Sewaholic Tofino vs Simplicity 2317

No points for originality, here: this is the fifth time I’ve used the Simplicity 2317 pyjama pattern!  I really, really love my Sewaholic Tofino pyjama bottoms best of all, but the pattern matching for the multiple seam lines was impossible because this fabric has such a large scale print.  I did actually lay all the pieces out, but it just couldn’t work to my satisfaction.  I’m getting fussy in my old age!

Simplicity 2317 Pyjama bottoms

The fabric was a gift from Julia.  It was such a lovely surprise – unbeknownst to her I’d had a particularly difficult day emotionally and when I returned home there was a letter and a parcel of fabric waiting for me – totally unexpected!  She bought it when she went to Australia but decided to pass it my way as she didn’t know what to use it for.  The only thing I could think of was pyjamas, because in general I try to avoid making dresses with fabrics with a pale background, as I like to be able to ‘winter up’ with tights when it’s cold. Which it is nearly all year round!  I do really like the print of this fabric anyway; it reminds me of fancy wallpaper!

So after at least an hour of trying to arrange the Tofino pattern pieces, I gave up and dug out Simplicity 2317, which does make perfectly wearable, comfortable and nice pyjama bottoms.  The advantage of using this pattern over the Tofino pattern was that they were mega quick to cut and sew – it probably only took me about an hour and a half from cutting to finishing!  And I was able to match up the side seams pretty well, which pleased me greatly!

Side view

I don’t have any purple jersey at the moment to make a co-ordinating Sewaholic Renfrew pyjama top, but I do have an old maternity top that matches pretty well and is ideal for sleepwear, so that will suffice in the short term (not pictured above, obvs!)

So – for me, Sewaholic Tofino pyjama bottoms are still my favourite design, but if you want to pattern match, they don’t work for large scale prints (unless you have a LOT of fabric).  Simplicity 2317 pyjama bottoms are good for any print and they are really quick and easy to make.

Do you have a favourite pyjama pattern?