I don’t know about you, but I tend to wear my pajamas until they can’t be worn anymore. And the boxers and tank tops I’ve been sleeping in for the last few summers are s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out. Time to sew pajamas for summer. With some of the Radiance I bought at Michael Levine, I made myself some slinky silk cotton big girl pjs. And no, I am not putting a picture of myself wearing them on the internet. Sorry, Molly will have to do.
I added a henley placket using the method in this trusty tutorial to the tank top pattern I’m still tweaking from this post (it’s towards the bottom). And yes, I realize I meant to release this as a pattern, and I will at some point, but it’s just not good enough yet. But getting really close. This tank is also bias cut, where the first one was not.
You’ll need:
- 1/2 yard of knit fabric. I used stretch French terry.
- 1 package of 1/2″ (extra wide) double fold bias tape
- 1″ (25mm) wide elastic, 27 inches or so
- The pattern…
You can get the free pattern (only as a newsletter subscriber), which is in a women’s size small, for hips up to 36″ and waist 28″, by clicking your preferred option below. Or, you can purchase the PDF pattern in sizes XXS-3X.
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Please note that all my free patterns are licensed for personal use only (no selling items made from this unless you purchase it) and by downloading you are agreeing to this license.
Because I made the original shorts pattern for knits and this is a woven fabric, I had to increase the pattern width a little. (You won’t need to do this is using the purchased Barton Shorts pattern, which is sized for woven.) To do this I cut a straight, vertical line on each pattern piece and spread it apart 1/4″. Since you have 4 pieces (2 fronts and 2 backs) this increases the total pattern width 1″. For more information on slash and spread grading, check out this post.
If you’re going up in size more than a couple inches, you should also add about 1/4″ in length for each 1 inch wider you’re making these. So you’ll cut the pattern into 4 pieces. Like this:
Since this tank top is stuck in pattern development still, if you want another in the meantime, I have this free one.
emilia
They look super duper comfy!!!
yvonne
Who says you can’t look good while you sleep? These are wonderful. I need something nice and comfortable to sleep in,
you think you wear your pj’s forever? That’s just about how long I wear my night gowns, like, forever. I look forward to
indulging this project.
Stephany
Newbie here! I love these PJs! I want to make some. What size needle do you use to sew this type of fabric?
Kathy
Hi, I love your blog. I sew a little, mostly pillow covers and such and want to up my game a bit. So I started with your bias shorts. Thank you for the free pattern! I made two pair so far and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. I did have a problem with the waist band and wonder if you can help. When I folded the top down to sew my seam for the elastic my fabric didn’t lay flat. I assumed it was because the shorts dip a bit in the front because they sit below the belly button. If it were a pillow with curved corners I would just clip the fabric so it would turn but I couldn’t to that here. Any tips? Or did I possibly cut the fabric/pattern incorrectly. Anyway I made it work and they both turned out pretty cute and gave shorts to my daughters and they loved them!
Melissa Mora
If you didn’t use stretch fabric, that can happen. Luckily, since the elastic cinches the waist in, the fact that the fabric didn’t lie flat when stitching won’t show in the end product.
Kathy
Thanks for the reply. You are right, with the elastic waist you can’t see my mistake.
Joan Gleckler
I would love to make this set – got the shorts pattern, but I can’t find the tank pattern – is it posted on the site? If so, please help me find it! If not, any ETA on when it will be here? Thanks, Melissa – love your patterns! -Joan
Melissa Mora
The tank is not available and I have no plans for it at this time.
Joan Gleckler
Thanks for letting me know.