Holiday Pjamams! McCalls 6475 - Easy Onsie PJ and New Look 6525

Today I decided to finally make the Christmas PJ's for my boys. I will be making the McCalls 6475 size 3-4 and the New Look 6525 size small.










I used 2 tables to lay the material out and cut the fabric. For 2 small kids, there sure is A LOT of fabric!

I decided not to use the pockets, hood and feet for the McCalls one.
It was super easy to sew, it took a grand total of 2 hours from tracing the pattern to sewing it up.
I sure hope it fits Tyler!











 I did not see the need to make the feet. I was disappointed I could not find a pattern for a onesie with feet attached. These feet are attached by Velcro. In the end it is ok as Tyler finds his onesies too hot. He always takes off his socks. 
I did not want the hood as he would not like it, and the pockets are kinda useless on pj's, no?














Now I had lunch, on to Sam's PJ's. they are more complicated and detailed than Tyler's. This McCall's pattern is so simple, I did not even need to read the directions. I always do, it is just good practice. It is like cooking, you always read your recipe from start to finish, that way there are no surprises.

I am glad I took the 3-4 and not the 5. This is a bit long on Tyler and wide. Granted my children are small, but Ty  does wear a size 5 clothing. If you are not sure, take a PJ that you know fits and place it next to the pattern. This tends to run big. This is a good this as it will last for a long time. 

So it took me until December 24th the finish Sam's PJ's. This is the 4th time I make these, you would think it would go easier. The problem is when you think you don't need instructions and you are good, that is when you make silly mistakes. I had to rip out my stitches for the collar and the feet.
I have made a few modifications. You REALLY need a longer zipper. Diaper changes are extremely hard with such a short diaper. Just trying to get them on and off is impossible. I thought I had bought a 20 inch zipper but could not find it, so maybe I didn't buy such a long one. I wanted the zipper to go down the leg. Anyhow it went right down to the leg. Good enough.
I don't like the collar. Next time I will make the ends straight and not curved.
The collars for the wrists are too long. I cut them 5/8 of an inch smaller. What happened was I sewed them together, tried to attach them and said "Nope too big". On the other sleepers they were too loose as well. So I cut them at the seam and resewed them. Perfect. 
Oh, I almost forgot! I used jiffy grip on the feet. I used the flannel as a liner and I put the grippy material on the bottoms. No more slipping!

Sewing plan for the week

Fabricville had a crazy sale on Black Friday, 50% off all material in store, no exceptions. I stocked up on material that was $2.99/meter, at 50% off it came to $1.50 per meter. I chose 3 fabrics, a stretchy orange, light blue and a dark blue unknown fiber. With these 3 choices I can do a few shirts and dresses and if they don’t come out too well, I have not lost a lot of money. If I like them, I will use my “good” material. I also stocked up on the gripper material for my son’s PJ feet, as well as the ribbing material for all the cuffs.

Then, on Monday Fabricville had a sale on patterns! All New Look and Simplicity patterns are $1.99 each.  I have a nice stash and I have to have a plan to get them all done. I don’t want to end up having a stock pile, and not doing anything with them. I am going to start with the easy projects and work my way up to the harder ones.  I have this Friday off, so I want to make 2 dresses and a PJ by then. This week I have a goal, a sewing plan. I want to sew a Christmas tree skirt, finish my shirt I was making during my sewing class; Sam’s PJ’s in a size small, New Look 6125 dress A, Simplicity 2054 either dress B or C.

The Christmas tree skirt I finished. I had some red material that my father had given me 25 years ago, and Simon bought some gold ribbon. I sew the ribbon around the edge and I reinforced the seams at the opening, and Voila! Done. I had to make a rectangular skirt so that it could fit around the table. We put the tree on a table so that Sam would not grab it or knock it down. We used binders to attach the tree to the table and it is SUPER solid. I only needed a skirt to hide it all. In all the years past I draped the red material around the tree base. Now that I am super crafty, I could sew myself something a bit fancier.

I want to try one more PJ for Sam before I make the boys their Christmas PJ’s in the Christmas material I purchased.  I really like the New Look 6525 pattern. It runs big and even the medium was too long on him. I will take the same material I have left over and try the small. Fingers crossed it fits! If at 14 months Sam fits only into a small, this pattern will last a very only time. I have traced the pattern so as to preserve it. I have used it so much that it is starting to get damaged. I even photocopied the original to preserve it.

I had bought a fun simple blue dress at Reitman’s. Simon LOVED it on me. Everyone loved it, and I was thinking that that dress was SO simple. But hey, if people like it, I will take the complement. The problem being it is a small and I am an extra small now. It runs a bit big in the chest area. I found New Look 6125 that is just like it, so I will try to reproduce it. This one has an invisible zipper in the back, so I can leave that for this week’s sewing class. I also have the zipper to do on Simon’s pants, as well as installing a new zipper pull on Tyler’s winter jacket. This week’s class can be about perfecting the zipper.

I don’t think I will add pockets to this first attempt, nor the ribbon. And I want the plain collar for my first attempt.

I am trying to find other reviews to see how this dress sizes. I am really tired of making things for myself that run too big. I want something I can wear!

When I saw this pattern by Cynthia Rowley, Simplicity 2054, something jumped out at me. It is a basic, dress with simple lines. But I like the added details of the sleeves and collar. The more I think about it, the more I want to do dress C, with the cut sleeves.

I think I may make this dress according to my measurements, but in a cheap material. The reviews I read do not say that the pattern runs large. I will have to take the pattern out and see how it measures up against my measurements.