Easy Pajama Patterns For All Sizes: {Tops & Pants}

My son is in his thirties and to this day I still give him a cozy pair of lounging pants/pj’s and an oversized nerdy tee for Christmas every year. I don’t think I’m the only mom who does this, there’s just something about the holidays that makes us want to wrap each other up in warmth and coziness.

Some get a new matching set of pajamas for the whole family each season, we haven’t done this (yet), but I think it would be especially fun when kiddos are younger and still at home. At this point, there’s no way my son will go for this, lol, but I still have hope for when I’m a grandma (impatiently waiting).

Unless you’re willing to pay a pretty penny for higher end brand names, I’ve noticed that pj’s are getting fairly pricey to buy. The material is flimsy and they don’t seem to survive frequent laundering for any length of time like they used to.

I recently saw the sale price of $69.00 for a lady’s knit pant & top set, that’s insane for sleepwear! Especially when it’s not anything special.

The good news is that we can make our own pj’s with just beginner sewing skills and basic materials required. They are simple to whip up for the most part and after you get the basics down, you’ll find it’s super easy to jazz things up a bit.

Easy Decorative Embellishments:

• knit cuffs (wrists & ankles)
• rick rack/eyelet/lace trims on cuffs & hems
• contrasting fabric on hem & waist
• ruffles stitched down the front or on pant hems
• bias trim or piping on hems
• personalize pockets with cross stitched initials or names

Avoid: scratchy materials (such as itchy polyester laces) or jagged/jeweled buttons that can poke and hurt when laid on.

Ideal Materials To Upcycle: (especially useful for smaller sizes)

• vintage pillowcases & sheets (these are surprisingly lovely to sleep in)
• t-shirts
• flannel

Is someone a hot sleeper? Keep things cool by using natural fibers such as cotton and linen, make garments loose & one size up. For those who are always cold, flannel and fleece can’t be beat.

In this collection of free tutorials, you’ll find instructions for:

• shorts
• pants
• nightgowns
• tops

Bonus Freebies: I’ve also added two vintage pajama bag patterns at the bottom of the page.

How To Make Pajamas

Sizes are from toddlers, children/youth to adults with designs available for both boys and girls, men and women. Many of the instructions show you how to make custom fitting templates so even if it’s originally a child or adult size, you can certainly enlarge it (or minimize) for youth/adult if desired.

As always here on Tipnut, only those projects that are 100% hassle-free are included, this means there are no fees charged to access instructions and any necessary pdf templates or pattern pieces are provided without email submissions or memberships required to download. I also focus on text & image tutorials but there may be supporting videos included for extra help.

Directions: Click on images to view project page, a new browser tab will open & save your spot here

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Vintage Pajama Bag Patterns

When I was a young girl, these were quite common and came in a wide variety of kid friendly characters. They encouraged youngsters to keep their nightclothes tidy by stuffing their jammies inside (filling the body), then resting the doll on the bed waiting to be opened again at nighttime.

These are two vintage goodies are from my personal collection and it wouldn’t be too difficult to tweak them a bit to be more “modern” looking if so desired.

Retro Doll

Size: 44″ long

Materials:

• 36″ cotton: 1 yard print for body and cosmetic pouch, 1/2 yard rose, scrap of purple
• scraps of rose, white, turquoise felt
• 14″ neckline zipper
• 2 buttons
• 2 snaps
• 12″ chain
• medium-weight cotton yarn
• starch
• stuffing for arms, legs and head
• turquoise ribbon

*Use 1/2″ seams except on zipper

Directions:

• For body pattern, which includes seam allowances, draw a right-angle triangle 8 3/4″ wide at base and 20″ high. Fold print fabric, place 20″ pattern edge on fold and cut body back. Adding 5/8″ zipper allowance at 20″ edge, cut 2 body fronts. Sew zipper to front, about 1″ above bottom allowance.
• For legs, cut one 13″ x 25″ rose piece; machine-applique nine 5/8″ x 13″ purple strips 1 3/4″ apart. Cut appliqued fabric in half lengthwise. Following photograph, applique print slippers about 4″ long to half of each leg at one end. For arms, cut two 5 1/2″ x 13 1/2″ strips. Fold legs and arms in half lengthwise, right sides in; seam, rounding one end of arms and slipper end of legs and leaving other end open. Turn and stuff. Sew straps and buttons to slippers.
• For head, cut two 9 1/2″ diameter circles. Applique purple mouth and 2 1/2″ diameter pink cheeks. For eyes, stitch 7/8″ blue circles to 1″ white circles. Fold blue lids with lashes at an angle and stitch on. Sew on eyes. Stitch head pieces, leaving 3″ opening. Turn head and stuff.
• To assemble, pin legs to body front about 5 1/2″ from corners; pin arms 12″ above corners. With right sides together, stitch back to front; turn. Insert body into head opening; machine-applique neck to body.
• For curls, wind yarn around broom handle; apply starch and let dry. Remove from broom handle; cut curls desired length and tack around side seam and across back of head. Add bow.

For cosmetic pouch, cut 7″ x 16″ print strip. Fold over 4″ at one end, right sides together, for double flap. Seam sides; clip allowances and turn. Hem other end of strip. Turn in side seam allowances, fold up 4″ and topstitch seams. Attach snaps and 12″ chain to purse.

Source: Woman’s Day Magazine (1960’s)

Calico Cat

Here’s a sweet vintage treat from my collection for making a child’s pajama bag or laundry tote that was published by the National Cotton Council and Wright’s Trims. Pamphlet was titled “Easy Gifts To Make” and there’s no date marked anywhere but I believe this is from the 1950s.

This is made with printed fabric and trimmed with bias tape around all the edges. There’s a loop on top of the head for hanging and bias tape is used to define the front legs and paws.

Crafty bits are put to use for the facial features, rick rack for the eyelashes, a felt scrap for the nose and pretty ribbon is tied around the neck for a bow. The head is stuffed lightly with cotton batting and the body of the bag is used to hold garments (there’s a slit opening at the back). The tail is a bias tape covered pipe cleaner.

I’ve typed out the details below and scanned a copy for you to download at the bottom (via jpg file). Here are the instructions:

Supplies You’ll Need:

• 1/2 yd. printed percale
• 5 yds. Wright’s double fold Bias Tape
• 1 yd. Wright’s Jumbo Rick Rack (eyelashes)
• Felt scrap (for the nose)
• 1/2 yd. ribbon, 2″ width (neck bow)
• Cotton batting (for the head)

Directions:

• Cut as in diagram. Cut 9″ slit at neck back and bind.
• Face: Shirr 12 points of rick rack for each set of eyelashes. Shape and tack in place. Stitch tape mouth and felt nose in place.
• Head: Bind together leaving 3″ free. Pad lightly and complete binding.
• Body: Stitch tape legs and feet to front, then bind together.
• Assembly: Bind ears and pleat. Attach body, ears and 3″ tape loop to head. Add bow at neck.
• Tail: Stitch 18″ tape edges together. Insert pipe cleaner. Hand tack in place.

There are no template pieces but they are simple shapes and the diagram is nicely detailed with measurements so it’s easy enough to make your own (this is common for vintage patterns).

Here’s the jpg file to download, simply click the image to view the larger size, right click on it and then save it to your computer’s desktop.

It will print small, select “fit to page” in your printer options and you’ll be able to read it easily.