Today on day Three of our fun pajama loving series, we are sharing THREE versions of the Sadie Grace night gown by Seamingly Smitten. This is the perfect pattern for a beginner and the perfect pattern to play with for those who are more advanced in their sewing skills. This Nightgown can easily be made of a range of materials from cotton to flannel and can therefore meet the needs of Christmas in any climate. Stick around and read all about the traditions of Nichole of Full of Grace Boutique, Katie of Leave You in Stitches, and Melissa of Emby Designs.

-----------------------

Christmas. ...It's the most wonderful time of the year.

No really, it is. :) It's my favorite. So many traditions it's really hard to choose a favorite. In fact, I can't choose a favorite. But, all of them involve Christmas music, that is a give in.

One of the things we like to do around here is drive around and look at all the Christmas lights. And drink our cocoa. And wear our jammies. All while listening to our favorite Christmas music. (and just because, my favorite Christmas song of all time if O Holy Night)

I was so excited to make a new pair of Christmas pajamas for my daughter Grace.

The Sadie Grace Nightgown was the perfect fit for us!!

I just love these pajamas. And the fact that they literally took 1/2 hour to cut and sew, is a HUGE plus!!

They are very roomy and super comfortable.

You can make these in cotton or flannel. I chose cotton.

We are all ready for one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

-------------------------------------------

I am a sucker for Christmas magic and fun traditions. I start searching for Christmas music channels weeks before Thanksgiving. I buy the Christmas scented candles the second I see them in stores. My house has been decorated for two weeks, though I can't get the husband to agree to a tree until after Thanksgiving. Christmas baking has always been a family tradition - decorating the gingerbread people with bowls and bowls of different colored icings was always my favorite part. My kids love to help me bake as well, and they giggled and squealed as we pulled the boxes of Christmas stuff out of the attic.

But my absolute favorite tradition with my kids? Our Elf on the Shelf. A friend told me about this book when my oldest son (now 7) was 3. We "adopted" an elf, and Jackson named him. He chose the name "Licord". Not sure where he came up with it, but I have to explain to everyone he excitedly tells about our elf that it is not actually "Liquored". His Kindergarten teacher got a kick out of that, when he voted to name the class elf Licord. He is a mischievous little elf - he gets into the cupboards and sprinkles flour on the counters; he gets out all the kids toys and plays with them at night; he even covered the potty with Christmas wrap one night. The first thing the kids do every morning of December is run into every room looking for Licord. And they are always a bit sad on Christmas morning when they find his farewell letter, where he tells the kids how proud he is them for being on the "nice" list. My husband and I have a lot of fun coming up with new places for him to hide and things to get into. The whole family has come to love our little elf, and we greatly look forward to his arrival.

So, when I saw Elf on the Shelf fabric, I knew I had to make their Christmas pjs with it. My daughter loves nightgowns, and I love the classic look of Seamingly Smitten's Sadie Grace, so I was excited to try this pattern out. It is a very quick and easy sew, perfect for beginners. There are just 5 pages of nested pattern pieces to print out and cut, and that was done in a snap. Even with making my own bias tape to trim the neckline, and adding cuffs and a band to the original pattern, it took me less than an hour to complete. My daughter is a very narrow/slender size 5, so I decided to size down to a 4 and keep the 5 length. It's a very comfortable and loose fitting nightgown, but I might make the neckline a little narrower next time. She's absolutely thrilled with it, and sat with me and watched while I stitched the elf embroidery on the front, because she couldn't wait to wear it.

I made the boys lounge pants from the Peekaboo Pattern Shop's Sweet Dream pajamas. It never gets very cold here in Florida, so I made them matching appliqued T-shirts for all three to coordinate. They are beyond excited to have their own special jammies to wear this year, and I am excited to add a new tradition!

------------------------------------

I'm sure we all remember being a child at Christmas and feeling like we were NEVER going to get to open those presents under the tree. They sat there taunting us. I can recall begging to open "just one please!" At some point, my begging created a new little family tradition. We began opening one present on Christmas Eve night before heading to bed to wait for the arrival of Santa. We now do the same thing with our girls. They get one present to open on Christmas Eve. Now, they don't get to open just ANY present. They have a specific one they get to open and it always contains their Christmas PJs to sleep in that night and wear the next day while checking out their Santa loot and opening presents from Mommy & Daddy. Last year marked the first time they received PJs made by Mommy and they loved it! So now the tradition is being modified a little more by them not just receiving PJs, but receiving ones that Mommy made them. Both of my girls love for me to make things for them, so the PJs are even more special to them.

When I heard about this Christmas PJs series where we would be making PJs to feature and sharing our family traditions I thought it was perfect. I mean, a series featuring PJ patterns and sharing traditions when OUR tradition IS PJs...match made in heaven :) I had fun sewing up this cute little nightgown for my two girls (well, other than the fact that I messed up and cut a few pieces upside down before it hit me what I was doing and this resulted in me having to dig through my fabric stash to improvise and change them up a bit!). As you can see, they enjoy their gowns as well!

This was a super simple, quick sew. You could get these cut out and sewn in around an hour or less. I did some stitching with my twin needle which took more time when you factor in swapping back and forth between needles a few times and they took me about an hour. (That also does not include the time I spent adding the trees and their initial which was all cut and outlined by hand.) If you are looking to sew up some simple nightgowns for your little lady, this would be a good pattern for you. I will say that I felt the neck opening was a little larger than I would like, but that's just my preference. It is wider, more like a boatneck almost, than a rounded neck.

A closer view of their trees and initials and then a closer view of the bias tape around the neckline.

Two very happy little girls that just got an extra set of Christmas PJs this year so Mommy could share our tradition with you ladies. I hope you enjoyed!

-Melissa of Emby Designs :)