Spring Retro Cotton Pajama Set

With these pajamas I hereby declare it is Spring! I’m putting away my oversized flannel pajamas (even if I do have a couple cute pairs) and wearing this adorable vintage style pajama set. While I am certainly usually guilty of wearing worn out oversize tee shirts and dumpy sweatpants to bed, I like have pajamas that make me feel pretty and composed when I wear them, perfect for wearing when traveling or with company visiting. Or just to celebrate that Spring is here!

I used vintage Simplicity 4179 to sew these pajamas. The pattern was one size large for me so I went ahead and cut it as it, figuring that it didn’t matter if it was a bit big since it’s just pajamas. Also, my broad shoulders don’t usually fit well in vintage patterns. Well, there was some funky fitting that resulted. Somehow it’s like the front fits well but there’s a bunch of extra fabric in the back. I made a few adjustments and fixed the issues, but it was an odd initial fitting result. I admit that I didn’t make a muslin and I can’t be totally sure that the odd fit wasn’t a result of my laid-back approach to these pajamas, but if you do find and sew this pattern yourself, you might want to check on the fit.

This project is my April project as a Minerva Sewing Blogger so they provided the gorgeous cotton lawn that is the print and the coordinating solid cotton poplin as well as the thread, elastic, and buttons to make the whole project. I’m seriously in love with their cotton lawn (I used it for the first time to line my presidio purse) so you may see me finding excuses to use it again in the future. You can buy your own kit if you want to make your own similar pajamas!

I think it’s fun to use two different coordinating fabrics. The outfit wouldn’t be nearly as cute if it was all the lawn. Mixing in the solid poplin really makes everything pop. Of course it’s also nice to so perfectly color coordinate with my bed :)

The front of the blouse has a placket is folded back and the overlap hides the edges. The two buttons on the yoke close the top while the buttons on the shoulder straps are purely decorative. The waistband of the pajama bottoms is elastic and there are no side seams so the front and back are the same.

While our young grey cat (Tig) is the usual suspect to wander into my photographs, our old black cat (Mr. T) wanted to get involved in this one, so who am I to deny such a sweetheart?

I do have to admit to a little disappointment with this project, stemming from Adam’s reaction. Usually Adam loves everything I make (and if he doesn’t love it he finds something to compliment) since he’s so wonderfully supportive. But he’s convinced that the pajama set is too twee. I told him that it’s a vintage pattern and that he should like it since it’s mid-century and he loves mid-century. But if I’m going to do mid-century, he’d rather I do Joan Harris than Sally Draper. Oh well. They make me happy and that’s what matters!