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@Ruskie Of course it would have been quicker and easier to strip off, but the pyjamas were sewn together so this of course was not possible without having to resew them shut every week when I had a shower (which would have taken enormous amounts of time and effort). The water would be able to trickle down through the sewn stitches as there tiny holes where the sewing had been done. And also when we did do the rare shower, it was either on weekends or in the holiday period.

@groom Yes, Im glad I didn't follow the tradition myself 

@Andrew Tarr Exactly it kept us warm by the fact that they were impossible to remove. Also the fact that sewing them together keeps in the heat because there are no openings for holes, cold air to get in, etc. Out of interest, what did your wife say about sewing in children for the Winter?

@Ruskie Im not saying I agree of course, but I think that my mother thought that as I said it above having it permanently sewed on would be a great method for keeping warm and having an underlay on in the Winter.

To have a shower, the water would just go in-between the pyjamas and the stitches, and come out again. To dry, we would just have to wait until the clothes were dry (hence why mother had us have shower in the early mornings on the rare occasion that we had them).

Yes you are right often we did get very hot sewed in occasionally but I guess it was better than being freezing cold. I mean we could of used scissors but the clothes would just be sewed back on, followed by a hard spanking/paddling from my parents. It was a lose-lose situation

I can remember one year when I was 15 years old, that for one sewn in Winter my mother sewed onto me my complete school uniform for the whole 7 months - that is, underwear was sewn to school shirt, shirt to trousers, trousers to socks, shirt to tie, school blazer to shirt. This was extremely embarrassing for school, and meant my mother forced me to wear school uniform on weekends and in the Christmas holidays as well, so to go out with other people I would have to wear layers on top of my whole school uniform of course making me very hot indeed.

Another big memory is that up until I was about 7 years old, my mother always kept me on a child leash whenever we went out and on my way to school (this was 70s London so very busy). I remember that she sewed a permanent leash onto the back of my coat (which she forced me to wear whenever I went outside) so whenever I was always either on the leash or the leash was simply just dangling down from my coat.

@Ruskie 1) the embarrassment was awful but being forced by my mother there was absolutely no way me or my siblings could get out of our clothes (and believe me we tried very hard), if so we risked a very hard paddling indeed. Also, my mother double stitched our clothes so they were extra tight and there was no way they would budge.

2) Don't be surprised this tradition was going into the 70s/80s, at least in my area of London there were other children who had also been sewn into their clothes for Winter. I even remember at secondary school when there were health checks in the Winter, there was a letter home saying that those who had been sewn into their clothes for the Winter were of course exempted from injections,etc. and these teenagers numbered quite a few.

3) Im not so sure if it would be a punishable offence today. Sure, I agree having the diaper sewn on might make it a punishable offence as so, but I doubt having just the pyjamas sewn onto the child would be a punishable offence - after all, in some people's minds (not my own) it is just keeping the child warm for the Winter. Also, I still know a few people who practise the tradition with their own children so...

@groom Don't worry at all for asking. No, my family was a fairly average earning middle class family  living in Maida Vale/Warwick Avenue area. Even though we had a decent heating system and warmth in the house, my mother sewed me and my siblings in for the Winter also for when we were outside/at school/etc.

About the aroma, my mother was always diligent about putting large amounts of soap to wash out the smell when I had my bath once a week (and in my mouth when I was naughty!) and she also sprayed deodorant/perfume to try and help the smell go.

@iluleah Thank you for clarifying. I just wasn't sure if you meant what happened to me or something else when you wrote that. Thanks for trying up the loose ends.

Thank you for the welcome groom. Yes this was indeed in England, London in late 1970s and 1980s - quite a few other children in our area at the time had the same ordeal so maybe there was some sort of mini culture for it. Thinking back though to be honest I didn't really mind it that much and neither did my siblings - we were always kept warm and, although I hated the sewing and having something on me which I could not possibly take off for about 5 months (and believe me I tried many times), it was always snug and we never got cold. I guess it had its benefits and its negatives, but it really perhaps wasn't as bad as many would think.