According to his pediatrician’s office, my son Connor has grown two inches in the past year. It’s no wonder, then, that all of last year’s pajama pants are highwaters now.
What a good excuse for me to try some beginner-level pajama pants patterns!
I decided to start out with this free pattern from Craftsy member The Cloth Parcel, called “Perfect PJ Pants.” For a first pair of beginner jammie pants, they lived up to the name.
For a wearable muslin, I made the first pair out of a dinosaur-patterned bedsheet I bought at Goodwill. My son is tall and skinny for his age, but I figured I’d make the pattern straight the first time, so I chose the size 7 (the pattern goes up to size 8). The waist was bigger than it needed to be (hooray for elastic), and the length was exactly right — as in, he’ll probably grow out of them before Spring.
The second pair I made from a cute rayon voile I got on sale from fabric.com. I used the size 6 waist and the size 8 length, which gave me a few inches to let down later. I also practiced my blindstitch hem skills, even though it’s not the most durable hem for jammies, with the thought that it would a.) look nicer with the pattern and b.) be easier to let out later.
My only real complaint about this pattern is that it has no front and back. I didn’t think much of this until I started researching other ways to make jammie pants, and learned about rise and sitting ease. After that, it made more sense to me why these pants looked a little off.
Next time, I think I’ll modify the pattern a bit to scoop it inward at the backside to create just a little more curve… and perhaps I’ll come up with some cute button-cuff action so I won’t have to let the pants out when my son grows another few inches.