A party with plaid pyjamas



I've joined Karen's pyjama party with some plaid pyjamas that presented some interesting challenges (apart from the fact that they give me the appearance of some real thunder thighs - so not flattering - luckily they are comfy).

 I started with my oft-sewn jammie pattern, for which I usually use nice soft vintage sheets.  This time I found some lovely brushed cotton in the stash.  Perfect.

A breeze, I thought.  I've done this before.  And some winter duds would be just the thing for these cooler nights.  Yes, I'm an accomplished sewist.  This will be a cinch.  I'll even get a little bit fancy.  I'll use flat felled seams, to start with.  So.... I proceeded to sew up both the outside leg seams as well as the inner leg seam, and trim one seam allowance on every seam. Can you just have a think about how hard it would be to do flat felled seams in this scenario?  No, I didn't think about it either, until they were all stitched up and trimmed.  Sheesh.  Looks like I'll just go over the straight stitching with an overlocking stitch then.

 And matching those plaids was interesting.  I thought about matching the horizontal striping, and cut out accordingly.  But you sort of have to get the vertical striping to be a bit matchy as well.  This photo shows that I sort of did OK.

 I used a little ribbon tag for the back, as suggested by Karen (I save my Tessuti ribbon for this very purpose).

Not as quick and easy peasy as I had originally thought, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.  Thanks, Karen!

And what am I reading in my new cosy pyjamas?  Well, this time last year, Rhonda and I were listening to the delightful David Mitchell at the Sydney Writers Festival.  I loved everything he had to say, but had never read his words.  So I went to the Festival bookstore and bought, amongst many other books, all five of his.  Ghostwritten is his first.  It has been languishing on my bedside table for all that time.  And I'm loving it.  Why didn't I start sooner? 

Maybe I just needed the right jammies.

A little bit of knitting

There was a bit of knitting done at Chez Nettie over the summer (what summer?).  One was a special request from ma minette for 'stripey socks all the way up to my knees please'.  In fact, they go over her knees, so should fit for a year or two.

Back in December, I received a xmas swap parcel that included some xmassy yarn - hand dyed Bendi Luxury in candy stripes.  It just had to become a cardi for the same four year old.  The pattern is Langston, which is a shrug, however I just kept on knitting so it's a longer cardi.  I think it will go well over a white skivvy and jeans - she's a bit of a jeans girl usually - she just happened to be in her dancing clothes in this photo shoot.

And on this cold and windy Anzac Day, I dug out the sewing machine from the mess that is my sewing room. I'm joining a pyjama party and a certain sister will be pleased to hear the Meringue has been muslined.  But the sewing tales are for another day.