Well, I did warn you it would be back to basics for a while… And I wasn’t kidding! I bought this fabric with this project in mind on the last Dewsbury trip (some time ago…). I think I’d had a clear out of my PJ drawer and I needed some replacements. Although I wasn’t totally sold on the waist finish on the Margots: the drawstring waist could get ‘messy’ easily and I wasn’t convinced that the cord / ribbon wouldn’t get lost every time it went through the wash… (still not convinced to be honest…). It’s also not especially flattering! But I already had Tilly’s book, I couldn’t find any better alternatives (without splashing out on a new pattern) and I also hadn’t completed that many of the projects in said book and do like to get my money’s worth out of a pattern book, so Margot bottoms it was 🙂
On a more positive note, I really enjoyed reading Tilly’s guidance on some of the more basic sewing skills involved in this project. It felt kind of like a hand-holding refresher course, which is probably exactly what I needed given my long absence from my machine. She’s a great teacher, and the clearness of her instructions is perfect for both beginners and rusty absentee-rs like me.
Although billed as a ‘starter’ project, I’d totally forgotten the implications of choosing a check fabric and consequently quickly abandoned any desire to attempt any even basic level of pattern matching (I’m also letting myself off as I didn’t have too much fabric to play with either: even with my short legs, (shown in all their glory above, ha!), need a certain amount more fabric than the average skirt or top). I’d also forgotten the somewhat mind-boggling construction of trousers generally. Something, despite a couple of prior attempts when I was more in my sewing-zone, I still hadn’t quite got my head around fully.
I forced myself to slow down totally with this project. And I found myself enjoying the process more because of it 🙂 The first pair (pink cotton) took a ridiculous amount of time. The second (purple, brushed cotton) I whizzed through. I suspect it’s pretty easy to substitute the drawstring waist with elastic, but for my first project back at machine I just went along with it. I also managed to find some coordinating ribbon in my stash, so avoided any additional outlay whatsoever on this project.
But how on earth to photograph? Ha! Glamorous these shots are not! I seem to remember all sorts of artful bedroom shots of bloggers showing off their new Fifi sets when that pattern first came out. But my photographer (aka my now 11 year old son) was also feeling pretty rusty, so we opted for the usual garden shots which you’ll no doubt recognise if you’ve been visiting here for a while. But I do live ‘up North’ and it was flipping freezing so there was no way I was going to waft around in wispy camisole tops and fluffy, high heeled slippers (oh and I don’t actually own any of the latter). The only vaguely suitable accessories I could come up with were my trainers and a sweatshirt 😉 Mmmm… well, it could have been worse: they were cosy and comfortable at least…
So, maybe I’ll leave the glamour for next time…
All in all a really pleasing return to my machine. And I’ve also no idea why I hadn’t made any pyjama bottoms before to be honest. It seems the perfect starting pattern, which if you do make some daft mistakes on, hardly anyone is going to notice. And if the proof’s in the wearing, then both of these have hardly been off since I made them which has to be a success 🙂 And yes, I may spend a lot of time in my pyjamas of an evening…
Could anyone recommend a good ‘wardrobe builder’ type pattern for slightly more advanced pyjamas with matching tops? I found a few free ones in my magazines, but mostly too ‘trendy’ with cuffed bottoms, which just isn’t going to work on legs that are pretty short to start with… A good, family one would be really useful to find 🙂
Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons Margot Bottoms
Time: Probably too long, but I enjoyed slowing down and it had been a while
Fabric: I think it came from ‘Lucky’s Fabrics’ in Dewsbury and was v v reasonable in price
Soundtrack: The Archers, Radio 4
navybluethreads 