Nina Lee Piccadilly Pyjamas

I'm on a bit of a mission at the moment to sew through some stash fabrics. After all, it's a waste to leave pretty prints sitting on my shelves when they could be in my wardrobe, isn't it? Today's fabric has been waiting for its turn to be cut into for a couple of years while I dithered about what it should become. A couple of weeks ago, I finally made up my mind that I'd use it to make some Nina Lee Piccadilly pyjamas.

Because all sewists need sewing machine pyjamas, don't they?! I'm certainly glad to have added them to my life anyway!

The fabric is a fun cotton poplin that I picked up from Sewn back when Marie had a shop in Bristol. I think I did see it for sale elsewhere online at around the same time, but that was a couple of years ago and I haven't seen any recently - sorry.

Anyway, back to my pyjamas...

The Piccadilly pyjamas are described as "a chic sleepwear set with oriental accents - a soft and open Mandarin collar and gently curving hems". I made view one - a cap-sleeved shirt and shorts. The shorts have a flat front waistband with ribbon tie, and an elasticated back. All of the hems are finished with exposed bias binding. The pattern also features patch pockets on the bottom of the shirt, but I chose not to use them this time.

This was my first time using a Nina Lee pattern, and I was really impressed with it. The instructions were very detailed, with good, clear diagrams, and everything matched up nicely when I was sewing. I bought the printed pattern and, in my humble opinion, it was definitely worth the extra money compared to a PDF. The pattern itself is printed on normal paper rather than tissue (much less risk of tearing), and the instruction booklet and pattern envelope feel like really good quality. I love the little illustrations on the pattern envelope too!

In terms of sizing, in this pattern my measurements put me in a 12 at the bust, between 12 and 14 at the waist and in a 14 at the hips. I made a straight size 12 for the shirt, and a straight size 14 for the shorts. The fit is pretty good as it is, although I'd possibly blend out to a 14 at the bottom of the shirt for a future version just to give a little bit of extra room.

In some ways, the trickiest part of making these pyjamas was deciding which colour from the print to pick out with the bias binding and then, once I'd decided on that (which was mainly determined by the limited choice of bias binding available in local shops, or suitable plain fabric to make my own), finding buttons that also coordinated. Apparently this is a particularly hard shade of pink to match (it's photographing almost as red, but it is definitely a deep pink in real life), but I got there in the end - and actually ended up using the pink version of the red buttons I used for my Carolyn pyjamas.

The actual sewing process itself was no problem at all. The skill level for the pattern is stated as advanced beginner, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. There are a couple of techniques that beginners might not have tried before, but the instructions are really thorough and they'll help you through if you take things slowly.

I'm really pleased with my Piccadilly PJs - they were a really fun pattern to sew, and I'm glad that this fabric has finally fulfilled its destiny and turned into something I can wear. This may have been the first Nina Lee pattern that I've made, but it definitely won't be the last. At the moment I've got my eye on the Kew dress to use with another long-term fabric stash resident - let's hope that I get time to sew it soon!