I’ve been thinking for years about sewing my own nightwear. Only recently though I seriously felt the need to wear something other than a t-shirt and sweatpants at night. So I searched through my collection of Burda Style magazines to find a pattern that ideally would be quick and easy.

This chemise can be put together in a few hours. It doesn’t take a lot of skill, just some patience making the drawstrings and slipping them in place.

I bought two different fabrics that were both on sale. The first one, while beautiful, is 100% polyester and was supposed to be more of a wearable muslin. Sewing with a slippery fabric was rather annoying – I really struggled getting the bias strips in place at the armholes. And even though I still think the chemise looks gorgeous I can’t wear it more than one or two nights without putting it in the washing machine.

The second fabric is a viscose blend and It. Is. Amazing! It feels great on the skin. I’d live in that chemise 24/7 if I didn’t have to go to uni at some point and that’d be awkward.

This time around, I followed the instructions regarding the drawstrings closely. In my first version, I had just put on the chemise and let my mother pull them in place, but here I really followed the measurements given for the gathering at the neckline and it fits much better. On the other hand, I couldn’t be bothered and used store-bought bias tape for the armhole binding. Forgive me, Great Seamstress in the Sky, for I am a lazy sewer!

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Pattern: Burda Style 12/2016 No. 108.

Fabric: (1) polyester, (2) a viscose blend, both bought at Stoffwelt Neu-Ulm.