Pyjama Party! — or The Importance of a Muslin

Well, I thought I would have a chance to finish one of my sewing challenges on time. I hadn't done anything to the pyjama bottoms, but I thought that they're not that hard, so I will just sew them up today. I had a pattern and everything.

My lovely dinosaur fabric :)

Simplicity 3696 The pattern I was going to use

The first thing I noticed was that I actually don't have the elastic for the waist. Then I thought, I'll just sew them up and buy elastic next week and add that, so problem solved. So, on to making a muslin. For my measurements I was a size M, but looking at the finished garment measurements I decided to go with S as I like my clothes bit more fitted even when it comes to pyjamas. The muslin was quick and easy (even the patch went over well: my sheet wasn't wide enough for both front and back pieces, so I added a bit of fabric to the missing part and it wasn't pretty, but hey, it's a muslin). But then I tried it on. I noticed right away that I could use the whole 1.5 cm seam allowance instead of 1 cm I was using on the muslin, since the pants were quite big enough. BUT: the front of the pants seemed huge while the back seems a bit tight. And I don't think my bottom is that big... I've heard it's one of the problems with big 4 patterns.

So no pants for today. I love my dinosaur fabric that I was going to use and I will get the Tofino pattern and try if that would be any better for me. Although I think I will play with the muslin, if I can figure out how to make them better. And if I can't, well, that's why you make muslins, right?

I'm just a bit annoyed, since I haven't been on schedule for any of the challenges I wanted to do. I was right on track to begin with, but then work happened. And I have this article I need to finish that's about my Master's thesis, that I should really have finished already and that I have to do on my own time. So, I feel a bit guilty even thinking of sewing... But I'm almost done with that, and work is less crazy now, so more sewing :) Although I will be away for most of July... But I have about a week before that: I will get something done, some refashioning at least, and when I'll be back, I have so many plans...