Kasey is making a case for upgrading our everyday pajamas! After being inspired by her niece’s beautiful pajamas, she used English Rose and Banana Cream satin to create her own elevated loungewear. The result is her aptly named “Glam Jams,” a collection of pieces that look polished while still being perfect for relaxing at home. Keep reading for her sewing tips on handling satin, working with bias-cut pieces, and keeping slippery fabrics under control. Thanks Kasey!
Not long ago we had guests, one of whom is my niece (who’s actually my age, a quirk of my husband having fourteen siblings, twelve of whom are older). My niece is the type to always be dressed, usually as well as you can be, appropriately for the occasion. During her visit, she had the best/ cutest/ prettiest/ nicest pyjamas. I myself was feeling frumpy in my usual day-to-day house clothes. And while they serve the purpose, I do feel we could all benefit from something a little more elevated for evening house wear, especially when it’s just for ourselves! Not long after, Roz posted several new satins in spring colors, though there are many more available. I chose the English Rose and Banana Cream to add to my previous purchase of a stretch charmeuse in spring green (sold out, but a similar color is here).
Did you know? While the name for loose pants-and-top-set originated with Indian/ Iranian clothing such as kurti and shalwar (ancient Persian pay-jamas means “leg clothes”), modern Western (1920’s) pj’s were originally beachwear! That beachwear evolved into evening loungewear for the home (1930’s), and eventually into nightwear (1940’s-1950’s.) (ref. The Lost Art of Dress,, by Linda Przybyzewski)
So here I am with my glam jams! While I came up with the name myself, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has. I used some TNT patterns for the pant and top, Kwik Sew 3482 (OOP) and Vogue 1835. While the pant is designed for wovens, the top from V1835 is made for knits, and the satins are wovens – what to do? Use the bias for more give and more width of fabric! But how?
Our own dear Samina has it all figured out for you! A frequent contributor to Threads Magazine, a blogger, and most excellent sewist in her own right, Samina shared how to create bias yardage in the June 2003 issue (#107) of Threads. She shows us a formula for how much yardage we’ll get from a given width and length of fabric, which means we can reverse the formula to figure out how much yardage we’ll need to buy to make our project. (She also knows significantly more than I do about kurti, shalwars and kameez, natch! Read all about hers here and here).
In the end, both the banana cream and English rose were wide enough to place my pattern pieces on the bias without this method, but the green silk I used was not. I had enough left over after the pants, I would have been able to create bias yardage to make a matching top. (While the English rose does have a small amount of cross-wise stretch, it’s not enough for knit patterns.) For construction, I used my serger as the fabrics were very ravelly, but French seams would also be a good option to contain the pokies. Don’t forget your fine, glass head pins (pin in the seam allowances!) and smaller machine needles for sewing with these fabrics. Sewing tip! The English rose satin was especially slippery, and even with the Wonder Clips I was having trouble keeping the edges aligned. Double-sided wash away tape helped a lot to stop it from slip-slidin’ away. (Sorry, I’m old….)
Don’t forget your stay tape to stabilize the shoulders, necklines (especially bias necklines), and pocket seams, as well as cut-to-width elastic for the waistbands. I now have two and a half sets of mix-n-match glam jams for luxuriating at home! I think we’re all worth at least one set, don’t you?
Oh Kasey! I am now inspired by your pj sets. I sorely need some good and chic pajama sets since the current ones are shabby and should have been discarded a long time ago. Also, thank you for including my article and links in your post.
You’re welcome Samina! Thank you for doing all the math – my brain would’ve melted otherwise. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!