Christmas Eve Cozies
Every Christmas Eve, I give my children one gift, a new pair of pajamas. Opening a gift seems to break the tension just a little bit, even if it’s something practical.
Some years I have bought pajamas. Some years I have sewn fancy nightgowns for the girls, and PJ’s for my son. But my kid’s favorite thing to sleep in, by far, are plain old Cozies.
What are Cozies? They are basically flannel pajama pants worn with a soft long sleeve t-shirt.
And that’s great by me, because making Cozies is a lot easier than making nightgowns or pajama tops.
Yesterday, I got started making them for the whole family. For the kids, I use Simplicity pattern 2738. The pattern is quick and easy to make, even for a beginner like me. The fabric, Be Merry by Mind’s Eye, is a thick, soft and wonderfully cozy flannel.
I embellished the pattern a little by adding one pocket on the side, and a simple cuff at the bottom. I plan on embellishing the t-shirts to go with them with a snowflake as well.
Now I just hope I can find the time to knit felted wool slippers before Christmas… unfortunately I am a painfully slow knitter (and I still have trouble turning a toe.) My mother in law knit a pair for all of us a few years ago, and they are one of my favorite things. She can knit a pair in a few evenings… so maybe I can pull it off…. or not. I need knitting lessons.
Calli, I just love your blog!!! I have a question regarding the cozies that you make, which are so cute!! I would love to make these for my family, but my husband is 6′ 5″ and I need to know where I could find a pattern for a big and tall or how to add to a pattern.
Thank you!
Oh my gosh, my family has the same tradition! Except it is my dad who gives the PJs! Every year on Christmas Eve we get to open one present – our PJs. He gets matching for my mom, sister and I. It is the best part of Christmas! It is always so exciting to see what he has picked out!
My family also has that tradition! When we were kids every year my grandmother made my brother and I a set of PJ’s, mine was usually a nightgown because I was into girly Victorian era things. We opened our PJ’s and one other small gift on Christmas eve. One year my small gift was a matching nightgown for my Amercian Girl Samantha doll. Too fun!
I LOVE these so much! In our house the Pyjama fairy leaves the Pjs wrapped up on the kids beds while they are having their bedtime bath. This means that Santa isn’t far away so they have to put their new PJs on and go to sleep :) So some Handmade ones would be even better. Not sure my sewing is up to it though :(
My mother would always make us Christmas pajamas every year too. It is a tradition that I now carry on with my children. A few years ago, my mother made me and my siblings each quilts with squares from all of the jammies that she ever made us! It is one of my favorite gifts! I now make pajamas for sale so people can start their own traditions even if the can’t sew. You can view them at….www.pajamaworkshop.com.
Love them! You’ve inspired me! Where do you get the long sleeved tees to go with?
You can get them at Old Navy and Walmart. They have tons of long sleeve color options!!
I’ve bought them at Target or Old Navy.
It’s amazing how many people open PJs the night before Christmas. My mother always did it with us and I do it with my children. I remember when my sister was 12 or 13yo-we were unwrapping our PJs and I said (jokingly) “I wonder what this is going to be?” She had no clue what was in the box-after 12 years of unwrapping PJs!
And I’m so glad to hear that some years you buy your PJs. This year there’s no way I’ll get to sewing them and I was feeling guilty (like not having hand-made pajamas would some how emotionally scar my children and convince them I don’t love them.) Oh the Pressure! (:
[…] my children open their pajamas and we read the Nativity story and get them to bed early so there is time for the magic to begin. […]
We also give pajamas on Christmas Eve and read the Christmas story. Our poor kids have never had a pair of handmade PJs, but they love the tradition just the same. They are allowed to open one more gift each, which we select, of course. It is always a board game which we all play together until bedtime.