I was supremely flattered when Heather of Closet Case patterns contacted me to ask if it was ok to name her latest pattern after me… wow, seriously?!!!!!!
*deeply flattered moment*
So the Carolyn pattern is for pyjamas, hehe. Yep, I inspired pyjamas! Honestly I'm not sure why I find that borderline hilarious, but there it is!
I have to say though; it’s amazing that Heather totally has her finger on the pulse of what everyone is currently needing to wear and sew.
Loungewear.
Very astute. I mean, I love Vogue patterns for their smart little fitted designer dresses, and have often thought that the working woman can do no wrong by sewing up nothing but little Vogue dresses for her office/working wardrobe… so smart and stylish and absolutely perfect for a businesswoman's life. but here’s the thing, the number of people working from home has increased significantly over the last few years and comfortable loungewear is definitely a thing that work-from-home peeps are stocking up on for their working life, not just for their after hours life. A few years ago, who’d have thought it? But now totally this is a real trend. I mean, I work from home myself. And although I need and want to dress up smartly for many things in my life, my real wardrobe workhorses lean towards the easy-to-wear and casual.
Enter stage right; stylish and smart loungewear.
The things one would actually wear to bed are generally loose-fitting to enable minimum chance of ripping or restraint while one is unconsciously flailing about, but Heather’s new Carolyn (pinch me!) pyjamas have a slightly sleek and tailored air to them; a body skimming rather than blouse-y line, that in the right fabrics one could happily wear outside the house if one so wished. Without looking like one is wearing pyjamas!
With that in mind, I chose to make my test pair in luxe-ish, not-bedwear but daywearlike fabrics; namely silk hessian for the body of the top, poly organza for the sleeves and a silk/cotton for the collar and cuffs. The little shorts are in a soft, lightweight polycotton. These were all from the remnant table at Fabulous Fabrics.
I chose to make view C with long sleeves on the top and leaving off any piping. I love piping as much as the next person... however I felt piping in this shirt/shorts style IS going totally “pyjama” and I'm serious about wanting to wear my outfit out and about. In the streets even!
The shirt is a classic, sleek, unfitted style, with notched collar and a gently curved hemline. I felled the seams in the body of the top and French seamed those sheer sleeve seams. The armscye seams were overlocked before stitching down to the shirt body to finish; faux felling, if you like!
The shorts are super quick and easy things to whip up, with satisfying huge pockets. The pockets are the same fold-back design that Heather used in her Ginger jeans, which was the very first time I had come across pockets like this in my 40+ yrs of sewing . Yes, really! I’m starting to think of them as her signature pockets.
I made my shorts with the cuff as per the pattern, but sans piping and with the cuff invisibly stitched in place from inside the fold, so it appears to be a folded-up cuff. I like this cuffed look on the bottom of shorty shorts like these :)
So... do I love the Carolyn pattern, well heck yes! The shirt especially is an easy classic shape and tres chic, in my opinion. I will definitely be making both pieces again, maybe even as actual pyjamas!
As for my fabric choices for my test sample here... well, I was using all remnants and my favourite part is the sheer and floaty, leaf organza sleeves, and I also love the strength of the black accent collar and cuff details. However while the roughly textured, stone silk hessian seemed like a good idea at the time, now I'm not so sure if it's letting down the rest of the ensemble. Hmmmmm. I'm gonna wear it for a while and sleep on it - by that I mean figuratively not literally, of course! but don't be surprised if a dye job or small subsitutory type of refashion happens on this bit in the near future!
Details:
Set; the Carolyn (eek!) pyjamas by Closet Case patterns, shirt in silk hessian, poly organza, silk cotton; shorts in polycotton
So... do I love the Carolyn pattern, well heck yes! The shirt especially is an easy classic shape and tres chic, in my opinion. I will definitely be making both pieces again, maybe even as actual pyjamas!
As for my fabric choices for my test sample here... well, I was using all remnants and my favourite part is the sheer and floaty, leaf organza sleeves, and I also love the strength of the black accent collar and cuff details. However while the roughly textured, stone silk hessian seemed like a good idea at the time, now I'm not so sure if it's letting down the rest of the ensemble. Hmmmmm. I'm gonna wear it for a while and sleep on it - by that I mean figuratively not literally, of course! but don't be surprised if a dye job or small subsitutory type of refashion happens on this bit in the near future!
Details:
Set; the Carolyn (eek!) pyjamas by Closet Case patterns, shirt in silk hessian, poly organza, silk cotton; shorts in polycotton
