Movie Night Pj’s and a Lesson Learned

Is there anything better than new pajamas?!! I don’t think so!  I love my kids in fresh pj’s but chances are you’ll catch them sleeping in old tees and thread bare bottoms (if they even manage to change out of their clothes they wore that day).  New pajamas are almost irresistible and I can guarantee they’ll reach for them any chance they’re clean.

This kiddo was especially in need of summer sleepwear as he’s had a major growth spurt and none of his fit from last year.  The free Movie Night Pajamas from Sew A Little Seam (grab the code in the Facebook Group) were exactly what I was looking for.  I decided to sew up a batch all at once and knew I could count on Kelly’s pattern to come together great.  Here’s where I learned my lesson…

I have been sewing PDF patterns for about 5 years now and it’s about time I made this mistake.  As the school year was coming close to an end I wanted to pack in as many projects as I could into my last few afternoons alone.  I printed off about 8 patterns and assembled a handful to be ready for some serious sewing time.  I cut and sewed two sets of pajamas and couldn’t figure out why they were so big!  He tried on the yoga waistband mid-sew and it was huge.  I naively thought it was just his little waist and took in the band a couple of inches.  I completed both sets and just thought the pattern must run a little on the loose side.

It wasn’t until a day later as I was assembling another pattern from a different designer that it dawned on me how unusual the pattern had printed, leaving almost nothing to trim off the edges.  I FINALLY got my ruler out to see that everything I’d printed had been printed to fit the page, not actual size like they should be.  Duh!!!  I rarely check to make sure the correct settings are selected because I’m the primary user of our printer.  You better believe I’ll do it every time now.  My 1 inch square was just 1/16th off, not a big deal, right?!!  Well, now I know exactly how much that 1/16th can affect the body of a pattern piece.

I just had to go back and do another set so I could get a true sense for how it was supposed to fit and to see just how much it had affected the final product.  I’m super happy I caught it before I had assembled the rest of the stack of patterns I’d printed and so glad I made the mistake on pajamas, a garment that is still totally wearable even if it’s a little big.  You will see in this post the difference in fit between the planes and bears, the ‘bad’ versions, and the mustard stripes, the correct fit.

You can see that the fit of the planes isn’t terrible just looser and wider than expected.  The stripe pj’s fit him like his favorite ready-to-wear ones, close but not too snug.

Don’t you just love them though!  These fabrics from Raspberry Creek and Riley Blake are just so soft, they make the perfect pajamas!  My kids reach for their RCF pj’s over and over and I feel like they never get worn out.  I also love that they can pick cute novelty prints for them that I might not be drawn to for everyday clothes.  This little guy has been wanting that bear fabric ever since it released so he’s one happy camper!

Please tell me I’m not alone in getting all the way through constructing a garment before figuring out my error.  What has been your biggest “Doh” moment while sewing?  I know we all make mistakes (What would we do without out our handy seam rippers?) and I’d love to hear your stories.  I love that through our mistakes we can learn and turn those ‘What was I thinking?’ instances into ‘I’ll never do that again!’ lessons.