They passed the test last night

My husband retired from the Air Force about three years ago. For the last two years of his career, he lived in another state, while we lived here, where we knew we would retire. For the first year, I slept alone. For the second year, I slept with my new, post-robbery, pit bull.

I wanted "a cuddly pit bull." That's what I got. He's the sweetest, nicest dog. When Mark returned, Mark started pulling the covers off of me. Blaise kept them pinned beneath him. I'd complain, but Mark says, "You throw them off." How come I never threw them off when he lived in Pennsylvania?

We have tried numerous solutions, including a heating pad and blankets stored on the floor for middle of the night reinforcements.

When we cleaned out some closets this year, a cream fleece was rejected by all three guys, so I put it in the pile for the Salvation Army, but it occurred to me that it might might a warm PJ top. I decided to get some fleece and make warm PJ pants to go with it. I used Butterick 3314.


I liked how they turned out, except yet again, I realized after I was done that I had chosen a hideous print. I had just been telling Mark how I was really trying to wear solid colors, since my taste in prints can't be trusted. I'm like some kind of pastel flower queen. It's a tough habit to break.

The scraps that were left over were too good to let languish in a scrap pile, so I went to work. I cut out a self-drawn neck gator and a pair of slippers. I still have enough for mittens, but I'm getting bored and want to move on. My hands don't get cold when I sleep either, so my motivation has waned.

I slept in them all last night. I woke up with no covers and I wasn't cold. I wasn't toasty warm, but I wasn't cold either. I pulled the back-up blanket up off the floor and smiled myself back to sleep. I was also a bit delighted to find that my neck gator hadn't choked me to death. I was a little worried.


I really enjoyed making the slippers. I have really wide, short feet. I used Butterick 4184 (OOP) but I put my foot over the traced sole pattern and altered it to be much more duck-like, like my feet. I didn't want to use up too much of my fabric scraps, so I used scraps from other projects as much as possible. I used some white fleece scraps for the inside, that grippery stuff for the bottoms of the soles, and for the inside sole, I used terry cloth. I used short scraps of elastic to make an elastic ring around the ankle, which is only sewn to the inside layer. I also used up a bunch of bobbins that had short bits of thread on them. I was on a thrift roll!



I find the slippers to be very warm to sleep in, but not comfortable to walk around in. The seam allowances slip under my feet and there is some ease, so I think I'm going to trip. But, if there's a fire, that grippy stuff will get me down the stairs safely, so I'm glad it's there!