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.]

18 comments:

  1. Bahahaha-- your "current husband"! Mine loves to joke that his second wife hasn't been born yet... what a jerk. These turned out nicely! I could definitely see myself making the same mistake when cutting out the fabric, but I haven't yet as I've never used a directional print before! It's not noticeable at all.

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  2. hahah - too funny. I tried to knit my husband a hat and scarf over xmas last, and he said no because the thought of wool made him feel "all weird". I don't know what he means either. He doesn't mind my referring to him as Mr P&N though, so I won't trade him in quite yet ;) Great PJs... upside down, the boats look like a tribal print.

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    1. Ha ha, I'm not sure what 'all weird' means either!

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  3. HA! "Current Husband" - oh, I love that. These bottoms look fantastic, and I would have never guessed the print was going the wrong way until you pointed it out :) Well done!

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  4. I love it. Both the "current husband" and the "drunken" results. I have a friend that often refers to his wife as "my first wife"...that's after 25 years of marriage.

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  5. Fab! Never thought I'd see himself on a blog, though!

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  6. Yup, he's got the slippers, but where's the pipe?

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  7. Ha! Mr. Retro often grumbles that he's not "retro" enough to deserve that name.

    I would have never guessed the print was upside down if you hadn't pointed it out! They look comfy--which is all that really matters when it comes to PJs, right?--regardless!

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  8. These are great! Maybe if you wanted another project and he likes T-Shirts, you could pick up a simple knit T-shirt pattern! :)

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  9. Great pjs! I love your nomenclature :-)

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  10. I love that that's the name he picked for himself! I didn't give mine a choice - maybe I should consult him. :) Those PJ pants look perfect to me; I wouldn't have noticed the upside motif - it's so small! I think we should revive slippers w/ heels for men. ;)

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  11. LOVE the term 'current husband'! For some reason it really tickled me and made me beam from ear to ear reading it! I made an entire garment with the print facing upside down recently! I didn't mention it in my post and was waiting for somebody to point it out, but it was either well disguised or everybody was too polite!

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    1. I didn't notice! I'm going to have to have a look now...But it's a good sign that no-one picked it up, as it obviously looked fab anyway!

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  12. I always tease my husband about 'after his unfortunate death, I shall redecorate and have (insert somethign I see in a store)...' and he is always so amused. Perhaps more so than the other shoppers around us.....

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  13. so nice .. and so funny how our partners are so opinionated how we refer to them on our blogs lol

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  14. Hubby's right, they're his pj bottoms, his view.

    Hey, they're great looking as is The Hubby

    hugs

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