Making the Olo Tee & Pants and Lahja Dressing Gown from Named Clothing!

It’s definitely the time of year for snuggling down in comfy PJ’s and a warm dressing gown. The new Olo pattern from Named Clothing is the perfect set of PJ’s or even loungewear for the cold season, and paired with the Lahja robe in warm flannel, they complement each other superbly

My fabric choice

“What fabric do I use” I asked myself. Yes, I want warmth, but equally this pattern cries out for a fabric which has drape and stretch as well! Oh, and it needs to look great after frequent washes. Having worked with Art Gallery Fabrics’ knit before I thought it was actually the perfect choice, being super quality, having stretch and also great washability.

I opted for the solid colourway called Mauvelous, which has a subtle mauve hue, which I loved.

As always, I pre-washed the fabric just in case there was any shrinkage and I would always recommend this.

To complement this set, I made the Lahja robe in Art Gallery Fabrics’ cotton flannel, choosing the Gaia Four print from Eclectic Intuition, by Katarina Roccella. This is a lovely soft, double sided flannel and if you’ve ever sewn with AGF flannel you’ll know exactly what I mean … such a luxurious feel! As with the knit, I pre-washed and tumble dried the flannel, to ensure no shrinkage and give a little ‘fluff’ to the flannel.

My pattern choice

PJ’s are super popular this year, not least because you get to wear them as soon as you’ve finished the make. Not all PJ’s are straightforward to make, but the Olo set is quick and easy so if you’re looking to hand make that last minute gift for Christmas, these could be the perfect choice!

The whole set is made up of just five pattern pieces! If you have an overlocker you can whip these up in a couple of hours. I chose the high neck version and I used my overlocker to do roll hems on the neck, sleeves and bottoms of both the top and trousers. This gives a really lovely finish and you could use matching or contrasting thread for different effects. Perhaps the only minor downside of doing this is that you do the hems before you construct the garment, which means that you need to work out the length you want, before you make them up.

I found that I needed to shorten the trousers and top, so always check the finished measurements on the pattern. The trousers are fairly fitted around the waist and hips, but I found this really comfortable, particularly in this fabric. If you do not have an overlocker it would still be a very quick make, you would just need to do turned hems. The instructions for both are included in the pattern.

Like the Olo set, the Lahja Robe is a fairly quick make. I used the shorter version of the robe, but with the long sleeves and just lengthened the robe a little. I wanted a long robe, but on checking the finished measurements found the long version would have been close to floor length for me, so it was better to just lengthen the short one a little. Flannel sews beautifully, as it does not move around at all, the flip-side to this is that you have to be careful to ensure that everything lines up perfectly before sewing, as it’s hard to adjust as you go.

Summary

Both of these sewing patterns are ones that you are likely to make over and over again. As they are both multi-size (and in the case of the Lahja, unisex as well) you can make them for all the family. Multiple variations are available, giving you a wide choice of garments to make.

I certainly enjoyed working with both the patterns and fabrics and was delighted with the results.

EDITORS NOTES

THE PATTERN:

The relaxed and elegant Olo Tee & Pants pattern is from Named Clothing and consists of a long sleeve tee and wide leg pants with high, elasticated waist and no side seams. You can sew the straight cut tee as either a dainty rolled hem funnel neck, or a deep V-neck with binding. The pattern comes in sizes XS-XXL.

To view these patterns and others from Named Clothing – click here https://www.hantexonline.co.uk/named-patterns-c102x4148562

THE FABRIC:

For the Olo, choose light to medium-weight knit fabric with 40-50% stretch and for the Lahja Dressing Gown select a light to mediumweight woven fabric like linen, flannel, Terry cloth or honeycomb fabric.

Mauvelous from Knits Solids by AGF Studio

For the full range of knit fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics – click here https://www.hantexonline.co.uk/current-jersey-knits-c102x3159779

Gaia Four Print Flannel from Eclectic Intuition by Katarina Roccella, AGF

To view the flannel collections from Art Gallery Fabrics – click here https://www.hantexonline.co.uk/flannels-c102x4103317