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in Capsule Wardrobe· Flosstyle Patterns· Pattern Hack· Sew Along· Sew For kids· Sewing for Baby· Sewing for Boys· Sprouts· Trees· Tutorials· Uncategorized· Zoo

Pajamas – Winter Sewing Series – Sewing The Facing and Top 02

This series will show you how to make snuggly pajamas for your little ones this winter in the Southern Hemisphere! See my previous blogpost on hacking the Zoo pattern to make a facing.

In this post we will go through the steps to sew up the Zoo PJ top for my son. I have made a few changes to the construction and shall note them throughout.

Step 1: Pin facing right sides together at the shoulder seams. Sew them together with 1/4″ or 7mm seam allowance.

Repeat this with shoulder seams of the top too. Finish the rew edges with a serger or zigzag stitch.

Step 2: Interface your snap placket pieces and face the short ends right sides together, pin and sew 1/4″ or 7mm. Trim seam allowance to turn out sharp corners. Turn right side out and press well.

Step 3: Pin the placket raw edges along the raw edges of the top front. Then take the facing and pin right sides together around the neckline, then thr front, sandwiching the placket inbetween.

See that the shoulder seams on the facing and top are nested inopposite directions to reduce bulk.

Step 4: Sew from the bottom of one front around the neckline and down the opposite front. See image bottom right – sew 1/2″ or 1cm hem seam allowance – ONLY of the facing and hem. See bottom left – Trim back the seam allwance at the corners of the hem facing and neckline facing.

Step 5: Turn the facing towards the inside of the top. Press and Topstitich 1/8″ or 3mm around the top next to the snap placket and around the neckline.

Memory press the hem at this stage.

Step 6: Attaching the sleeves right sides together matching the halfway point to the shoulder seam. Serger, sew. (Do not catch the facing in the shoulder seam.)

Step 7: Once the shoulder is sewed. Place the sleeve and side of the top right side togther. Nest the armpit seams to reduce bulk. Sew or serge from the bottom of the top up the sleeve.

Step 8: I changed the construction and hemmed by overlocking the hem and with the facing stitches the hem naturally wants to curl under. Press and topstitch down.

Step 9: Overlap the snap placket as per the instructions for either boys and girls. Add your snaps evenly as per the instructions.

Step 10: Arm cuff. As per insdtructions sew the cuff on.

Congratulations! Your Pajama top is complete. I love the finish and my son keeps asking me to wear them. So I better make some more! I would suggest using flannel, fleece or even a quilting cotton for warmer weather.

Happy Sewing – Stay tuned for my sprouts Pajamas pants blogpost next!

Tash

“IMPORTANT: Most nations have strict regulations surrounding children’s sleepwear – in order to sell it, it must meet certain fire resistant standards, in both fabric content and construction/fit. Please do not sell anything you make from this pattern without first checking to see that you have adhered to those regulations. Even for personal use, it is a good idea to be aware of the standards and choose your fabric/fit accordingly. (snug fit is important if not using flame retardant fabric, per most government regulations)”

in Capsule Wardrobe· Flosstyle Patterns· How To· Pattern Hack· Sew Along· Sew For kids· Sewing for Baby· Sewing for Boys· Sprouts· Trees· Tutorials· Zoo

Pajamas – Winter Sewing Series – Facing Hack 01

This series will show you how to make snuggly pajamas for your little ones this winter in the Southern Hemisphere!

I’ve been wanting to make my littles winter PJ’s for some time now. Following Laura’s Post on our Facebook Fair Group. I used the Zoo and the Sprouts pattern to make the pj sets.

Lets start with the Zoo PJ Top

Option – Panda top and Wombat tail With Long sleeve add-on
Fabric – Flannel

For my sons version I ran out of fabric so instead of fully lining the shirt I made facings. It is very easy and heres how I did it.

Step 1 – Take the front Zoo pattern piece and trace the shirt length line and blue line in the size you are making.

Step 2: Using this pattern piece you are going to measure the front snap placket front and use this as the snap placket facing. Width around 2″ or 6cm. (you will cut 2 of the placket facings mirrored)

Step 3: Place on a piece of paper and trace the neckline. width of 2″ for the neckline facing. (You will cut 1 of the back neckline facing)

Voila – Your facing pattern is done. This can be applied to any garment that requires a lining for example a coat, dress bodice etc.

Follow for my next Blogpost on sewing the PJ top together using this facing.

Happy Sewing!

Tash

“IMPORTANT: Most nations have strict regulations surrounding children’s sleepwear – in order to sell it, it must meet certain fire resistant standards, in both fabric content and construction/fit. Please do not sell anything you make from this pattern without first checking to see that you have adhered to those regulations. Even for personal use, it is a good idea to be aware of the standards and choose your fabric/fit accordingly. (snug fit is important if not using flame retardant fabric, per most government regulations)”

in 52 Week Sewing Challange· Artiste· Flosstyle Patterns· Pattern Hack· Zoo

52 Week Sewing Challenge – Week 10

This weeks Challenge: Something Colour Blocked (Accepted)

Who knew you could mash the Zoo with the Artiste? The Zoo is one of my favorite patterns so I use the bodice pieces often. I decided the Palette skirt from the Artiste, would be perfect for this week’s challenge. Behold a fun mash up!

I used the stork flutters from the zoo for the bodice. I even used knit and which meant I had to line the bodice to complete the armscye.
The palette skirt is made from woven fabrics so I attached the two and added clear elastic into the waist seam to help with recovery.

I interrupted an intense game of flashlight hide n seek to get this picture. My toddler is never still it seems. She had to wear it as soon as I finished sewing it, so you know it was instant love. Have you been adventurous and mixed any Flosstyle patterns together? I’d love to see them! Did you accept or reject this week’s challenge?

 

Happy Sewing! Jen

in Guest Blog Post· Pattern Hack

A Twirly Ventura

Shawn Daisy modeling the hack,
while dreaming of chicken I’m sure.

The Ventura, is a fabulous staple wardrobe piece. It almost seems “wrong” with how easy it is to make. My youngest kiddo is a Princess at heart and loves to twirl. If it doesn’t “pin-pin” (spin) as she says than it simply is not worth wearing. As an adult, I can almost agree with her toddlerism. This is a pretty simple hack, you are just adding ruffles and a skirt. There is a bit of math involved but it’s not too difficult, thank goodness.

You will need to go ahead and cut out your pattern pieces, the one eyed kitty fabric I’m using is from Maddie’s Closet, a custom group that is no longer in business 🙁 all the sadness. The polka dot fabric is what I used for the ruffles, I liked the contrast with the main print and the blue sleeves helped pull it all together without making the dress too busy.


You will use this same technique for the sleeve ruffles.

To figure out the skirt portion you will need to measure the width of the front or back bodice.
Side note: I did not compensate for seam allowance here as the more fabric, the more to gather, resulting in more twirl. Or I may have just forgot.
Now do you want a BIG twirl or a slight twirl? For best results I suggest doing 2.5 or 3 times the width of the bodice. You will need to cut two of these. For the length I measured how long I wanted it. It was roughly 12 centimeters. So my skirt pieces ended up being  70cm x 12cm as I did 2.5 times the width of my 28cm bodice. I forgot to write my dimensions down for the sleeve ruffles but they were calculated by 3times the width of the sleeve. Assemble your Ventura as instructed in the pattern all the way through hemming, this is where the hack comes in. Feel free to adjust the length of the bodice/skirt as needed, I was aiming for a drop waist style and love the end result. I didn’t remove any length from the pattern.

Sew or serge down the short ends of your skirt pieces, connecting it into a big circle. Use your favorite gathering method to gather the pieces so it fits your bodice. I prefer to use a long zig zag stitch with tight tension, I then pull the bobbin thread and adjust as needed.


I prefer to use clips when attaching anything with a gather. I feel they hold the gathers better
a traditional pin, and this way I don’t risk serging over a pin…not that I’ve done that…

Clip/pin your skirt to the bodice with rights sides together. Sew/serge together being sure the gathers are evenly spread and remembering to pull pins/clips before sewing/serging over them. I think this style looks best with a rolled hem. I just adjusted my serger and fed the hemline through to get my desired results.

 Tip: A wooly nylon or stretch maxi in the loopers give you a beautiful rolled hem.

These are rolled hems I did on a different project. I have a Juki M654D
I used stretch maxi thread for this result.

 

For the added ruffles on the sleeve, you will just want to cut 1 piece of fabric per ruffle. I did mine 3 times the width of the sleeve and 5cm wide. I wish I had taken picture to include for the next steps, but I will try to explain it the best I can, as I did not take any instructional pictures for these next couple steps. Connect the short ends of your ruffle making a loop, repeat for the other ruffle(s). On both long sides of the ruffles I did the same rolled hem technique I used for hemming the skirt. Use your favorite gathering method to gather the ruffle so it fits on the sleeve. You will want to use a thread color that matches to avoid having to rip the stitches after attaching. Attach the ruffle to the sleeve leaving a 3cm space from the end of the sleeve to the MIDDLE of the ruffle, use a stretch stitch of a zig zag stitch and attach to the sleeve. Once the ruffles were attached I did a rolled hem on the sleeve hemline creating the same ruffled effect.

The end result is stunning and really looks like a completely different pattern. So not only is the Ventura Lite free, you now have a free raglan, drop waist dress 😉 Enjoy and Happy Sewing! Be sure to share your Ventura makes in the Flosstyle Facebook group, we’re always excited to see everyone’s creations.

Written by: Jen King