Gingham Fran Pajamas

How chic does my sister look in these pajamas I made her?!

Yes, I made my sister a pair of pajamas last year, too, but they ultimately ended up being a bit too snug for her taste, so she gave them to my mom and requested a new pair.

Rather than make the Carolyn Pajamas again I opted for the newer Closet Core pajama pattern, the Fran Pajamas. The Fran Pajamas have a slouchier fit than the Carolyn pattern, but still have tailored details. I like the big pocket, deep back pleat and large cuffs. 

The sizing for the Fran is alpha, rather than numerical. For my sister, I went with a size M top and L bottoms graded to M at the waist. Worked perfectly!

The fabric is really stealing the show here: this is fabric from my deep stash and it feels really good to use it. I've probably had it for 12 years, maybe? Tim brought it back from a work trip to Vietnam, and did an amazing job picking it out.

It's a crisp cotton poplin gingham in blue and white that looked like it had been dip-dyed with a deep blue dye on both selvedges. When I started working with it, though, I realized it was yarn dyed and woven with that dipped effect, rather than dyed after the fact. Impressive!

I really wanted to show off the fabric and play with the placement of the design on the pajamas, so I ended up doing a lot of cutting on the cross grain. I feel like I nailed it. 

I put the deep blue closest to my sister's face and tried to align the sleeves so the "dip" line was consistent. I also used the deep blue at the hems of the pants, and at the cuffs of the sleeves. I cut the facing so the whiter/gingham part popped out for some contrast. Same for the yoke. 

My favorite part is the chest pocket, though, which I cut on the dip line and flipped upside down for contrast - I love how it turned out!!

I used pearl snaps to finish it off because I hate how all of my machines do buttonholes these days.

Regarding the Fran pattern: I skipped the little button loop at the top since I knew my sister would never button up all the way. 

I wasn't a huge fan of the pocket construction for the side seam pockets on the pants- I had to be really careful not to have any raw edges showing, and they didn't feel very secure. Next time I would use the method from the Elbe Trigg shorts, which is fabulous and secure.

Otherwise, it's a pretty straightforward sew!

I am very pleased with these PJs and I think my sister is, too!!