Yes you read that right. This is about the Christmas Pajamas I made my kids for Christmas 2024! I am just a tad late… but that’s better than never right?! I was sitting down to share the Christmas pajamas I made for this past Christmas when I realised i had completely forgotten the previous year! oops. At the end of 2024 we took the kids to Switzerland for a long awaited white Christmas trip, so for the first time in a very long time I had the pleasure of making winter Christmas pajamas.
This year I did the same as the prior year in that I tried to make them all to coordinate but not necessarily match perfectly. I have had these Liberty of London floral flannels for years waiting to make something for the girls and kept forgetting – so this felt like the perfect opportunity to finally use them. The girls love matching, so I decided to sew the trim of their pajamas from each other’s fabric so they kind of match. I think it worked out really well!
I started Birdie’s nightie first as I knew hers would take the longest. She is still a lover of nighties and I have had this vintage pattern in my stash for so long with the intention of using it for her. It’s a size 12, and she was 10 at the time, so I decided to just cut it as is without grading and let her grown into it so she could get more wear out of it. The only alteration I made was to length as it was much too long for her. I’m really glad I went with the size as is, because she was still able to wear this nightie through this past winter as well. I am going to have to replace a few buttons before this winter comes around as she has torn a few off.
The sleeve hem and neckline are bound with bias from Bunny’s fabric, as is the waist tie. I love how her nightie turned out – it’s so pretty and so very Birdie!
Bunny wanted a knit top and pajama bottoms much like Buddy, but as she fits my women’s range I was able to use existing patterns for her which was amazing! Her top is made from a waffle knit that I had in stash and I used the Jarrah sewing pattern. I cut a size 8 View A and simply left off the sleeve cuffs and hem cuffs for this cut cropped look. For the neckline she really wanted a bias bound neckline from Birdie’s fabric so they would match, but as you probably know, adding a bias neckline to knit is a bit risky. I ended up doing it twice because the first time it stretched out too much. I still think it’s a bit too wide, but Bunny is happy so i’m ok with it.
Her PJ top includes a patch pocket in the same fabric as her bottoms so that they match, but she wanted an pointed pocket which was a nice touch i think. For her bottoms i was able to use the Opal sewing pattern – I sewed View B, but made the legs slightly narrower at the hemline as I didn’t have enough fabric for the full width. But to be honest i don’t think she would have liked them super wide anyway.
I made piping from Birdie’s fabric and inserted that into the waistband seam which i think so so pretty. Her waistband tie (which is actually just a bow for aesthetics) is made from Birdie’s fabric as well. The hem of her pants is bound with Birdie’s fabric too – partially for the matchy matchyness of it all, and partly again because of fabric constraints.
For Buddy he wanted a checked flannel, so i found this beautiful flannel that was a similar colour palette to Bunny’s and he chose this merino wool knit for his tee from my stash. The waistband is a plush elastic that i bought as deadstock years ago when i had the studio and i was so pleased with how well it matched. The long sleeve tee has a patch pocket from the pants flannel, which ties it all together.
Buddy has well and truly grown out of all the kids patterns I have, but also is not quite ready to transition to mens patterns. It’s an awkward stage, so I decided the best thing was to make him his own pattern that includes the fit and style he wants. So the pajama bottoms and long sleeve tee are both drafted to his size and preferences, and i think he’s quite happy with them as he also wore them all through this past winter. Because i was so worried about him growing I sewed his bottoms with a wide hem so that I can let them out and I’m pretty sure i’m going to have to do that before this winter hits.
I really like the back pocket which i cut on the bias to contrast with the rest of the pajamas. Adding pockets to the back of PJ bottoms is one of my favourite tricks for making it really obvious to the kids which side is the front and which is the back as sometimes I do forget to add a label to the back. Though this time I added Kylie and the Machine’s Circa 2024 labels to everyone’s PJs which was a really fun touch.
Overall I am so happy with how these Christmas pajamas turned out and I’m so grateful that my kids still enjoy this tradition!
