First Time Mom and Losing It

I love to sew especially for my daughter, but fabric can get expensive so I get a lot of my fabric from discounted clothes. As soon as I hit a clothes store I check out the clearance section. The larger the piece the better the fabric. I recently went into my favorite discount store and found these huge long sleeve shirts for $1.99. In looking at the sleeves they looked like the perfect size for pant legs. I quickly grabbed a few and added them to my fabric stash.


With these super chilly NYC days I decided to make my daughter a super warm two piece pajama set out of the shirt. First I cut off the sleeves at the seams and then cut the side seams of the shirt. Then I carefully cut the neckline.

To make the pants I followed my tutorial for Toddler Flannel Pants. The length of the sleeve was the perfect size for the length of pants I needed. I subtracted the hem allowance on the pattern and matched it to the hem of the sleeve so that the hem of the pants would already be finished.

To make the shirt I took a pajama shirt that fit my daughter well and used it to make a pattern. First I folded the shirt in half and folded back the sleeve and traced it onto a piece of paper. I added 1/2 inch seam allowances to the sides and armholes of the shirt. Then I traced around the folded sleeve and added 1/2" at the top of the sleeve.


I lined up the bottom of the shirt pattern with the bottom of the adult shirt that was folded and cut all around. I did this twice to get the front and back of the shirt. I did the same with the sleeve pattern and cut two out. Then I took the two shirt pattern pieces and sewed at the shoulder seams using a 1/2" seam. Then I pinned the sleeves to the armholes and sewed in place using a 1/2" seam.


Next I measured the neck line of the toddler pajama shirt that I used for the pattern and added 1/2"the measurement. I then used that measurement to cut the neck binding from the adult shirt I cut earlier. Pin ends together and sew using a 1/4". Open seam and flatten. Pin around the neckline, right sides together and sew all around using a 1/4" seam. Finally sew the sides of the shirt using a 1/2" seam. To finish, I used my pinking shears to go over all of the raw seams.

Now that the weather is getting cooler I decided to put away the t-shirt nightgowns I made during the summer. I wanted to make a two piece version to keep her warmer during the fall weather. I also used some old thick black t-shirts that my husband donated to my fabric stash.

Top
I used the tutorial from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom with some adjustments. First I added several inches to the sleeve to make it long enough to hit my daughter's elbow. Then I several more inches to the bottom of the bodice to go a couple of inches below my daughter's waist.

Bottom
Follow the instructions for my toddler pajama pants tutorial.


Decoration
You are going to need cream, yellow, pink and light blue glitter tulip soft fabric pant. Follow the instructions for my pumpkin stencil to freezer paper stencil tutorial. I also used a snowflake stencil for the bottoms and to decorate the shirt.


**You can find the Elsa and snowflake stencil here: http://parentinginnky.com/frozen-pumpkin-carving-templates/

Since most of the t-shirt material I use for my daughter's nightgowns are white from my husband's old undershirts I wanted to be creative and add a little color. I saw this easy tie-dye effect on the Martha Stewart show years ago and decided to give it a try.



Materials:

• T-shirt Nightgown
• Sharpies in different colors 
• Eyedropper
• Alcohol