Button-Up or Pull-On, the 4 Best Pajama Sewing Patterns to Sew

Good pajamas are surprisingly hard to buy: the pants are too short, the waistband digs in, and the soft flannel set is sold out by December. Sewing your own lets you choose the fabric and adjust the length before cutting. Loose pajama styles can also be more forgiving to fit than close-fitting daywear. The best pajama sewing patterns have an elastic waist, a clear size chart and, for a classic set, a collar and buttons.

Three of the four come from one shop and share a construction: a shirt with a lapel-style collar, buttons and a pleated back yoke over elastic-waist bottoms with side seam pockets, sold as long pajamas for women and men and as a short-sleeve set with shorts. The fourth is a simpler women’s set with no buttons. After the cards: flannel and shrinkage, the collar and buttonholes, the elastic waist, and how to choose between a buttoned and a pull-on set for a gift.

Pajama Sewing Patterns With and Without Buttons

Doll pajamas and children’s sleepwear are not part of this list. Each button-up set is sold as a three-size listing, and the Belinda listing reuses the shop’s shared description, so its card points you to the size chart.

TL;DR: Four sets for sleeping and lounging: an easy women's set with a round neck and an elastic waistband, plus three button-up designs from one shop with a lapel collar and a pleated back yoke, for women in long or short versions and for men.

• Women's Pajama Set PDF Sewing Pattern – Best easy set
• Women Pajamas Pattern Angelina PDF L-XXL – Best button-up set
• Pajamas Pattern Size XS S M Belinda PDF – Best summer set
• Men Pajamas Pattern Size S M L Bryan – Best men's pajamas

Quick Comparison

Flannel, Shrinkage and Prewashing

Cotton flannel is a classic pajama fabric, and lighter cottons take over for warm nights. Flannel is soft because the surface is brushed, and like most cottons it can shrink noticeably in the first hot wash and dryer cycle.

So before making pajama pants or a full set, wash and dry the fabric the same way you will wash the finished set. A run through the dryer also takes off some of the loose fuzz. Press the flannel flat afterwards so the pieces lie smooth and cut true.

Plaid flannel adds one more step: line up the stripes at the center front, where the buttons sit, and at the side seams of the pajama bottoms. It takes extra fabric, so buy a little more than the chart asks.

Lapel Collar, Buttonholes and the Back Yoke

A classic pajama set gets harder in the top: the lapel-style collar and the row of buttonholes, while elastic-waist bottoms stay within reach of a beginner. That is the split in the three button-up sets here.

• Collar: interfacing in the collar and the front facing, as the pattern directs and after a test on a scrap, keeps the lapel from going limp. Trim and clip the curved seam before turning, then press it flat.
• Buttonholes: sew a test buttonhole on a scrap with the same layers of fabric and interfacing before you mark the shirt front.
• Back yoke: the pleats below the yoke give room to move, as the listings say, so press them carefully and stitch them in place within the seam allowance.

The women’s pajama set skips all three: a loose fitting top with a round neck, contrast cuffs on the sleeves and no buttons.

An Elastic Waist That Stays Put

All four sets use elastic at the waist. On the women’s set it sits in a separate waistband, while the others describe pants or shorts on an elastic band. A casing slightly wider than the elastic leaves enough clearance to feed it through without catching it in the stitching; one free tutorial, for example, pairs 3/4 inch elastic with a channel about 1 inch wide.

Elastic length is easiest to settle on the body. Wrap it around the waist where the pajamas will sit, stretch it until it is snug but comfortable, then add the overlap for joining the ends. Feed it through with a safety pin, try them on and only then sew the ends together.

Pajama Set Questions

How much fabric is needed to make pajama pants?

It depends on the size, the leg length and the fabric width, so buy by the chart for your size and the width of your fabric. The TakeAndSew sets list their fabric amounts in the gallery images.

How do I fix pajama pants that are too big?

For an elastic waist, unpick a short section of the casing, pull the elastic out, overlap the ends further and sew them again. If the legs are too wide or too long, that is a fit change for the next pair, and the TakeAndSew listings include instructions for changing the length.

Can the long pants be turned into shorts?

Usually, by shortening the leg at the lengthen and shorten line and adding a hem allowance. The Belinda set already comes with shorts, so it is the simpler route to a summer set.

Buttoned or Pull-On: Choosing a Gift Set

For a gift, the style matters more than the size chart at first. Someone who wears classic striped pajamas will likely want the lapel collar and buttons of the Angelina or Bryan sets; someone who sleeps in a T-shirt may be happier in the women’s pull-on set, which also has fewer steps to sew.

Then settle the size. A well-fitting pair of the person’s lounge pants gives useful finished measurements at the hips and the inseam; compare them with the finished garment measurements in the chart, not only the body sizes, and change the leg length at the lengthen line before cutting. On all four of these pajama sewing patterns the elastic waist allows some leeway at the waist itself, and pants for daytime are in the skirts and pants section.

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