Battle of the Home-Sewn Shorts: Vintage Simplicity 2742 Pajama Shorts

I know, I have a thing for sewing pajama bottoms. They're just so comfy! I mean, wouldn't you live in pajama bottoms day and night if you could? And my kids can!

Seriously, it's nothing but living the dream over here, all day every day.

As far as comfy and cute goes, I still really like the shorts I made from the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas pattern. However, they don't have pockets, and my kid, she doesn't carry a purse--she needs some clothes with pockets!

So, I sewed Willow another pair of shorts, this time using a vintage Simplicity 2742 It's So Easy sewing pattern for children's pajamas:

This pattern included a cutting line to turn the pants into shorts, which I appreciated, especially because the length is unisex, and thus not too short (is it just me, or are most store-bought little girls' shorts way too short?).

Yes, we ate pizza at the park for lunch. Did I mention that our kitchen is being remodeled?

Unlike Syd, who couldn't give a flying flip about whether or not her clothes are comfortable for active play (she does the monkey bars in a tiered calf-length skirt and two-inch acrylic heels), Willow needs clothes that are roomy and comfortable and allow her full range of motion. These shorts are definitely roomy and comfy:

I know somebody will ask, so I'll just admit it--yes, I painted Sydney's face in tiger stripes using oil pastel crayons, per her request.

I love the pockets in these shorts, but for a pattern labeled It's So Easy, this was surprisingly tricky to sew. There's one point in particular, after you've sewn the inseams of the pants but not sewn the legs shut, in which the instructions do not mention that you need to turn the whole project 90 degrees before you begin the next step--since you're just looking at four nearly identical pieces of fabric, all sewn together in the middle, this fact is by no means obvious, and I only happened to notice it before actually beginning the next step because I happened to notice that the pocket markings, there for a later step, looked like they were in the wrong spot. That's something that anybody of any skill level could miss, and so...yikes!

And although the length is spot-on, these shorts are almost too roomy. I'm not sure how on board I am with the tendency to have gigantically wide waists on children's clothes, that are simply cinched in with appropriately-sized elastic. Since I'm sewing these near the end of summer, however, and thus the shorts are less likely to end up as trashed as the rest of Willow's clothes, perhaps I'll appreciate the ability to switch out the elastic next year to her new waist size so that she can wear them longer.

As for Willow's opinion...

She can ride her scooter in them. The seams aren't scratchy. They don't have buttons. They do have pockets. She's sold.