Pajama Time!

They might be stripey, or polka dot. But we can all pajammy in whatever we've got. It's Pajama Time! Pajammy to the left. Pajammy to the right. (Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!)

Well, mine are polka dot. And even with my crappy craftswomanship, I'm ridiculously happy with them. I've been pajammying to the left, to the right, and all over the place this weekend. I could live in these pants. If it wouldn't be gauche to wear them out on the town, I would. (Or, if I were a U-M student. Apparently if you are 20 and slightly drunk and it's St. Patrick's Day, you can wear just about anything, including pjs, and walk around town in the middle of the day. But since none of those things holds true for me, I am resigned to wearing my pjs only in the house. Which I am doing a lot. A LOT. I mean, if I'm home, I've got these on.)

I mean come on, brown with pink polka dots and pink lace trim? What's not to love? (mismatched polka dots at the seams notwithstanding)

pattern: Simplicity 4380
fabric: basic cotton tonal dot brown/pink fabric from JoAnn, bought on sale in August for $2.99/yd.
notions: lace, elastic, drawstring (which I ended up not using)
total cost: roughly $15
started: hmmm, how do you gauge this with sewing? When did I start? When I washed the fabric? When I cut out the pattern? When I cut out the fabric? I don't know, I did this one in fits and starts. I cut out the pattern pieces many days ago, cut out the fabric pieces sometime last week, maybe Wednesday? Began the actual sewing on Thursday.
finished: I called them done on Friday, though I still might go back and re-do the elastic. Turns out I cut it too generously and really need it a bit tighter.
modifications: The pattern calls for a wide elastic waistband with a ribbon drawstring tied in the front. I didn't buy the right kind of drawstring (I bought actual drawstring, like the kind you use for sweatpants, instead of the ribbon or twill tape called for) and it turns out I don't have a buttonhole or zigzag foot for my machine (needed to make buttonholes for the drawstring to come out of), which means the buttonholes I tried to make are disastrous. I also had major confusion over the pattern instructions for the waist, and was unhappy with how high the waist ended up being when I did what I thought the pattern called for. So I skipped the drawstring, folded the waistband in, sewed it down and called it done.
notes: I learned to love my seam ripper with this pattern. I sewed the pieces together wrong two times - all the pieces. I had the whole thing assembled wrong. Twice. After the third time, I think I finally got the concept of pant construction (these are my first pants). Next lesson to learn? How to match fabric correctly along seams....

Still, I love these pants, and I looooovvve this fabric. Which I already knew.

But my favorite part?

The lace cuffs.