Confession #36: Have an hour? Then you can make these cute pajamas

The cute rumps

I have always been intimidated by sewing clothes. I feel like I can sew pretty much anything but when it comes to actually making sure it fits on a human being, well that scares the stuffing out of me. But I decided it's about time I actually tried. So I started with the most forgiving, easiest fabric I could think of: fleece. Liana and I went to our local Joann's and I had her pick out three patterns of her choice. Of course they all had animals on them: Turtles, whales and dinosaurs. I also picked up matching solid colors: pink, orange and green. All of which were 50% off. Score! Now, you can totally do this project green by checking out your local thrift stores or using fleece from an old blanket. But I wanted something fast and super cute. So I actually bought new fabric. I know, it felt so weird for me.

Ignore the nose picker! Just look at the cute pj's

The first pair of pants took me forever. But after the third pair I was getting pretty good at it. I timed the third pair: 28 minutes. Not bad, not bad at all.
This is the pattern I used (roughly): From An Igloo
You can imagine how excited I felt the next day when Liana tried them on and they actually fit!
And since you can't have cute pj pants without a cute matching top, I went searching for the perfect top pattern. Of which I never found. But I did use this pattern as a reference: Small Dream Factory
The main reason this pattern didn't work for me, is that it was way too small. It was for a 1-1 1/2 year old and my daughter is two. She is a skinny two, but a two nonetheless. The result: a slightly tight pj top (see whale shirt on the left). And that's after I altered it to make it bigger for her.

Hoping this one holds up so her brother can use it

 So I ended up taking one of her sweatshirts out of her closet and using it to make my pattern. This worked perfectly. See photo to the right! The third shirt I made only took 35 minutes to complete.

Little turtles

And there you have it, a two piece pajama set in a little over an hour. Liana loves them and I love how soft and toasty she it when we snuggle. I did this without shoes, but I have to confess, it's cold, I wore socks.





Don't want to take the time to make these yourself? Let me do it for you. I will be making these to order for $25 a set or $15 each piece. There are dozens of patterns to choose from!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things: Upcycling Sweaters

I wanted to make my family some new stockings for Christmas so I did a little goggling and checked on Pinterest and found ones made out of old sweaters. I loved that idea, and it inspired me to make more recycled sweater items. Here's the list

Our families stockings

1. Old Sweaters, New Stockings by Imperfect Home
Seriously one of the most simple patterns to follow. All you need is a few sweaters and a sewing machine. It took me about 15 minutes to make three. Still looking for one more sweater for our new addition.

photo by Create and Delegate

2. Leg warmers by Create and Delegate
Kids love these and you will love that they are simple and keep their legs nice and toasty.

Liana's slippers

3. Sweater Slipper pattern 1 by Collecting the Moments
I made Liana a pair of these, the only thing missing is a printable tutorial.

4. Sweater Slipper pattern 2 by Michael Miller Fabrics
This booties pattern has a printable pattern and is nice cause you can make it with any kind of fabric. I used my sweater scraps and it worked great. Also made it months ago with normal fabric and it was nice too.





An assortment of Liana slippers

5. Sweater Slippers pattern 3 by Leafy Tree Top Spot
A really cute design plus printable pattern. I like this one cause the pattern fits size 7/8 instead of just infant feet. She used fleece but I thought it worked great with felted wool sweaters.






6. Infant Hats by Corina Nielson
Her hats are so cute and once I get more sweaters, I will be making more of these.

Liana's winter mittens

7. Hat and Mitten set by One Pearl Button
Made mine out of an old cashmere sweater that I didn't ever wear anymore. Its so soft.











photo by Cut Out and Keep

8. Sweater Boots by Cut Out and Keep
So cute. Haven't tried these yet, but want to

Photo by Thrifty Mama

9. Boot "Socks" by Thrifty Mama
Simple and so stylish

Sweater bookends

10. Owl book ends by me (but check out Green Eyed for instructions)
I love my owl bookends. I free handed them so I found Green Eyed's pattern for you to get an idea of it. I added a bag of sand in each owl to weigh it down.

Elephant taggy

11. Recycled Elephant by me
Like most things I do, I free handed this. Just pick your fabric (for me, a red sweater and some corresponding fabric). You'll also need different colored ribbons. i made myself a template on paper and traced it onto the fabric. Be creative!

Taggy Toy

12. Taggy Blanket by me
I used a broken set of plastic keys (the ring broke), ribbon, and a few squares of an old felted wool sweater. Again, the skies the limit!





Happy Barefoot Sweater Crafting!