For this last night of Hanukkah and the first day of 2025, I made a fun little pajama set consisting of the Cashmerette Fiske Pajama bottoms and the Pattern Emporium Hugs & Kisses Cami top. I’m not going to go into too much detail about either pattern since I’ve covered them before (bottoms and cami).
The fabric is some Happy Llamakkah cotton spandex from Califabrics. I don’t really get the whole llamakkah thing, but this was the cutest fabric I found and one of the only stretch knits other than my own designs. It has little hanukiahs, sufganiyot, dreidels, and kippah-wearing llamas. According to Califabrics, it’s a designer deadstock and I did actually find the same print on pajamas by Bedhead. So, yay, I’m wearing designer PJs!
I made the pants pretty much the same as before and according to the instructions with 2 significant changes.
Since this was as stretch and the pattern is designed for a woven, I knew it would fit baggier. I didn’t feel like reprinting and taping the pattern, so I just folded out 1/2 inch on the front and back from my already printed 6 waist/8 hips. I didn’t bother to do this on the pockets because I don’t mind them being good sized. It was pretty simple to do and I think they fit nicely and are not bigger than they should be (it’s a relaxed fit).
However, I did shrink down the length of the pockets. I tried to do it as little as possible because I like big pockets, but this was because I didn’t have enough fabric. I used pretty much every piece of the 2 yards for this set. I’m pretty happy (and a little impressed with myself) that I could get this whole thing out of 2 yards AND it’s directional fabric which meant the pants had to be side by side rather than nesting!
After cutting down the length of the pockets, I rounded the corner by stacking all four pockets so they’d all be the same and eyeballing it with my rotary cutter.
The only other thing of note was that I did mess up the waistband a few times. My serger ate my fabric at least once. I should have basted it and I think I just got cocky since I’m usually pretty fast and good with the serger. Fortunately the knit fabric was forgiving so I was able to make it work. You know when you try to do a fast easy project and the universe gives a little laugh, and says, “nope”? Yeah, this was that kind of project although I was still able to finish it in a couple of hours, even with the bumbles.
Everything else for the pants was just normal as the pattern is written. Also note that they look a little too long here, but they’re not. For some reason, I was wearing them low on my hips. I usually fold over the waistband a couple times, but for whatever reason, I was wearing them as low riders in these photos. It’s also why the crotch looks a bit low as well. It’s not really if I wear them at my waist, where they should be.
On the cami, I normally would do a size 8 graded to 12 at the waist, but because this cotton spandex didn’t have as much stretch as usual, I did a straight size 12. I’ve found that Pattern Emporium patterns look best at the measured size with fabrics that have at least 50% stretch or lots of drape which this one did not have. I probably could have gone with a size 10 but because it’s intended to be PJs, I don’t mind it being a bit looser. I did the high back without a shelf bra. Again, since it’s PJs, no need for a shelf bra . . . and I didn’t have enough fabric, so that worked out well. But I am wearing a strapless in the photos for modesty reasons. Otherwise, just a straight sew. The Hugs & Kisses cami is intended for knits so this was just following the directions.
I used the cover stitch for the cami and the pants hems which was . . . fine. My cover stitch machine kept catching so the stitches aren’t as even as they could be. I’ve never been truly happy with this coverstitch machine (Janome Coverpro 2000) so I’ll likely be looking for a new one this year. I’ve heard good things about Babylock.
But, look! I have Happy Llamakkah socks! Coincidentally I got these last year or the year before. Who knew I’d have a matching PJ set to go with them?
And that’s it. A great way to ring in the new year with a new set of PJs! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Year! And, I guess, Happy Llamakkah? 🙂
