How to Grow Pajamas

As mentioned in a recent post I recently re-sized some pj's for my son. I can't take credit for this idea, I happened upon some pj's years ago in a bag of hand me downs that were my nephews. One of my sisters grandmotherly in-laws had used this trick on a pair of pajamas, genius I thought and stored it away. It's probably a depression era trick.

I should have taken some pictures along the way, but I didn't so hopefully these pictures help...it's very simple to do. The idea is just to add length to the body, arms and legs.

In our house kids tend to grow taller faster than anything else. So the jammies still fit in the waist but they get too short in the arms and legs and tummies catch a cool breeze.

Soooo, onto some instructions


-find some similar matching (or not) fabric. Try to use a similar weight of fabric as the original jammies are. (these pj's are flannel and I used microfleece, it worked fine)

-cut into the pj's. Just a single straight cut across each arm and leg and across the torso of the shirt. You're not removing any fabric here, just cutting straight across to allow you to insert the new fabric.

-using the pj's for sizing cut the fabric inserts, add about 1/4" to allow for seaming along the sides too. Make the fabric as long as you need, I'd say I cut mine in the range of 3" and that's giving my son plenty more room to grow.

-sew along any side seams on your fabric inserts

-next pin your new fabric into the pj's and sew them in (see the top photo)


That's it! It would've been easy enough to go buy some new pj's (but honestly I'd have rather not!). These pajamas were thrifted and my son has been wearing them for about two years, now they'll last another stretch and likely be handed on to a nephew.

So happy I had to share

I've been wanting to make myself some new pj pants for a while since mine are so worn and awful fitting (too short in the leg, too big in the waist and back). I'm so glad that I made my own and I'm not sure I'll ever buy pj's for myself again! Of course I had to make a matching pair for Rowan. It was so cute to see her looking at my pants then looking down at her pants last night thinking 'we match'.

I did a yoga style fold over waist, it's so easy (and comfy) it's become by favorite way to finish off the waist of pants and skirts. The flannel was from Wazoodle and the knit fabric on the waist was from the remnant bin at Fabricland. (I luuuurve the remnant bin, it's always worth a peek).
If you wanted to make your own pjs but a little more economical/green/ethical you could use thrifted flannel sheets and t's shirts for the waist band. I'm sure I'll make some this way too, I had these fabrics on hand so I figured I'd put them to use.

We've decided to go out for dinner tonight so I'm heading off to peel a whole lot of apples and pears to make into apple-pear sauce before we go.

Challenge Met

I found some time to finish up my upcycling challenge. The projects piling up were starting to drive me batty! I've been going a little crazy making fun bath mats lately. I took the rest of my towel and cut it to size, serged the edges and appliqued these mushrooms on them.
I finished up the family cloth too, I think I did about nine of these circles. I only intended on making 4 or 5, but then I thought with the youngest being close to two years old (and hopefully getting some great ideas about using the potty) I may need some extras.

I still have some of the flannel and velour left but I put it away with my fabrics. I thought it would make adorable doll pajamas someday.

I dug out some flannel to make some pajama pants (for me!!) and I've also got a pair of my sons pj's out that need to be made bigger. I'll show you how to grow your pj's next week. Do you have any crafty ideas for the weekend?

new pants from old pants

I got one thing made from my pile, of course I'd like to have gotten more done by now but the little one is sprouting more new molars and has me exhausted. The projects are piling up on my work space.
So these little pants are what I made. I find it hard to find comfy, simple, warm pants that fit over cloth diapers so I've been making most of her pants. I made them from the red velour pants, and there's still fabric to use up.

I also made some new family cloth wipes from some of the flannel pj pants and the towel, I still need to serge most of them though so I'll get a picture later on. I'm a little stumped as to make from the remaining fabrics....a bath mat maybe?

Being Mindful

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. I remember saying that my next post would include a holiday craft to do list, but I've barely even thought about that (which isn't a good sign with all the gift crafting I'll need to do this year). What has been piling up in my bedroom and sewing area for a long time is clothing that I've been meaning to re-purpose. I decided to challenge myself this week and see what I could make from these three things (just a small dent into my pile!) In the picture are a pair of women's red velour yoga pants that I thrifted for $1, a pair of women's flannel pj pants that have always been too short for me but I love the mushrooms print, and a worn out orange towel.


Re-purposing and altering clothes has become something I've been thinking about more and more. I donate a lot of things we're not using or have outgrown but sometimes I love the print or the fabric (often because it's useful ie: velour & terry are super absorbent). Another reason I've been doing more re-purposing is economic, I just need to. It also feels like the environmental and ethical thing to do since it creates less demand on manufacturing, creating and transporting fabrics and goods. And sometimes I'd rather create what we need with things we have on hand rather than make a trip into town for something we 'need'.
I have managed to get started on creating some new goodies from these items and I'm hoping to get back this week to post them. One thing I'm still learning is to have patience when you're taking an item apart. Look at the notions I scored from the flannel pj pants...elastic, some trim, and a wooden button. There's also a sneak peek at at least one thing I'm making from these things, can you guess what they are?

October!?

October, I almost can't believe it. The photo of the tree out front of our house was taken just the other day, now it's completely orange and lost many more leaves. There's so many projects happening here, renovations, room changes, a wood stove being installed, a chicken run going in to contain our chickens who have become a little to comfortable in their yard, on the road, up the road, visiting the neighbors chickens and inviting them back to roll and dig in front of our house.

And the crafting that needs to be done. I made these bunting flags yesterday. What a fun project and a great way to use up some fabric. This set reverses to Halloween flags, love it! I started on some ornaments that I'll be adding to my shop soon. There's Thanksgiving at our house, birthdays to plan and craft for, Christmas gifts to make (many).
I think my next post will help me organize my holiday crafting.