As somewhat of a novice sewist, I’ve found that the easiest handmade gift during the holidays is definitely pajama pants. They are extremely forgiving when it comes to mistakes + super stretchy and comfy!

Joann Fabrics had 70% off all flannel fabrics during the week of Thanksgiving, so I decided that it was now or never! I took on the task of making 5 sets at once – for my parents, brother, boyfriend, and myself if there was extra fabric (there’s always extra fabric if you try hard enough 🙂 )

Once I got home with all my new flannel and thread, I realized how horrible it would be to sew 5 sets of the same exact pattern without tossing my sewing machine out of the window. I had heard of batch sewing in the depths of Instagram so I set out to do this for myself. To start, here’s a link to the pdf pattern I used – 5 out of 4 FREE pajama pants pattern!

I took a lot of risks, but here are my tips!

1. Choose a straightforward pattern, maybe one that you’ve already used in the past! I made one set of pajama pants in the past, and a handful of jumpsuits so I was familiar with the general order of steps and how all the pieces fit together
2. Skip the pins. Believe in yourself. I didn’t even use pins while I was cutting and felt very ~bold~ for doing so. I used my cellphone as a pattern weight, but I don’t think I should recommend that lol 🙃
3. Skip the pressing (if your pattern can allow for that).
4. Because this is a relatively large project with a ton of sewing, I recommend that you change your needle! I thought I could get away without changing to a fresh needle, but I noticed my machine start to skip stitches and the thread tension got all wonky 😦 don’t make the same mistake I did!
5. Pick a coordinating thread that matches all your fabrics – I chose white because that blended the best with the light blue and grey flannels I was working with. Have extra thread in case you run out!
6. Try chain piecing! This is more of a quilting technique, see link here. To me, this didn’t save a ton of time but it does reduce thread waste!
7. Bundle your steps!Here’s how I broke it down: I cut all fabric at once, finished all raw edges with a zigzag stitch, joined every single pant leg front to back, and then attached all the right to left pant  legs to each other. Phew. I left adding the elastic waistbands and hemming for last (note: at this point, I used my iron).
   

   zig-zaggin’ on em – check out the chain stitch between pieces!

   

   FINALLY finished all the edges

   

   a nice fabric sandwich is there

   

   somehow purchased 3 different types of elastic from Joann?

   

   hemming the pant legs!!!
8. Take breaks! My breaks involved digging through my fridge for leftovers or making myself hot chocolate
9. It’s okay if you make mistakes. Have a seam ripper at the ready for the truly disastrous ones, but these don’t have to be perfect PJs! Honestly, tiny mistakes are a reminder that these gifts were made by hand with a specific person in mind ❤
10. Binge watch some great TV shows: I’m currently watching Riverdale, Mr Robot, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and am currently taking recommendations!

Final thoughts: I feel rather accomplished for knocking out 5 pairs of pants in about 2 evenings! It is vastly time consuming but now I’ve checked that off my to-do list. I’m a firm believer in the more sewing you do, the better your skills become. AND now I have an extra pair of pajama pants for myself 🙂

Thanks again for dropping by, friends! Leave me some comments down below! Let me know if you have any questions!

Danica