Nelly the Elephant in Tilly and the Buttons Margot PJ Bottoms

Hello!

Welcome to my boudoir! Apologies for these very silly photos. It's hard to take yourself seriously when trying to lounge casually on a bed...

So, in the midst of my previously mentioned teething problems with my overlocker I decided that I wanted a really simple make. I hadn't formally committed to making the Margot PJ bottoms as part of this year's sewing plan, but I've had this elephant-print fabric for ages and had bought it with pyjamas in mind, so when a friend's overnight hen do came up I decided now would be to time to get cracking with it! They are a little light for this time of year- definitely more suited towards summer, and I have to confess they wrinkle up pretty badly but it's unlikely that I'll be bothered to iron them for regular wear – but they did get a press for you, dear reader. I've also got a full face of slap on which isn't how I'd normally hit the hay, other than the rare really late night out when I've crashed straight out without washing my face... It made me think about all those silly dramas on TV where the female characters always go to bed with a pristine face of make-up on.

I've made the Margot PJ bottoms once before for a work Secret Santa, but as I had to churn them out pretty quickly I never had a chance to get a snap, and I never outed myself as the creator to the person I made them for so don't have a a picture of them on anyone either! Anyway they were very quick and easy to come together, and I confess I didn't make things any more difficult for myself and avoided pattern matching. The only thing I changed was to use a piece of 1” wide elastic attached to some grey ribbon for the waistband instead of making waist ties from self-fabric. The ribbon is a suggested alternative, but The DIY Fox has been going through Tilly's book at the moment so I took the elastic tip from her- it definitely feels more secure and comfortable, especially for my swayback.

If I made these again I'd maybe scoop out or deepen the crotch curve a little more as although these fit OK they could be a bit looser over the old rotund rump. I also didn't do the neatest job of folding over the waistband and topstitching – in Tilly's instructions you stitch from the inside (presumably because the pattern is aimed at proper beginners) but I wanted to topstitch so the stitches would look better, but I didn't mark a stitching line first so there are a few wobbles as I was freestyling the line a bit.

I was planning on making the Bowling Shirt from the Great British Sewing Bee Book 2 to match these but ran out of time. I may still do this, but wanted to check and see if anyone else in the blogosphere had made one as I have had a couple of issues with the other patterns in the book in the past – the poor armscye drafting on the Men's shirt to be precise- so wanted to avoid any potential headaches if possible! It hasn't cropped up in any searches so far, but if any readers have feedback it'd be gratefully received.

I've been sewing up a storm over the Easter weekend so will hopefully get some nice photos up of my new dresses soon! Hope you had a good one if you celebrated, or a nice break if you didn't!

NorseOtter xx