KCW Summer 2013 – Days 1 & 2: Upcycled Jammies

The first ever Summer Kids Clothes Week started on Monday! Are you sewing?! It’s not too late to join in. Just pop over to the brand new Kids Clothes Week site to read all the details, sign up and be inspired!I’m focusing the first part of my week on pajamas for my two youngest boys. They’re both wearing pjs that they’re about the bust out of. Projects #1 and #2 involved turning these two pairs of x-large mens lounge pants that I purchased on clearance at Walmart a few years ago into size 4 and size 6 pajamas.

It’s no secret that I don’t care for the chemical-laden flame-retardant pajamas that they sell in stores for my little ones. It’s not that I don’t understand the law. I do. It’s just that in my house, it’s not likely that my kids are going to come into contact with open flames during the night, and keeping them sleeping as chemical-free as possible is important to me. (I’m not offering advice, in any way, though! And, I do see the irony in the fact that the remainder of these pictures are taken with my kids playing on, around and in our never-been-used, it’s-only-there-for-looks fireplace.)Jamie picked the Star Wars pants to become his jammies, and he absolutely loves them! I used my free tank top pattern that you should see to the left for the tops and my new Runaround Pants pattern for the pants for these. Both are really simple and straight-forward patterns!Instead of leaving the hem raw like the Runaround Pants pattern instructs, I just reused the hem of the original pants. I also made the shorts a little longer. We live in Florida, so we can really use these PJs year-round, and the slightly longer shorts will give us even longer wear time.I had plenty of fabric to make Charlie’s entire outfit, but as you can see, I had to use some creative color-blocking for Jamie’s top. (Jamie’s tank is a scaled-up version of the tank since it’s only available right now in sizes 12 months to 5T. I do hope to get it scaled up to the larger sizes eventually.)I’d love to say that Charlie isn’t as angry as he looks in that picture, but the truth is, he was really mad. Apparently, I was supposed to make him Mickey Mouse jammies, not Fantastic Four . . . It took lollipops, a pacifier, encouragement from everyone in the family and a promise of a brownie when we were done to get him to somewhat cooperate for pictures. When you’re blogging about kids, you sometimes just have to do what you have to do.However, with the help of big brother’s antics which included searching for Florida on one of daddy’s vintage globes . . . . . . and checking out the inside of the chimney for whatever might be hiding in there . . . . . . Charlie did eventually decide that these PJs were worthy of a little superhero-style posing.He even wore them to bed last night. He did, however, strip them off first thing this morning and ask if I’d finished his Mickey Mouse jammies yet. I guess you know what’s on today’s list!