MARGOT PAJAMA SHORTS

I have a confession to make: I am awful at giving birthday presents on time. I also often like to make the present rather than buy, and far too often this ends up taking longer than what I had planned. Making things takes time. And when you're in a full time job, making gifts for people sometimes requires a relatively high level of planning and organizing to utilize the free time you have. And if the person you're making something for doesn't even live in the same country as you, even more planning and organizing is required. I've tried time and time again to organize myself better to stop it from happening, but I'm still awful at it. I tend to make really detailed and overly ambitious plans, completely forgetting that I don't actually have a gazillion hours in a day. And this tendency to make overly ambitious plans is one of the reasons my friend Eb got these pyjama shorts over two months after her actual birthday. Although having said that, I think two months late for a birthday present might actually be an improvement. One bonus with giving them to her so late though, was that I was able to give them to her in person last weekend when I met up with her in Manchester.

To make these, I used Tilly Walnes' pattern for Margot pyjamas from her book Love at First Stitch (a book I'm slightly obsessed with these days!), and shortened the legs to make shorts. I had a good bit of leftover fabric from my button down skirt (another Tilly pattern!), and thought it would be perfect for some PJs, as it's super soft like flannel. I used black satin ribbon for the waistband, and black bias binding on the inside seams and on the back pocket. Adding pockets to an item of clothing instantly improves it in my opinion (now she won't have to hold on to things while she sleeps! haha). The shorts were based on measurements she gave me, though they looked a little bit when I finished so I added a bar of chocolate to the present. That way she can fatten herself up a bit so that the pyjamas fit better, as I'm not quite at the level of doing alterations yet.