It’s the festive season once again and I for one feel a little exhausted and as though I’m running on fumes just trying to make it to the big day itself. When I lived in Dublin, I loved walking through stores (mainly to avoid the cold or rain) and seeing all the cosy pyjamas and socks available. I loved coming home, crawling into some fluffy jamjams and relaxing in my warm bed. So it sounds like I need to make myself some new festive pyjamas. As the year is drawing to a close, I wanted to try and make myself a pair of pyjamas as one of my sewing goals for the year was to sew some more separates and pyjamas. What an amazing way to do two things at once and give sewing some festive jam jams a good old go.

Having never made a traditional pair of jam jams before, I wanted to try something modern before I felt brave enough for a vintage pattern (I’m still not the best at fitting patterns). Back in October 2022 I made this pair of pumpkin jammies and although I loved them, I found the arm holes a touch too snug and the shorts too tight to actually wear it as much as I wanted. So it was back to the drawing board to find a new pattern and I settled on Lisette X Butterick B6296 which was a pretty good choice for a first go. As per my own rules, I was still only allowed to shop my current fabric stash which is where I found my fabric for today’s pattern which was about 3 meters of cotton fabric adorned with a gingerbread person pattern.

Looking at Lisette X Butterick 6296, it can be made into a very loose-fitting pyjama top with a collar, forward shoulder seams, pockets, and stitched hems. The top comes in a long sleeve version for winter but for this attempt, I will be sticking with the short sleeves. The Lisette X Butterick 6296 also has matching bottoms with a pocket back, straight-leg shorts and pants with an elasticized waistband, side-front pockets, and a yoke back. The bottoms also come in a longer version for those interested. As I have never made such a pattern before, I opted for my usual size which is a size 12 even though on paper I should be a 14. Regardless, we had our pattern ready to go and it was time to look at our fabric.

These pyjamas are designed for lightweight woven fabrics and stable knits. I opted for a soft cotton I found in Spotlight earlier in the year that I was kindly gifted by my hubby. I had about 3 meters which ended up being just the right amount. It took a fair amount of pattern moving to get all the pieces cut out how I wanted them but I could not have chosen a more comfortable pyjama fabric. If you plan on using this pattern for yourself, it’s worth noting if your fabric has a directional print and if you want to cut out your pieces with any additional matching or contrasting fabrics. The next time I make such a pattern, I want to take advantage of all the different features and make something really fun and special. The pattern also calls for piping as is traditional for pyjamas. I found about 6 meters of pink piping at Homecraft Textiles as well as some matching buttons.

Sew, let’s get started.
Beginning with the top, the whole thing came together quite simply however, adding the piping along the edges is what took the most amount of time. The seams on this pattern are all pretty straight so sewing the piping wasn’t too difficult but I didn’t completely know which side I needed to sew down (kinda think some of my piping was sewn on back to front).

This was the first project I have ever had to use piping for. I have been avoiding it for quite some time as I didn’t think my sewing was neat enough. Doing this project has allowed me to give it ago and of course, learn a few things. If you are worried about piping, I’d recommend using a zipper foot to sew it down as you can get up really close to the cording. Secondly, don’t leave your ends too short. When I was sewing my collar pieces which needed piping, I thought that trimming the piping short would stop it from getting caught in other parts of the sewing project but it turned out the ends weren’t long enough to be properly concealed into the inner seams and I had to use a fair amount of fray-stop to stop the edges fraying. It is disappointing that this issue is right at the front but you can barely notice it to be honest. It is something i will certainly note for next time. By adding the piping, I think the pyjamas looked slightly elevated and I am already looking forward to trying this pattern again very soon.

Pattern Piece Discrepancy; When I eventually came upon step 28, I went to add my neck facing to my main piece and found that my notches and pieces didn’t line up and left a gap about an inch wide. At first I thought I must have cut something out wrong or marked the piece incorrectly but after a little research, I was able to find others online who had the same issue. You can find similar blogs stating this here, and here and here.
Turns out, Piece 5 (front facing) was drafted too short and needs to be adjusted and lengthened to fit Piece 4 (Collar). As it was too late for me at this point to go back and cut out a new piece (had no more fabric that would fit) and everything else seemed really too late to go back and adjust, I went with it and finished up the seams as best I could with a gap.

As I continued sewing up my pyjamas, I deviated from the pattern a little and mainly attached my piping before I started sewing things like sleeve bands closed. For example, Step 34 asks to attach piping to the sleeve band (Piece 7) after it’s been sewn but I did it before Step 32 to make it look better and cleaner. I’m really glad I was able to deviate from the script and make a better garment for it.
I also went ahead and took some creative liberties and added piping to the pocket collar and if I had more piping, I would have added it to the edge of the pockets on the pyjama shorts for a cuter look. These are all things I plan on adjusting for next time.

The shorts came together super quick and I love how big the pocket is. I was a little worried about my hip size as I’m a little heavier on the bottom than the top and honestly, finding shorts and pants that fit and look flatterning on me is a huge challenge. Looking back now I think I would have sewn one size up and just enjoyed a baggier short but thats all to note for next time.

Overall, this project took me about 4 afternoons (a few hours here and there intermittent with some doom scrolling), and although it was a simple process, it was still quite a nifty pattern. Despite this pattern being a learning curve, I am so happy to have made my first pair of pyjamas and just intime for Christmas. My current pyjama stash needs to be dwindled down because some of my pyjama shorts are held up by optimism. By completing this project, it has really pushed me to try this pattern again with a few adjustments as well as just gaining a little sewing confidence.

When it came to fit, the top is perfect. I can move around in it and flail my arms with no issues. I ended up running around in just the top for a little while whilst shooting and I was very comfortable. The shorts fit but they are a little on the snug side for my personal preferences. It’s not as though they are too tight to wear, its more I can see then feeling a little tight if I were to sit around the house in my weird crouched positions (I like to fold my limbs into weird positions, stay still for hours as I work and then wonder why my back hurts). I’d love to make these pyjama shorts in a size 14 or at least add an inch to the sides just for big booty comfort. The only other adjustment I would do is to overlock the seams as I kind of just forgot about doing all that and I want these to last a little while.

All up, this project was so much fun and it feels amazing to try making something new. Honestly at this point, I have two new versions of this project that I want to make but I’ll save one for sometime next year. This pattern being also available to sew into a winter version makes me want to finally crack into some of the obnoxious flannel like fabric I’ve been hoarding for “when I finally make some winter pyjamas”. Looks like that day is coming soon.

To be honest, the fabric deserves it’s own special mention. I’ve recently been trying to use some older fabrics I got years and years ago and have found some to be scratchy and stiff. This also happened when I had to buy some special fabric for a big project and found the quality of the cotton disappointing. Therefore, I will say that this particular cotton from Spotlight was heavenly soft and felt so good on the skin. Being made of cotton as well, it was easy to move around, my skin felt like it could breathe and living somewhere where a heat wave is normal for Christmas, it will be perfect for the rest of the festive season.

Although I don’t live anywhere I can justify winter Christmas pyjamas, this patten has really gifted me something cute, fun and festive that I can enjoy for years to come (or get mad at the imperfections and just sew a better one next year … yeah I’m pretty sure thats the route we are taking). For now though, if you plan on making this pattern yourself, I hope you have the version of the pattern without the facing size issue but in saying that, I hope your make turns out amazing and give you the sweetest dreams.

And just in case it’s the festive season when you’re reading this, I hope you have th happiest of holidays and a very merry new year!

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.