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Back at it...

July was a busy month for our family. We moved back to the States and have been busy getting settled in our new community. It's been a good move so far but the changes and adjustments have consumed a lot of time and energy. I am very grateful to once again have a dedicated sewing space and have that all unpacked. There is still some arranging to do and things to get to make the space as efficient as I'd like it. That will come in time.

After not sewing anything for six weeks, I was honestly a little stumped by the question of what to sew first. My older daughter needed some more warm-weather pajamas and I could do that with stash fabric, so that's what I did.


I used two Ottobre patterns for this set, both of which were designed for knits. To make them work for this woven poplin, I sized up before cutting and then had to do some tweaking during assembly.


The top is Ottobre 3/2011 #33. I like the envelope-style neckline and I loved doing the bias binding. The yellow looks like a better match in real life. I preferred a grey binding, but my daughter liked the yellow better.


After I basted the side seams, the top was too loose under the shoulders and too tight at the hem. So, we took it in at the top and added a 1.5" gusset to the lower part of the side seams. It makes it much more comfortable and easier to get on and off. If it wasn't pajamas, I maybe would have worked harder to make it an interesting design feature, but plain is fine for pajamas.


I did a fair bit of modifying to the shorts pattern to make them work for this fabric. Since these were completed, I came across a link to this free (!) Purl Bee pattern, which would give very similar results.

I don't have any pictures of these on my daughter, but they look pretty cute on her. Perfect for warm summer nights!

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