I rarely sew with quilting cottons because I don't quilt. I have been a little obsessed with some of
Cotton & Steels fabric line so I was looking for an opportunity to sew with them. When the
Carolyn pajamas pattern was released by the talented
Heather of Closet Case Files I knew this was the perfect opportunity. I ordered my two favorites - the August Lion in coral and the Octopus lawn in teal from
fabric.com to make a couple of sets. I sewed up the lions first and made view C for the first try.
The
pattern is marked intermediate and I would say that is pretty accurate, especially if you choose to use piping. The instructions were very clear so it wasn't hard to put together, but it does take some attention to detail and patience to get the collar right and all of the piping inserted in the right places. I have not sewn a lot with piping before so I definitely learned a few things.
The fit was perfect straight off. I was really happy about that. Somehow, even though the fit is somewhat boxy, it ends up pretty flattering. This was meant to be a bit of a trial run for when I use the octopus fabric and sew up View B (long sleeves and pants version), but I don't think that I will need to make any changes to the fit at all.
I didn't have enough fabric to pattern match all of the seams that I wanted, but I at least got center front and the pocket right for the top, which I think was most important. I do recommend choosing a fabric that does not require a ton of matching. Especially with all of the cuffs it began to become quite the headache. You will notice that I didn't succeed with the matching in a lot of areas, but I am not going to let that bother me. I love my new pjs and have already slept in them twice. Now I just need to decide if I should sew up the octopus version right away since the instructions are fresh in my mind, or wait until the weather is getting cold again.
