pajamas | you and mie

Christmas pajamas have never been a family tradition in our house, but when I was trying to figure out what to give my nieces for Christmas, my sister-in-law suggested pajama pants for the middle schooler. And then, since I’m crazy, I decided to make matching pajamas for my both of my nieces and both of my daughters. Finished them the night before, but they were a hit.

The cousins are 9 and 11 and we let the 11 year old pick the fabric. I went to Joann‘s to pick up some flannel and it was on sale for $2.80 a yard! Score.

For the three older girls, I used the Parsley Pants pattern, though I had to grade it up for the 11 year old. I was pretty nervous about the fit because I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out great! I basically added about 1.5 inches to the top, and 2 inches to the bottom and then cut the entire pattern along the tuxedo stripe line and added an inch to the width. Love this pattern for pajama pants!! I’m thinking of grading it up to make a pair for me!

For the baby, I made Rae’s Basic Newborn Pants (free pattern) with a little added length. Of course, she’s already almost outgrowing her pajamas.

The older girls got shirts from Target and Kaya is wearing a store bought onesie. I just added the yellow pocket to match the yellow on the pants and had to do some altering on Yuki’s shirt since it was way too big for her.

Yuki claims these are her favorite pajamas now and I’m certain that it’s because her cousins have the same ones. She absolutely ADORES her cousins and think they are the best. And they are.

So Christmas pajamas weren’t a tradition before, but maybe they are now? I admit, it was pretty darn cute seeing them all running around (or just lounging around, in Kaya’s case) in their matching PJs.

Check out my second shooter!

Do you guys do Christmas pajamas? Where did this tradition even come from? Worth continuing? Apparently some of Hideko’s high school students totally dread it. Haha! Were you blessed with (or a victim of) matching pajamas as a kid?

This post is a bit delayed but I’ve gotten behind with Yuki being so sick for over a week and Project Run & Play starting up (I got a little caught up in getting something in for their Sew Along).

This year we celebrated what felt like Yuki’s first real Christmas. Last year, Yuki was 4 months old and just a clueless little newborn. I don’t even remember how we celebrated Christmas morning, but we certainly didn’t have a tree or stocking or lights, though there were some gifts for Yuki from family members. This year, at 16 months, we made a little more of an effort for her. We got a real tree (my first ever!), made a stocking, wrapped some presents. It was totally low key and really fun!

I wasn’t really going to get Yuki any presents since she’s still too young to understand the concept, but our poor tree looked so lonely so I gave in and got her some fun things to unwrap. I’m quite proud of my cheap finds, so even though most of them have nothing to do with crafting or sewing, I’m going to share them with you anyways.

The first gift she actually found on Christmas Eve.

Yup, that’s right. I got her a balloon. Actually, a whole bag of balloons, but I’ve only had to blow up 2 and I’m saving the rest for rainy days. And she LOVED it. Super cheap and so much fun, no?

On Christmas morning, Yuki found a couple of surprises around her tree. The first was a huge white balloon with a rubber band attached to it. The kind that you hit back and forth like a super fast yo-yo. This was only entertaining to her for a few minutes since she isn’t coordinated enough to use it yet.

There was also a stocking filled with little gifts. The first was a pair of 99 cent sunglasses from the thrift store.

A set of plastic keys on a keychain (with car alarm noises and all).

Looks like she means business.

A new box of crayons!

The Japanese books that Hideko picked out are a huge hit. They are from the series Nontan and I remember having some of these books when I was a kid too!

Yuki’s favorite toy that morning was this ridiculous toy I got at the thrift store (also for 99 cents!). It’s a phone that talks, plays music and makes animal sounds. It’s pretty obnoxious, but I knew she’d love it. Aren’t her movements/expressions here hilarious? It looks like she’s been doing some good observing . . .

I wanted to do something handmade, so I decided to make Yuki some plaid flannel pajama pants to go with the ones that Hideko and I wear all the time. It was perfect for me since it was such a simple project.

I wanted to make something that would fit her for a loooong time, but they ended up being HUGE! I might have to do a few more minor alterations so she doesn’t trip all over them, but it’s nice that there’s so much room to grow into.

One of my other holiday projects was a stocking for Yuki. I had this idea to make it out of a an old sweater that I found at the thrift store. In my mind, it seemed like a great idea, but it didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.

The main thing I don’t like about it is how lumpy the bottom is. 😦 Oh well, I’ll try again next year!

After our quiet Christmas morning, we went on to spend time with family (where Yuki was spoiled by more gifts!!). It was a really lovely Christmas and now I can’t wait till next year! Somehow I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to get away with thrift store 99 cent gifts though