Betcha’ wonder if I sewed anymore, huh? I was beginning to wonder that myself!

J3 grew like a weed this summer. After cleaning out his dresser, I realized he was down to 3 pairs of PJ’s that actually fit him. So I made him some more (with room to grow through the winter). The flannel and fleece fabrics are from Walmart. The tops took 1 1/2 yd, fleece bottoms 1 yd. for size 10. The dk blue cotton knit is Carter’s 12″ tubular knit I bought from Fabric Club a couple of years ago. I still have 20 yards of the stuff and it doesn’t seem I’ll ever find the end of the roll. Sometimes it’s probably not a good idea to go overboard even if the fabric is really a great price! The other knits are cotton knits picked up when I can find them. For some odd reason, it’s really hard to find a cotton knit in Georgia. Remember when cotton was king? sorry . j/k.

Simplicity 9499 I use this one for the raglan t-shirts for the boys. The neck does tend to be a bit large. When I forget to cut it smaller, I use a wider knit neckband with lycra in it for memory retention. (The fabric - not me. lol)

There is another set of these with a lt. blue cotton knit top and cotton woven sleeping pants with a cowboy print. One thing to note is my boys are really rough on knit pj bottoms. When I do the flannels and Woven bottoms, if I add an extra layer of fabric to the inside at the knees. If I don’t, within 6 months the fabric will be worn and ripping there. I think if I add some fusi-knit to the knees of the knits, it might help wearability, but haven’t tried it yet.

McCalls M9206 - basic sleep / play pants and t-shirts pattern.

Puppy dogs and paw prints

Monkeys and cuddle pants

I’ve used this pattern since the boys were toddlers. I just change up pockets depending on what I’m making. Great basic pattern. The pockets on the fleece bottoms are lined with the matching flannel from the tops. I find they like lots of pockets, so I put two on the front of the tops and two on the legs - one on each side.

I often recycle knit neckbands and cuffs from old clothes. If you turn them inside out - as long as they have retained their shape, it works well - especially when you need just that perfect color - like pale yellow. It can be difficult to find pastel rib knits especially. I also save zippers, fun fasteners and appliques in freezer ziploc bags. Those items can really run up the price of making a garment and I don’t see any reason to not keep them if they are in good shape. All - in - all, J3’s PJ’s cost about 23.00 to make (5 pairs). He gets new warm PJ’s from fabric he picked and as he puts it - love sewn in the stitches! Anyway, I hope you found this useful in a sharing sort of way.

Now to tackle Doc’s birthday! He’s going to be 9 in 10 days Didn’t we just do this???