I am an affiliate for Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, but all opinions provided in this post are 100% my own.
I purchased this Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop pattern, the Alex & Anna Summer PJ's, a few months back during the Sew Fab Pattern Bundle Sale. At the time, I was not familiar with sewing with knits, so I thought I might not ever use it! A lot has changed in those few months, and now I am much more confident and eager to sew with knits!
This would be a great project for someone (like me) who has little experience in sewing with knits. There are few pattern pieces, and the only hemming for the sleeveless shirt version I made is the bottom of the shirt. All of the other sewing can be done on the serger. I will note that I did topstitch down the finished seam around the neck, armholes, and leg openings, but I don't think that would be absolutely necessary.
I used some cotton interlock knit that I purchased at Joann's on sale for $3 a yard, and this Summer PJ set took only about a half yard of it. The binding was some ribbed knit I had on hand. Total time to sew these together was roughly an hour!
Now one thing I still need some work on is my finishing technique with the serger. As you can see in the picture, the serged seam is too visible at the bottom of the pants. After I serge the seam, I used a zig zag stitch to secure the serged threads and then a straight stitch to tack town the very end of the seam so it would lie flat at the opening. I will have to do more research on how to get a better result for my next project.
The Alex & Anna Summer PJ Pattern goes up to size 8, so I know that Ella will be getting several more sets for at least the next two years. Although she normally wears a size 5, I made this pj set using the size 6 for a slightly looser fit. The fit is perfect on her, and I might even use this pattern to make her a pair or two of play shorts or tank tees for summer.
Hope you are getting a lot accomplished this week! Now, I've got to get back to sewing!
