Finished: Drunken Sailor Pyjama Bottoms

After making some PJs for myself as part of the recent Pyjama Party, I thought it was only fair to make some for my current husband*. Although I've knitted a couple of things for him I have never sewn anything for him and since I discovered how easy pyjamas were to make, I was happy to give it a whirl.

This is the pattern I used, Advance 5878:

It's a 1950s pattern, although I probably could have winged it without one, using measurements from a pair of his existing PJ bottoms and the instructions from the pattern I used for my own pair. Anyway, I love the quaint pattern illustration - those men have slippers with heels on! I might make a matching top using view 3, which is quite simple and modern looking.

Anyway, this is how they turned out:

My current husband* breaking out his best model poses. Yes, that is an empty box of Jaffa Cakes under the sofa.

 

The fabric used is a polycotton with a kind of embroidered stripe design with little sailing boats on. I had a hard time choosing fabric for mens' PJs as I didn't want an obvious stripe and all the novelty fabrics were a bit girly. 

The pattern originally had a fly front but I decided to omit this. I used flat felled seams all over to make them more robust. I found that the crotch seems to be quite low, as obviously 1950s men preferred to wear their PJs much higher up than modern men. I would try and adjust for this next time to avoid potential MC Hammer-esque results.

However I did make a pretty major error in this project. Here's a clue...

Yep, I cut the fabric with the pattern upside down. Damn. Still, it does not affect the functioning of the trousers, and is the reason for the name 'Drunken Sailor Pyjama Bottoms'. My current husband* kindly maintains that the upside down pattern means he can see it better from his point of view.

I think this is the first time I've made this particular mistake, and weirdly enough, I was thinking about not making just this error when cutting my Eiffel Tower fabric. That would be a more tragic and costly mistake so hopefully I will remember to double check the direction of the pattern before cutting.

As a first foray into sewing for men, this was really easy. I'm not sure what else I would sew for my current husband*, as he doesn't wear shirts, usually t-shirts, and I'm not up for sewing trousers or jeans. I have promised him a jumper, so I might make that one of my next knitting projects.

K x

[*'My current husband' is his nomenclature of choice - he decided that 'Mr Kestrel' was degrading.]