Over the past few years, my friends and family have wised up to the fact that if they want a handmade gift from me at Christmas, they'd better get your orders in a few months early! Right now I'm in the midst of planning a pair of silk pajamas for my good friend Pip, and I thought these might be a good idea for others, too.
Loads of you have already made the lovely ladies' Jane pajamas but you could also easily adapt Andre as silk boxers for the men in your life, too. Add a Marcel sleepmask or Alice slippers and you've got a great gift worth staying under the covers for!
If you've never sewn with silk before, it's not nearly as difficult as it would seem. Silk charmeuse (sometimes called "silk satin") feels ultra luxurious next to the skin and is what a lot of super expensive lingerie manufacturers use. Since it's a natural fiber, it lets your skin breathe and feels cool in the summer and warm in the winter, too.
You'll need to use a small microtex sharp needle in your machine to avoid pulled threads, and cutting out slippery fabric can be made easier with some cleverly-placed paper. Once I made the mistake of sewing regular seams on a silk blouse, only to have it fray and unravel everywhere! Eventually I was forced to bias-bind all the seam allowances by hand to save it, but I definitely learned my lesson. Don't make my mistake - it only takes a few minutes more to sew french seams in silk garments and you'll end up saving yourself time later!
Does anyone else have any Christmas presents on the go yet?
