Clare is currently away on school camp.  It is the third time that she’s been on camp with the school, so she’s an old hand at it now.  But she did need some new warm pyjamas to take with her!   Of course, I made her some.

And as you can see, I made a pair for Stella as well while I was at it. Accidentally. The last time I used this pattern was to make nighties for both the girls, and I cut out the smaller size last. So when I pulled it out of the packet, I forgot to check what size it was and just launched into cutting out. Fortunately I had loads of the fabric, so just made a pair for both. As I’ve said before, they do like to match! The fabric is a cotton/lycra, I think originally from Spotlight.

The top is the Oliver + s hopscotch top. Rather than use binding around the neckline, I used decorative elastic that was in stash. I sewed it with the right side of the elastic to the wrong side of the fabric with a zig-zag stitch, then turned it to the right side and used a zig-zag stitch again to secure it. I did the same thing around the sleeve hems. The decorative elastic was courtesy of Mum and the op-shop (thank goodness for Mum’s op-shop duty). Clare’s is edged in pink, and Stella’s in orange.  I used size 8 for Clare and size 5 for Stella.  And that pose of Stella’s in the photo above?  She has one arm around Clare and the other arm around her imaginary friend…

The pants are a long-john style, with just one pattern piece for the legs and one for the cuffs. It was incredibly quick to sew. The pattern is Ottobre 06/2009, no.35. I made size 128 for Clare and 116 for Stella, but didn’t add the seam allowances when cutting out.  This makes them a little slimmer, which fits my girls better.  Ottobre usually includes hem and waist allowances, so the length was unchanged.

I am very pleased with these – they were a highly satisfying make. Stella is insisting that I also make her a pyjama skirt to mix and match with hers, in the same fabric. Since I do have enough, I reckon that I can do that for her – although I do think that a pyjama skirt is a little unusual!

She’s looking forward to her favourite big sister getting home from camp.

My husband finally succeeded where I have repeatedly failed.  When Clare was a pre-schooler, I made her what I thought was a beautiful pinwale corduroy dress from Vogue 7926.  I wish that Vogue still did little girl’s patterns – I have a few from the early 2000s that I must have acquired just before they stopped producing them and they have all resulted in gorgeous garments.

Clare continually refused to wear this dress. I tried over and over and over. Eventually she outgrew any possibility of wearing it. So as soon as Stella approximated the appropriate size to fit into this dress, I thought that finally it would be worn and all that piping would be worth it. She refused. Over and over and over. So imagine my surprise when on Sunday morning I emerged from the shower to find that my husband had got Stella dressed ready for church – and this was what she was wearing!

She wore it happily all day, and I felt that those pintucks on the bodice, gathered sleeves, fully functional buttoned cuffs, piped plackets, pockets, cuffs and collar, buttonholes, buttons, and contrast floral binding on the inside were all worth it after all. Next time we won’t accessorise with a devil’s pitchfork and scary face.

There is still one dress hanging in the wardrobe that both girls have sadly refused to wear. I’d better get my husband onto that one next.