Sew your own loungewear set

A loungewear set you sew yourself is a sweatshirt or hoodie and joggers in French terry, a T-shirt and pull-on shorts in cotton jersey for warmer days, and a kimono jacket cut long in waffle cotton or double gauze as the robe. Every one of these is a pull-on pattern with no closures, so the whole five-piece set is four or five weekends of sewing and about 7 m (7 3/4 yd) of fabric. The fabric does most of the work: a soft knit with 20–30% stretch and good recovery still looks good after a hundred washes.

What makes loungewear worth sewing?

Store-bought lounge sets are either cheap and thin or soft and expensive, and the two pieces rarely fit the same person. When you sew the set, the top and the bottom come from the same bolt, so the colors match, the weight matches and the washing is the same. You choose the length of the joggers, the depth of the pockets and whether the hood is lined. And because knit loungewear has no zips, buttons or facings, it is one of the best places to learn to sew knit fabrics.

Which pieces make a loungewear set?

A shawl-collar robe with a rolled collar is outside this list: the kimono jacket, cut to mid-calf and closed with a fabric tie belt, is the closest shape and in a soft fabric it looks like the real thing. Pajama shirts with a collar and buttons are also a step beyond; a boxy woven top in brushed cotton covers the same role.

Which fabric should you use for a sweatshirt and joggers?

French terry, a knit with smooth loops on the wrong side, is the loungewear fabric. At 240–280 gsm it is light enough for a sweatshirt you wear indoors; at 300 gsm and above it is a winter weight. Look for cotton with 5% elastane for recovery at the knees and elbows, and buy matching rib knit for the cuffs, hem band and neckband, because rib recovers better than the terry itself. Brushed-back sweatshirt fleece is warmer and fluffier, and sews the same way. Sewing with French terry covers needles, stitch choices and the rib bands.

Prewash the terry twice: cotton knits shrink in length, often 5% or more, and the second wash catches what the first missed. Cut with the loops running the same way on every piece, because the terry can shade slightly.

How do you sew the sweatshirt?

The sweatshirt pattern is a front, a back, two sleeves and three rib bands, with an optional hood or kangaroo pocket. Sew it with a ballpoint or stretch 80/12 needle and a narrow zigzag of 0.5 mm width and 2.5 mm length (10 stitches per inch), or a serger. The sewing order that works: shoulders, neckband or hood, sleeves set in flat, then the side and underarm seams in one pass, then the cuffs and hem band. The hoodie tutorial shows how to line the hood and sew the drawstring eyelets.

The rib bands are cut shorter than the edge they finish, usually 80–85% of its length, and stretched to fit as you sew. That is what makes a sweatshirt hem hug rather than flare.

How do you sew the joggers?

The jogger option of the pull-on trousers tapers the leg and ends in a rib cuff at the ankle. The waist is a casing with 4 cm (1 5/8 in) elastic and, if you like, a drawstring through two buttonholes or eyelets at the center front. Add in-seam pockets: joggers without pockets are a disappointment. Cut them from the same terry, or from jersey to reduce bulk at the hip.

The crotch seam carries the most strain in loungewear. Sew it twice, or with a stretch stitch, and finish the seam allowances together. The jogger pants tutorial goes through the cuff and the drawstring step by step.

What about the warm-weather pieces?

The T-shirt in a cotton-modal jersey is the softest thing you will ever sleep in; a cotton-elastane jersey holds its shape better by day. Cut it with a slightly relaxed fit for lounging and a longer body, and sew the neckband at 85% of the neckline length. The knit fabrics guide covers the neckband and the twin-needle hem.

The shorts are the quickest piece: two legs, an elastic casing, a hem. In French terry they match the sweatshirt; in double gauze or a brushed cotton flannel they become pajama shorts, cut with a wider leg so a woven fabric does not pull across the seat.

How do you turn the kimono jacket into a robe?

Lengthen the kimono jacket to mid-calf, keep the wide sleeve, and add a tie belt cut 8 cm (3 1/8 in) wide and 2 m long, with two belt loops at the side seams. Waffle cotton is the classic hotel-robe fabric; double gauze is lighter and softer; polar fleece or sherpa make a winter robe and need no hemming, as sewing with fleece explains. For woven robe fabrics, finish the center front and neckline with a band of self fabric 5 cm (2 in) wide rather than a narrow hem, which gives the front edge the weight it needs to hang straight.

How much fabric does the whole set take?

For an average size on 140 cm fabric: 1.6 m of French terry for the sweatshirt, 2 m for the joggers and 1 m for the shorts, so 4.6 m (5 yd) of terry from one bolt; 1.2 m of jersey for the T-shirt; 2.5 m of waffle or double gauze for the robe; plus 50 cm (20 in) of rib knit and 2.5 m (2 3/4 yd) of 4 cm elastic. That is about 8.3 m (9 yd) in total, or 7 m if the robe is also cut from the terry. Each pattern's sewing guide lists the exact amount for your size, and a projector or A0 copy-shop print keeps the big jogger pieces in one piece.

In what order should you sew the set?

1. Shorts in French terry: an afternoon, and a test of your elastic length and machine settings on the terry.
2. T-shirt: the neckband is the only tricky step.
3. Joggers: the shorts with longer legs, cuffs and pockets.
4. Sweatshirt or hoodie: the rib bands and the hood.
5. Robe: the longest seams, the least fitting.

Sew the shorts and the joggers from the same fabric in the same week, before the dye lot runs out. A full set in one color, with the T-shirt in a contrast, is the look that makes a handmade lounge set feel like a purchase rather than a project.