Pajama Eater Addiction

My friend Jodi over at SewFearless.com created this fabulous pattern for these adorable Pajama Eaters (you can buy your copy here). Pajama Eaters are designed to “eat” kids pajamas during the day (rather than having them thrown on the floor). Brilliant. Clearly designed by a mom with small children. Anyway, I thought they were brilliant and adorable and naturally wanted to make one… or twenty…
Yeah, they kind of ran away with me. First I decided that I’d try to make 11 of them for my 11 nieces and nephews for Christmas. I started early enough but was hoping I’d manage to get them all done. So I finished those 11 and accidentally made two extras (how does one make thirteen without even realizing it?) And then I decided to add my two goddaughters to that list. And a sibling asked for one. And I had a brilliant idea to use one as part of a white elephant gift exchange. Then I ran out of inspiration for my original gift for the three godsons and decided to make them PJ Eaters. and then I found this cool soft, weird leopard print fabric in the remnant bin, and…
I am totally out of control!!
Things I love about the pattern:

• The brilliance of the critter, adorable and practical
• Simple, easy to follow instructions with great photos and bright colors to keep me from getting bored.
• It was a fabulous starting point for my creativity to go wild. I ended up making the original monsters, owls, frogs, rabbits, three-legged one-eyed alien monsters, and more. So much fun!! 
• STASH BUSTER!! I bought one or two fabrics at the store and a few lengths of corduroy for really cheap at thrift stores… but mostly, these were from the stash. Awesome. (I did have to buy zippers, stuffing, and notions). 
• My friend Katie who needed a hobby was also fascinated by the concept so I taught her to sew while she surpassed me with her creative genius. She made a Hello Kitty, ninja, panda bear, owl, and… A HOBBIT. She is amazing. And was inspired to amazing creativity by this fabulous pattern.
• Okay fine, I’ll stop with the shameless promoting- seriously go get the pattern and try it!

Things I did not love:

• The legs. I’m not sure why, but I found the legs to be the hardest part. Hard to get the bottom of the foot on without puckering. Hard to connect the top just right. Legs. Not a fan. In fact, my favorite PJ Eaters to make were the owl – no legs. 
• Sewing pajama eaters out of minky fabric. The stretch made it difficult to sew the minky guys. They were incredibly soft and they did turn out, but a complete pain to work with- not to mention minky shedding mess everywhere… on everything. Basically, if you want soft and cuddly, I’d recommend flannel over minky any day… especially after making 4 PJ Eaters with various types of minky fabric.
• The pajama eater mess taking over my house for 2 months.
• Not having enough people to sew pajama eaters for.

Photo Round Up:

And then there’s this one… I totally love this one. My sister is in college and will be spending next semester in Europe studying and traveling. She asked for a PJ Eater and loved the three legged guy… and suddenly a crazy idea was born… a PJ Eater with backpack straps (made out of $1 cloth fabric belts from thrift store). She can put her wallet / phone in the mouth and then sleep on it on the train. Brilliant, right? Or maybe just ridiculous.

Hi. I’m Reenie. I’m addicted to making Pajama Eaters.
Hi Reenie.
Admission: Made a total of 21 pajama eaters… in approximately three months. While also working a full time job, having a full time life, and refinishing a lot of dining room chairs. Sometimes I amaze myself. And yes - somebody better stop me before this gets out of hand…