Second Sewing Month Project: Upcycle Sheets into PJs

Okay, so it's not National Sewing Month anymore - not even close! But I'm determined to finish my original list of projects:

Creating throw & lumbar pillows with piping & invisible zippers
Finishing a set of pajamas I'm making out of old sheets (how Sound of Music of me!) and thisfree Colette bloomers pattern
Creating some fun drawstring bags using this free pattern from Purl Bee - I'd add a waterproof lining.
Trying out at least one of Colette's fall clothing patterns once they're available (coming in the next few weeks!)

Now I've done 2 out of 4! Next on the list is pillows.

A few years ago, my mom was doing some spring cleaning and preparing several bags of goods for donation. I saw some seldom-used flowered sheets and decided to pull a Maria Von Trappe and turn them into pajamas.

I made the top using this easy Simplicity pajama pattern, and wanted to try out this free Colette Madeleine mini bloomers pattern for the bottoms.

I have to admit, I was pretty daunted - I'd never done anything like making my own elastic casings or even making a buttonhole! I learned a lot with this project, and I can't wait to apply my new skills again. Here are the results - not too bad, if I say so myself!

I do, actually, have two arms! The other one is out of sight of the mirror I used to take this.

A couple of notes on some adjustments I made: I thought having the ties in the front of the legs was a bit too baby-doll for my taste, so I moved them to the sides of each leg.

Also, every pattern review says these bloomers are extremely low in the waist and super short - and they were all right! Next time, I'll cut the pattern an inch higher in the waist and 1.5 in longer. For Step 3 on the Leg Openings page of the pattern, you're supposed to fold the 1.5 in of the leg opening hem over and then create two rows of stitching for a casing.

I felt if I had folded the hem over, these would have been unwearably short, so I cut out two strips of fabric and used that to create the casing on the bottom inside of each leg.