I have many friends who sew and knit. Many of them learned these crafts when they had children because they wanted to make cute little outfits for those cute little people. Each stitch in those outfits is filled with love. I don’t doubt that for an instant.

When I measure myself up against those shining examples, I fall far short. In fact, while I love my children beyond measure, I do not enjoy sewing for them. More often than not, they don’t like what I sew, and if they do like something “mom-made,” they outgrow it in an instant. This is not a rewarding scenario for me.

However, the inexplicably guilt-driven part of my nature forced me into sewing pajamas for my kids. They were supposed to be Christmas presents, but I just finished them yesterday afternoon. As you can tell, guilt wasn’t quite enough to make me get the job done on time.

Click on thumbnails for larger photos.

Sam’s pajamas were the easiest to make, but turned out the most disappointing. Since they were supposed to be a surprise, I didn’t do a whole lot of fitting prior to giving them to him. I made the largest size in the envelope figuring that he could grow into them. Well, the pants were so long he would have been tripping over the hems for years to come. I made them shorter. The top, on the other hand, was ridiculously small.

Lesson #1: Kids require custom fitting as much as full grown people.
Addendum to Lesson #1: Kids change size while you’re sewing. Do not depend on measurements to stay the same from one moment to the next!

Sam couldn’t wait to trade the mom-made PJ top in for one of his comfy tees. He likes the bottoms though.

Claire’s pajamas were a lot more fiddly, but they turned out pretty darn cute, if you’re into the Barnum and Bailey look (minus the large, red squeaky nose and pom-pom buttons).

Apparently, Claire likes the clownish-styling. Get this: she squealed when she found the finished Pajamas hanging in her closet. That’s right, folks. She SQUEALED.

If I could count on a reaction like that every time I sewed something for her, she’d have a closet bursting with clothes!

I used New Look 6746 for both pairs of pajamas. One envelope includes sizes 3-8, which is a nice range of sizes, unfortunately, it wasn’t quite large enough for my son’s top! The girl’s top could be easily transformed into a nightgown just by lengtheing the bottom skirt piece. I’m tempted to do that!

New Look patterns are very reasonably priced, so that’s a bonus.

I used cotton flannel for the pajamas. It’s nice and soft.

Lesson #2: Always, always prewash flannel a couple of times using hot water and a high temp for the dry cycle. Flannel shrinks a lot.
Addendum to Lesson #2: Since flannel shrinks so much, you’ll want to buy more than listed on the pattern envelope.

Finally, I always add a little tag to the back of my kids’ PJ pants. I used a bit of leftover ribbon for my daughter’s pants and a bit of ric-rack for my son’s. They have an easier time dressing themselves when they don’t have to guess which way they’re supposed to put the pants on!