Summer jammies from thrifted sheets

I got around to actually cutting into some of the thrifted sheets I’ve been hoarding. My mom gave me an old Simplicity romper/bloomer pattern she’s had since we were all kids, and I thought it would be perfect for babydoll pajamas for the girls. I was worried at first about the fit since the pattern is size 6, but because of the adjustable design (gathers, elastic) it’s plenty big for even my almost ten year-old (who is tall). I didn’t even have to adjust the armscye.

Everything needed was in the stash, except I ran out of elastic and had to go get some. The jams look super cute on the girls, really full and swingy and breezy, and they love to wear them. I would feel weird about showing photos of my girls in babydoll jammies, so you’ll have to trust me on the cuteness. I made the longer length and it hits their legs about the same spot that is shown on the envelope illustration, only the bloomers show more because I made them very loose fitting for comfort.

The pink/green sets were the first ones I made, and I placed the pocket as noted in the pattern. Kinda high up if you are not six, but hey, not worried about that for jammies. I think the apple looks cute with the plaid, but not with the other fabric. However, if you have two girls then you know that if you put the apple on one girl’s pocket, you’re very wise to put the apple on the other girl’s pocket too.

I don’t like having to tie shoulder bows, so I measured and sewed the straps down instead. I moved the pocket lower down on the third set (blue/pink flower print), and did a double cherry applique instead on the fourth set.

It’s hard for the girls to tell back from front on the bloomers, so I added grosgrain ribbon tags. I was supposed to edgestitch around the top of the elastic waist casing also to create a neater finish, but I was too lazy.

I enjoy using older patterns to see the differences in the instructions. Some of the methods seem to make more sense than on newer patterns, like the neater pocket hem construction and the use of single fold bias tape to create the elastic casing on the legs, but some of the directions seemed to create more work than necessary, like waiting to trim off the excess seam allowance after you’ve already gathered the neckline and including the huge seam allowance on the arm holes in the pattern even though they will be bound with bias tape.

I think this is a really cute pattern, and I give it two thumbs up. Worth searching for on Etsy or Ebay. Be warned, same Simplicity pattern number was used for a vampy corset/slip design, so some interesting photos may arise.