Night Dress

Tim's mum lent me some of her patterns recently, one of which was this 1981 Style 3420 elasticised dress/jumpsuit pattern. I thought about making the dress but summer has come to an end here and the days are already too crisp to wear a lightweight relaxed fit dress. But I really needed some nighties, and this pattern was pretty much perfect for a nighty. Does anyone else use day time wear patterns to make PJ's or nighties?

The only changes I made were to remove 2" from the bodice so that the elastic was at the empire waist rather than the natural waist. For some reason empire line styles seem more appropriate and comfortable for nighties (I don't know why, they just do). I also took about 6" off the length and overlocked the hem using the rolled hem function.

The instructions were easy to follow and the construction couldn't be simpler. Construction involves creating a faux centre front facing using the seam allowance, adding an under arm facing and creating casings at the neckline and waist. Done!

I used some spotlight cotton lawn I'd bought over a year ago, and the elastic and ribbon came from Tim's Gma's stash. This means that the nighty cost me $0 as everything was in the stash/ given to me. 

PJ's are a great choice for using up cotton fabrics that are just a little too sweet or girly. I have a couple more fabrics in my stash which would make gorgeous nighties, or PJs. Sewing jammies is pretty boring but it's useful AND uses up fabrics which makes space for NEW fabrics. It's a win-win!