McCall's 4244 PJ pants done

I honestly meant to have these pajama pants done yesterday ... but my teenage son had a snow day (again!) and kept popping down to chat.  No real complaints, as the chats were pleasant and interesting.  I've been given the advice by a couple mothers with older children that if your teenager wants to talk, you should listen.  So I did.

I have to admit sewing for a teenager presents some interesting challenges with regards to what constitutes fit and fashion.  For some strange reason I had the silly notion this didn't apply to pajama pants that will NOT be worn outside the house.  Silly me.  I figured for the "waist"band to be worn at his high hip, but when he tried them on ... he was wearing them lower.  He specifically asked for them to be long at the hem ... and this was while I thought he'd wear the elastic closer to his waist!  He says he likes the length, but they are "too baggy" through the legs for his taste.  For some reason I thought very loose-fit through the crotch and legs was desirable in pajama pants ... he says these feel "Aladdin-pants loose".  Here's the pic so y'all can judge for yourselves (I made him pull the elastic up to the top of his hipbones for the pic!)

To me, they look a bit long but otherwise comfortable.  I guess the fact he went back upstairs and changed into his athletic shorts is my son's true vote of (no) confidence.  Meh ... he was the only one who actually liked that flannel print, which I actually bought with hubby in mind.  At least the waistband stays put - no safety pin needed for this pair.

Cotton flannel pajama bottoms for son

Plaid cotton flannel again!  This time I'm using a printed plaid, a Blizzard cotton flannel I bought on Black Friday sale for only $1.49/yd.  I've used this Blizzard flannel before to make my mother-in-law pajamas, which she loved, and no problems with it after getting a heads-up that cotton flannel is a progressive shrinker.  In fact, I liked that flannel enough to buy more of that specific print on the Black Friday sale (along with half a dozen others!).

Elastic waistband pajama bottoms are super easy to make, and are also the only thing son has asked me to make for him.  McCall's 4244 men's pajama set has good reviews at PR, so I am not expecting any problems here ... once I determined the fabric was okay.  As I pulled it out to iron it, I noticed the plaid wasn't lining up.  After yesterday's experience with the twisted offgrain woven flannel, I put my nose down to the fabric to see if this one had done the same.  Nope ... the print is offgrain, not the weave.  Whew!  So keep in mind the print is off on this fabric:

For my son, this is a very colorful plaid.  Seriously ... it has red in it!  Son's taste in colors is similar to hubby's: greens and browns, and son throws rusts into the mix.

I had thought I may have an even plaid on my hands, but the ruler says not.  The crossgrain stripes are 3-3/8 inches apart, while the ongrain stripes are 4 inches.  It is unbalanced, as evident in the pic.  So, an unbalanced uneven plaid to play with ... printed offgrain. 

So, I've already gotten the front piece cut out ... all I have still to cut is the back and pockets for each side seam.  The elastic length is already measured in the most scientific way possible: wrapping elastic around his waist and snugging it to what he calls comfortable, then taking it in another inch to account for the flannel's thickness and weight.  I learned early on with suede pants that fabric weight and thickness affect how well the elastic will hold the pants up ... both my suede "pirate" pants have large safety pins helping the waistbands stay up!

I'm guessing my biggest challenge will be getting my son to model the finished project for a picture ...