And sew it begins : PJ bottoms

Good morning my lovelies, another glorious day out there. I love Summer :) there's nothing better than sitting in my sewing room creating, other than sitting in my sewing room creating and the sun is shining!!

I have a very large mug of coffee so lets get started before I go and finish some more pen cases and tackle the rest of my to do list (yes I am most definitely keeping myself busy). I thought I'd show you my first Make 9 project. Now I know its a little late in the year to be starting only my first project as I posted about this back in early February, but there is still plenty of time in the year to get the other 8 done for sure!

So first from the list I chose PJ bottoms, mainly because I live out of them (dont judge me, I like being comfy lol). The very lovely Lynne from The Make It Room kindly offered to send me the pattern and instructions that she uses in her classes. If you have never heard of Lynne before pop over and take a look at her website. She runs workshops and courses in dressmaking and sewing, feltmaking, needlefelting, knitting, crochet, lampshade making, rag rugs, painted furniture and découpage. I do wished that I lived closer so I could attend all of her sewing classes :(

I bought some beautiful cotton from a shop on ebay which was about £11 for 2 1/2 meters which I thought was really cheap, I didn't want to buy anything too expensive as this was my first project. Once I get a little more back into the swing of things I will be a bit more adventurous with my choice of fabrics. I have my eye on a few :D I bought some elastic for the waist band and already had this beautiful cream ribbon that I bought from John Lewis many moons ago.

I added some length to the pattern as I have very long legs so 6" extra was necessary! And that was it I was ready to get going!!

This was the first time in a long time since I had used an over locker. It is ridiculous how excited I was to thread it up and over lock something. Although it had been ages since I had used it I still managed to thread it up like it was only yesterday. I could have literally spent all day just over locking stuff (yes I need to get out more).

Anyway I did manage to prise myself away from the over locker to actually sew them together and start sewing the casing for the waist band. My one mistake was that I ran out of the thread and had to use two different colours, if you look carefully at the photo below. But I dont think I will ever notice!!

I started to get a real pang of excitment once I started feeding the elastic in for the waist band.....they were actually looking like a garment!! 

I hemmed the bottoms and added the ribbon...........

.........and this is how they turned out!!!!!

I couldnt be happier with my first make. In fact I was a mix of emotions of 'why the hell have you not been doing this all along' and I was so proud that I had made something that I could wear! 

These wont be the last pair I make...I have already ordered some more fabric to make my next pair. They were so easy to make, Lynne's instructions were so easy to follow and the fit was perfect.

It has really fuelled my passion for sewing again, I feel like I just want to spend every single day sewing!! So if anyone can find me a permanent job where I can sew all day then please let me know lol.

I'm already planning my next two projects and cant wait to get started.....

Emma xxx