I made these pajama pants // sleep pants // loungewear // pyjamas // pjs--what have you--from this pattern.
I'd like to get into the concept of "easy-to-sew". I have been telling my husband for years (who parenthetically is a Jack Master of All Trades) that there is no such thing as easy. I now hope to place a brick in the wailing wall of aphorisms when I say, "When you know how to do something, there is no such thing as easy." There may be such a thing as "easy-to-pull-something-out-of-an-envelope-and-cut-it-out-and put-it-together", but there is no such thing as I have ever experienced as "easy-to-sew". I am willing to confess that I don't have all the answers and I definitely have made an artform of complicating the issue especially when it comes to simple things like finding my way out of a paper bag. That being said, there is no earthly way of making even a simple thing flattering and wearable without complicating the issue somewhat.
First off and what I did lastly of all with this particular project -- please make a fitting pattern--as pictured above. Not particularly a fitting muslin or voile although you might and I have in the past.
I used a sort of flocked painter's drop cloth. It is slick and plastic-y on one side and feels like interfacing on the other. It is very inexpensive. Much more inexpensive than interfacing and comes in a giant quantity.
After you cut your fitting pattern from the original, you can then hold up the pieces to your subject folding, pinning and manipulating it to the shape of the wearer--front and back--and use those sculptings to then make a final pattern. If you plan on making multiples for someone, I would invest the time to make a pattern. But if you are just experimenting, use the folded bit of origami for just now.
I came up with several styles from the cotton flannel that I purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics--variations on a theme if you will:
After much deliberation and agonizing, I decided to not pre-wash the fabric. I did some research online and essentially went with the idea that confirmed what I felt in my gut. I cut the garments slightly larger to compensate for the difference an accidental dousing in scalding hot water would shrink it. I feel like this is a good idea whether you are making to sell or to give as a gift. The alternative is to offer someone a thing that looks as though it had beaten against the medium sized boulders at river's edge for centuries. You decide. Allow for 15% shrinkage if you decide to go with no pre-washing.
I cut all of them extra large (read extra long) in length so as to compensate for shrinkage in the pant leg length and I recommend that you do as well. They can always be shortened if they don't shrink enough when they are accidentally submerged in boiling hot water.
For the blue and white scrollwork pair, I made a sort of gathered waistband by applying wide elastic and turning the fabric twice.
I do recommend shortening the pattern at the hipline 2 3/4" for women. The adjustment will be considerably less if you are sewing the garment for a man as their anatomy requires more length in the rise. And it should go without saying, edge stitch that rise, girlfriend.
If you are applying an elastic waistband - subtract at the waistline the width of the elastic you will be applying in addition to shortening at the hipline. Shortening at the hipline....hmmm!
Also I recommend cutting the front a size smaller than the back depending on what size you are. Why? So the side seams are slightly forward. It is much more flattering to the figure and elegant in a garment. Meaning if you are a Medium: cut the Back at Medium, cut the Front at Small and cut the Length at Extra Large.
I created a lovely subtly curving vent at the outside of the pant leg hem on the blue scrollwork pair. I felt that it echoes the mellifluent lines of the meandering figures. And that is how I work much of the time--by listening to cues during the creative process. Cues contained in the choice of fabric, pattern, season...
I digress. And digress. And that is the point of using a commercial or any pattern for that matter. As I often say, the sheet music is not the song, the recipe is not the food, and the pattern is not the garment. It--all of it--starts with an idea or desire to create and the creative process + who you are + what you know + what you have been taught + + + ...... = you get the idea.
This is not really a straight tutorial but more of a peppering of some ideas to spice up your technical and, therefore, creative process. I may break down some of these specific ideas into unique blog posts later on. I hope you are inspired and edified. Congratulations on making it to the end.
The End.