It’s that time again! I love ending the year by making my kids matching Christmas pajamas, and I’m so excited to share with you their Christmas pajamas 2022 edition! As you may remember, last year I pushed the matching a little too far for Buddy, so this year I tried to go for something a bit more coordinated rather than 100% matchy and I’m so happy with how these turned out.
This years fabrics come from my stash, and it was so satisfying knowing that I had exactly what I wanted right there ready to go. I got this Ellie Whittaker fabric as soon as it was released a few years ago and have been hoarding it for the girls for quite some time. As you may have noticed, Christmas falls in the middle of Perth’s hot and sunny summer, and so I always like to choose fabrics that reflect what Christmas is to us. This fabric is such a perfect reflection of summer, and I love how these nighties turned out! For Buddy I used a striped linen cotton that I had in my stash left over from one of our pattern samples. I decided to alternate the stripe direction for a bit of fun, and I’m so thrilled with how it turned out! I used that same striped linen cotton for the binding of the girl’s nighties and I really love how that ties the set together.
The great news is that I didn’t even need to cut out the binding, as it was leftover from when Naomi created a tutorial for how to make bulk bias binding a few years ago.
When it comes to patterns, I went with the same concept from previous years but I had to change the size range I used as Bunny and Buddy have both has massive growth spurts this year. I started by asking the kids what they wanted this year, and no surprises, Bunny and Birdie wanted nighties again and Buddy wanted shorts with a tee. I think it’s really important to include the kids in this process so that they get what they really want. Buddy is a great example of that. Our summer nights are hot, so i really wanted to make him a sleeveless tee – which he hates, so i didnt’ do it ;)
Bunny and Birdie’s nighties are made using the Eucalypt pattern as a base and adding a gathered skirt at the waist. We’ve got a great tutorial for how you can do this yourself here. I made Birdie a size 8 Mini Eucalypt, but Bunny has not outgrown the mini range, so I made hers using the women’s Eucalypt pattern. I did have to make some adjustments based on her personal preferences and age. Though she measures a 6, she really likes her nighties to be very loose, so we sized up to the 8. I also shortened the shoulder straps by 2cm, and raised the neckline by 2cm as well. As per usual I made the skirts quite long, so that there is a lot of room for the girls to grow. We’re really happy with those adjustments and will probably do the same next year if she wants to the same nightie again.
For Buddy, he has also outgrown the Mini range, and so i couldn’t use Mini Briar as his tee base this year. Instead i opted to make a pattern from one of his favourite ready to wear tees and I think it turned out really well! For the shorts I made him Opal shorts in a size 6, with the length halfway between the short and knee length options in the pattern. This kids is growing at an insane pace (he has grown 10cm in 9 months!) so it was really important to me to make his pajamas really roomy so that they will last the whole summer.
I’m so happy with how these Christmas pajamas for my kids turned out, and i’m so happy that they are happy and excited to participate in this tradition each year. I’m sure the time will come when they don’t want to any more, but I feel so blessed that at least for now they do, and my greatest joy at Christmas is seeing them enjoy something that I made for them with love and care.
