Holiday Family Jammies

Happy Holidays! One of my fondest memories from the holidays as a child are my sister and I in matching Christmas pajamas. This is a tradition that I wanted to carry on for my boys too. I couldn't just buy pajamas though, I definitely had to make them. Plus I include my husband and our pets each year too. 

This year Sew Altered Style started the #sewfamilyjammies challenge for making pajamas for your family. They even coordinated a huge blog tour featuring 21 seamstress bloggers and their makes. There's prizes and coupon codes but really, there's a group of fellow sewists that all have the same goal. To make awesome pajamas for their family!

I wanted to round up previous years of handmade Christmas PJs first so here they are...

My first year of sewing and first set of family PJs was in 2016. I used sweater knit fleece from Joann Fabric. 

Patterns Used:
Youngest: Max and Meena Rompaloones 
Oldest: Max and Meena Max Joggers
Me: Patterns for Pirates Mama Bear Joggers 
My Husband: self drafted pant

I remember finishing my joggers just as we were heading to my families Christmas Eve celebration.

In 2017, I opted to only sew new PJs for my boys and niece. I used a thermal from Joann again with a mix of different patterns depending on what I had printed in the correct sizes. 

Patterns Used:
Niece (Left): Max and Meena Max Raglan and Sew A Little Seam (free) Movie Night PJs pants
Youngest (Middle): Sew A Little Seam (free) Movie Night PJs Top with Max and Meena Max Joggers
Oldest (Right): Sew A Little Seam (free) Movie Night PJs top and pants

For 2018, I ran to Joann quicker than I ever have to snatch up the Christmas Star Wars Cotton Lycra. We are huge star wars fans and definitely needed Star Wars pjs. 

I used the SALS Movie Night PJs for my boys, a joggers pattern (I don't recall which one) for my husband and the Sinclair Sunset Loungers for me. Also pictured, my dogs are wearing the SALS pet movie night PJs too. 

But I didn't just make one set of pajamas in 2018. I also made woven flannel pajamas for my whole extended family. For the adults, I made 6 pairs of flannel pants using the 5 out of 4 free pajama pants. 

My niece wanted a nightgown so I ended up modifying the CKC Patterns Aurora (below left) to work with flannel. I struggled with finding a long nightgown that was drafted to be used with woven fabrics like flannel so I made a knit pattern work instead. Then for the my boys, I used the Sew A Little Seam Holiday Night pajamas (below right). These were my first pair of woven flannel pjs which felt like such a daunting project. I kept putting it off but there was no reason to. These adorable pajamas ended up being one of my favorite projects from 2018 and we got so much wear out of them!

So now that it's 2019 and I've made quite a lot of pajamas, I went a different route. This year I wanted to make items that were more versatile and worked for more than just pajamas. 

First, let's talk fabric. I purchased 4 yards of this green Christmas tree DBP from Vinegar & Honey during their closing sale in March 2018. The fabric is directional (where the print only goes one direction) so I'm really glad I had 4 yards to work with. I looked for coordinates for a while before deciding on this ivory and red striped rayon spandex from Mily Mae Fabrics (left) and bright red Cotton Lycra from Purple Seamstress (right). 

Next I decided on patterns. This was a tough one for me this year! 

Patterns Used: 
Kids: Ellie and Mac Beatbox Romper
Hubby: Sinclair Patterns Lakeside Joggers
Me: Sinclair Patterns Sunset Loungers

My boys ended up being easy as I chose to make them rompers. They LOVE rompers so I picked their favorite one, the Ellie and Mac Beatbox Romper. My youngest has worn this romper for 3 days in a row and cries if I tell him it needs to be washed. I think he likes it. 

Then we let them jump our bed to try and get fun action shots. It didn't work but they had a blast. 

For my husband, I recently tested the Sinclair Lakeside Joggers so chose to use that pattern again. Since they were lounge pants and I wanted to save time, I omitted the pockets on this pair. He also prefers them without a drawstring so I added 1.5" elastic in the waistband instead of the 3 casing channels. 

For myself, I went back and forth on what I would wear the most. I ended up going with the Sinclair Sunset Lounge Pants as they are quick and comfy for around the house. The waistband is a yoga style which I used an olive green DBP scrap for. To add a finished look, I opted to stitch on a faux drawstring. To do this, I made a drawstring and tied it. Then I stitched it onto the waistband using short straight stitches back and forth. I planned on using the striped rayon spandex for a top too for me but cut that out of the plan when I was short on sewing time. 

Not to be left out, my dogs tried out the new Ellie and Mac Hoodie Dog Sweaters too. I've had a dog hoodie on my to-make list for a year and figured since a pattern was now out, I should give it a try. My dogs are miniature schnauzers and measured into the size small. After making the first one, I found that the chest was too loose so I adjusted that for the next. There was a waistband option for this pattern but I just chose to hem it 1/2". It seemed the quickest and easiest. 

Then here's some of our outtakes. I thought it would be cute for photos on our bed. The angle wasn't right but they were fun to take. I'm hoping to be more put together next year and this style to be what we send out for our Christmas cards. 

I'm so happy to have had another year making family jammies for my family! I'm glad my family appreciates my efforts and is supportive. It was also fun to participate in #sewfamilyjammies!

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