Carolyn Pyjamas, An Exercise in Recycling and Stash Busting

 Before I left for USA, I made myself some new pyjamas.  I had been meaning to do this for quite some time, but it took an overseas holiday to make it happen.   My summer pyjama situation was quite dire, think chain store knit pants with wonky side seams in cheap washed out fabric.  In other words, not the sort of pyjamas I would ever want to be seen in.

I had been coveting Closet Case Carolyn Pyjamas since they were released, but knew I would never make the top.  I was quite reluctant to spend quite a chunk of money on a pair of rather basic pants that really, I could probably have drafted myself.  Being time poor though, in the end I just hit buy now and I have to say I am pleased I did.

For my first pair, I dug out a lovely piece of Italian cotton shirting that I bought online to make an actual shirt for my husband but decided when it arrived that it was too busy.  It sat in my cupboard for several years until I had the bright idea to turn it into pyjama pants.  For the top, I found a piece of op shop rayon knit in my stash that really isn't my colour, but went beautifully with the cotton shirting.  

I cut the pants out to size 12, according to my measurements and was really happy to discover that the fit was spot on.  For the trim around the hem of the pants, I found a piece of white cotton that was originally a bed valance and cut this into a bias trim.

Next up was the top.  I hacked Tessuti Lola and Alexa tees to make the top and trimmed it with a pocket in the cotton shirting fabric.  Apart from my coverstitch machine not liking the rayon knit at all, the tee came together quite quickly  and I was really pleased with the resulting pyjamas.

After my success with the first pair of pyjamas, I decided I really needed a second pair.  I visited Spotlight and found some really vibrant poplin printed in flamingos.  Now, I would never wear flamingos on my every day clothes but pyjamas are altogether a different kettle of fish!  I also had last year's pyjama top which was still in perfect condition even though the pants bled and wrinkled like crazy and actually turned out to be a complete disaster.  I simply unpicked the original pocket and stitched on a new one in my flamingo fabric.  I trimmed the pants to match the red tee using a piece of cotton I picked up at Lincraft.   I actually felt quite pleased with myself that I managed to salvage last years pyjamas and being a little bit environmentally friendly in the process.

While I was away on holiday, I had my birthday.  I returned home to birthday presents from my kids, and a rather lovely home cooked dinner which was particularly fabulous after 31 hours in airports and planes.  My daughter had made me an owl pin cushion come notion holder to replace the now quite sad looking versions she made in school quite a few years ago.  Along with it she gave me the remainder of the fabric which turned out enough to make the short version of the Carolyn Pyjamas.

Once again I cut the pattern to size 12 and used the remaining piece of red trim from my flamingo pants.  I also had a singlet top from last years disaster short pyjamas and I added a pocket with the scraps that were left after making the shorts.  In the end I used every little bit of that mannequin fabric.