed and hey...they're cream so not the most exciting colour in the world but good basics.

Have to show you some close-ups of the beauties as there's some really nice fabrics. This is my absolute favourite because of it's in-your-face pattern and colouring. It's a woven viscose and was as cheap-as-chips at £3.99 a metre. I bought 2 metres and have no idea yet what I'm going to make.

But isn't it lovely? It is quite fine so I might need to add a lining to it, depending on what I make. Love the colours, it was sold as 'Javanese' but kind of has a more Mexican feel to it.

Then there's a viscose/spandex jersey. I don't know what the pattern is (it's not butterflies). I loved the colours in it.

This is another viscose/spandex jersey in a lovely teal colour that's a bit stronger and darker than this photo. It has a nice weight to the fabric.







And last but not least, this lovely cotton/spandex fabric I found sitting in the denim section. But it isn't denim. I photographed it - right side-selvedge-wrong side
so you could see that there is a kind of denim-type texture on the right side. This will become a pair of Ultimate trousers. And at 150cm wide, I have bought enough this time as I bought 2 metres.

So that's my fabric plunder from Mandors last weekend. Have you gone on a fabric binge recently with the new season fabrics arriving in the shops? I feel there will be more plundering ahead!