Thursday, December 15, 2011

Winter Pajamas...I Mean Lounge Wear

 I remember getting new flannel nightgowns at Christmas time from both my mother and my grandmother.  I remember one year in particular where I got a matching flannel nightgown for one of my many baby dolls.  It was made from white flannel covered in tiny purple rose buds, and I love, love, loved it.  I thought my children might also enjoy Christmas pajamas with matching pajamas for their special "friends".

"Monkey" and "Strawberry Cake" sporting their new pajamas.
On Baby Boy's second Christmas, even though we were in the middle of moving to Japan I managed to make several pairs of pajama bottoms for him, with matching ones for my husband and some that fit "Black Kitty" and "Baby" ( he wasn't very creative with names).  The plan at the time was to do the same every year.  But, by the time the next Christmas rolled around I was pregnant with Baby Girl and mostly just nauseous (or worse) all the time.  We had a pause in the tradition....you might even say a pregnant pause...sorry.  Last year I was back on my creative game and gave both the children new flannel pajamas....well I suppose legally we must call them lounge wear...the night before Christmas.  "Monkey" and Baby Girl's doll, "Lisa" got matching "lounge wear." 

I can't believe how long those legs are getting!
Fast forward to this year.   I found an online "Pajama Party"  and I thought it would be fun to participate.  I also thought this would be an excellent opportunity to fine tune my pattern grading skills.  So I put last year's pattern on the computer, graded it, printed it out, and voila! ...we have this year's jammies.  I was pretty stoked that it worked out...yes, these things make me very excited.  Everything went together very well and fit very nicely. There a few details I like to add.  I always add a button to the fronts of Bouncing Boys pants so he can tell the front from the back.   I cut the sleeves for Baby Girl's gowns on the bias so I can add "lettuce leafing" around the hem of the sleeve, it gives it a little extra frill.

Lettuce leafing around the sleeve
I decided to add a jammie top for Bouncing Boy this year.  All kinds of elaborate plans ran through the ol' mind.  But, no printer ink ruled out iron on transfers, everything I've painted on fabric since moving here has washed out so I crossed out that idea, and the silk screening things, however untouched they may be, are John's present from last year.  So I opted to go low tech.  I bought a white undershirt and drew on it with a blue Sharpie, then I colored on it with Crayola fabric crayons.  I decided to draw a picture of Bouncing Boy's bicycle, it goes with the bike theme on his pants, but personalized it a bit.  He was very excited I drew his bike.


So the children think they have their Christmas jammies early.....hehehe.  Little do they know I have snowman fabric waiting to be the Christmas Eve jammies.  

One last photo...last year's jammies...just to see how much they have grown!


7 comments:

  1. Will you be my mommy, so I can get all kinds of cool handmade stuff too?

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  2. Really cute! Excellent photography work too! I love the warm off-camera glow that looks like a fireplace (maybe it is?).

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  3. I love new jams. In fact, just bought two of the same pair last night for Christmas. Something so fun about new jams for Christmas.

    I haven't taken a picture and posted them yet.

    What you made looks great. I have yet to try my hand at homemade jams.

    Love the matching dolls.

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  4. These are a wonderful display of mother love. The bicycle is too great matching the jammy bottoms. The dolls jammys are just precious. Nice choice of fabrics are wonderful. Christmas just aint Christmas without new jammys for the children.

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  5. Ambre - I might have to put up a fight with your real mother...and then their is that whole age thing ;o)

    Sandi- No fireplace glow, that's the glow of every lamp in the house lined up in the background so I could get a picture without the flash!

    Ivy- making jammies = easy and rewarding, as you get to wear them often, they can offer comic relief, and they are cozy.

    MJ- I think you would be amused with the fact that BB wants jammies for Rudolf, not Monkey, next time.

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  6. You have wonderful space here... The pictures in your blog are very beautiful. I love your header. Thank you for taking time to leave such a lovely comment in my blog. Have a happy weekend and my Christmas greetings in advance.

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  7. How absolutely darling! Saw you at the jammie link up!

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