Quick and simple alteration - Pajamas to night gown
If you follow my blog, you know that I am not a fan of pants. Even less so at night, where they can ride up and cut between the legs. That excludes legging type bottoms, which I do favor in the winter time.
Toujours est-il that I've had this set of summer pajamas for years. A top and shorts. Adorable, but with shorts so uncomfortable to sleep in that I only used the top at night. I favored it on hot nights because of the light fabric and loose fit. I felt inspired and finally decided to see if I could turn this into a comfortable loose, summer night gown. This is not the sexiest night gown, but the project is easy. Ideal if like me, you are learning how to sew.
The top had cute frills at the bottom that I reused for the bottom of the night gown. Essentially, the project entitled cutting the top in two parts, separating the bottom from the top, and turning the shorts into a band of fabric inserted in the middle.
First I had to decide where to cut the top. I put it on and marked a spot below my chest and above my waist. I measured how far that was from the bottom and carried that measurement across. I did not cut horizontally, as the bottom hem of the top was curved and I had to follow that. Below, I am working on pieces turned inside out.
I cut and separated the top into the two parts. Next I turned to the shorts and studied them to see how to best to utilize the fabric. I started by cutting off the waistband, then cut away the crotch seam.
I now had a tube. I folded it so that the front and back seams became side seams.
I now had my three pieces to attach together.
I started by attaching the top to the middle part. For this, I first had to cut the middle part to follow the proper curvature. I laid the top on top of the top of the middle part (couldn't resist writing down this sentence), traced the curvature, and cut.
Then I placed the two pieces with right sides facing and pinned in place. There was some gathering to do, as the bottom hem of the top is clearly longer than the one where the shorts waistband had been. The difference did not warrant full blown gathering (thought that would have been cute). Instead, I placed the first pins at the side seams, then placed pins joining the middle of each pieces, then middle of that, etc... until I had pins every inch and a half or so. I formed little pleats as needed while sewing.
Technical note on seams. I studied the existing seams and read my sewing book, and watched a few tutorials to decide on the best strategy for seams. The fabric is thin, so I went with the narrow seam allowance recommended for light fabrics. I went with the simple technique of first using the overhang stitch on my machine to first attach the pieces together while blocking the fabric from fraying. Normally, one would next reinforce that with a line of straight stitches at the base of the overhand stitching. Instead, I pressed the seam so the fabric that was part of the seam allowance would face toward the bottom of the gown. Then I turned the work to the right side and top stitched close to the seam. This could have been further reinforced with stitching at the base of the overhang stitch first, but this is not load bearing stitching.
Next I turned to the side seams. The middle part had to be trimmed on the side to be straight and follow the curve initiated by the top. I cut what needed to be cut.
Finally, I attached the bottom part following the same method as for the top parts. After I cut the bottom of the shorts to follow the curvature of the bottom piece, I closed up what needed to be closed of the side seams using the same techniques as above.
The main thing I learned from this project was seam techniques. I also refined my motor skills when it comes to using the overhang stitch and top stitching.
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| Made from pajamas: easy summer night gown |
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| The original, top and bottom |
First I had to decide where to cut the top. I put it on and marked a spot below my chest and above my waist. I measured how far that was from the bottom and carried that measurement across. I did not cut horizontally, as the bottom hem of the top was curved and I had to follow that. Below, I am working on pieces turned inside out.
I now had a tube. I folded it so that the front and back seams became side seams.
I now had my three pieces to attach together.
I started by attaching the top to the middle part. For this, I first had to cut the middle part to follow the proper curvature. I laid the top on top of the top of the middle part (couldn't resist writing down this sentence), traced the curvature, and cut.
Then I placed the two pieces with right sides facing and pinned in place. There was some gathering to do, as the bottom hem of the top is clearly longer than the one where the shorts waistband had been. The difference did not warrant full blown gathering (thought that would have been cute). Instead, I placed the first pins at the side seams, then placed pins joining the middle of each pieces, then middle of that, etc... until I had pins every inch and a half or so. I formed little pleats as needed while sewing.
Technical note on seams. I studied the existing seams and read my sewing book, and watched a few tutorials to decide on the best strategy for seams. The fabric is thin, so I went with the narrow seam allowance recommended for light fabrics. I went with the simple technique of first using the overhang stitch on my machine to first attach the pieces together while blocking the fabric from fraying. Normally, one would next reinforce that with a line of straight stitches at the base of the overhand stitching. Instead, I pressed the seam so the fabric that was part of the seam allowance would face toward the bottom of the gown. Then I turned the work to the right side and top stitched close to the seam. This could have been further reinforced with stitching at the base of the overhang stitch first, but this is not load bearing stitching.
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| Finishing on the seam stitching |
Finally, I attached the bottom part following the same method as for the top parts. After I cut the bottom of the shorts to follow the curvature of the bottom piece, I closed up what needed to be closed of the side seams using the same techniques as above.
The main thing I learned from this project was seam techniques. I also refined my motor skills when it comes to using the overhang stitch and top stitching.
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