Distributed to: Marcus, Ruby, Sam, Grandma Bev (by text, she doesn’t open attachments). June is five months old and has not been consulted.
For eight years I coordinated commercial shoots in Toronto. Yogurt, minivans, one very long week with a bank. The job is mostly one document: the call sheet. One page that tells every person where to be, what to wear, and what happens if it rains. Nobody reads it properly, and everybody blames you when they didn’t.
I left that job when Ruby was born. I did not leave the call sheet. Every November we take a family photo in matching pajamas for the card, and every year I write one. This is year six.
This year’s sheet is going out early, on October 13, which my family thinks is unhinged. Then I showed them the stock levels.
Production Notes
Production: The Pajama Picture, Year 6
Shoot date: Sunday, November 22, 2026
Location: Our living room, Hamilton. Couch pushed to the window wall. Again.
Light: The good window light is gone by about four in late November. We roll at 3:00, not “around three.”
Wardrobe: Old Navy family pajamas, White Plaid. Casting closed this morning. Explanation below.
Why Casting Closed in October
Old Navy’s homepage right now is mostly pajamas. “Jingle Jammies Are So Back,” PJs from $16, a Disney holiday collab, a Star Wars one. The regular printed sets are 50% off, part of what they’re calling Early Giftober Deals (online, limited time, exclusions apply). I didn’t find an end date, which in my experience means “don’t wait for one.”
I wanted Winter Cabin. I had it picked out in my head since August. Then I checked sizes, the way I used to check talent availability before I promised a director anything.
Here is what the kids’ flannel set looked like this morning:
- Winter Cabin: M and XL left, both flagged low. Nothing in Ruby’s size or Sam’s.
- Gingerbread: XXL only.
- Tree Stripes: XXL only.
- Christmas Trees: one size, XS, and it’s low.
- Santa Stripes: L, XL and XXL. Sam wears an S.
- Navy Plaid and White Plaid: every size, XS to XXL.
It’s not just the kids. In the women’s set, regular fit, Winter Cabin is down to 2X, 3X and 4X. Gingerbread has XS and the plus sizes and nothing in between.
Then the part that actually decided it. A print only works for us if it exists in all four pieces I’m buying: the women’s set, the men’s set, the kids’ set and June’s sleeper. Navy Plaid has no baby sleeper. Red Plaid has no kids’ flannel set. Tree Stripes technically exists in all four, but the kids’ set is down to one size. That left White Plaid, which is white with red and dark green lines, and which has a “Best Seller” tag on it, so I am not the only coordinator on this job.
White Plaid it is. Nobody is getting a vote. That’s what a call sheet is for.
Cast & Wardrobe
| Role | Cast | Wardrobe | Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer, also in shot | Me | Women’s flannel pajama set | M, Regular | CA$29.99 (was $59.99) |
| Lead, tall | Marcus | Men’s flannel pajama set | L, Tall | CA$29.99 (was $59.99) |
| Supporting | Ruby, 10 | Kids’ flannel pajama set | L | CA$22.49 (was $44.99) |
| Supporting, unreliable | Sam, 7 | Kids’ flannel pajama set | S | CA$22.49 (was $44.99) |
| Special guest | Grandma Bev | Women’s flannel pajama set | XL, Petite | CA$29.99 (was $59.99) |
| Featured extra | June, 5 months | 2-Way-Zip Sleep & Play footed one-piece | 6-9 M | CA$19.99 |
Wardrobe Department Notes
Adults. The women’s and men’s sets are 100% cotton, button front, spread collar, pockets in the side seams. The women’s set comes in Regular, Tall and Petite, with a 30-inch, 33-inch and 28-inch inseam. That’s why Bev, who is five foot one and has hemmed every pair of pants she’s owned since 1971, gets Petite. Marcus gets Tall in the men’s (33-inch inseam versus 31) because last year’s pants stopped at his shins and he looked like he was wading.
The women’s set has exactly one review so far. Four stars. It says the fabric is soft, especially after washing, but “quite thin,” and suggests sizing up and expecting some shrinkage. One review is not data. It is a note from a stranger, and I’m taking it, because I’d rather the pants be long in the photo than short. Wash before the shoot, not the morning of.
Kids. Don’t be surprised when the kids’ set feels different. It’s 100% polyester, not cotton, and the tag says it’s flame resistant. That’s on purpose. Loose-fitting kids’ sleepwear has to be either flame resistant or snug, and this one is the loose kind. Notched collar, a chest pocket Sam will fill with something sticky. It will still read as flannel in the photo.
June. The sleeper is a soft brushed jersey, 95% recycled polyester and 5% spandex, with fold-over mittens and a zipper that runs both ways, which is the single best feature in this entire production. The listing says it runs small and to size up. She’s five months old and in 3-6M everything, so she’s getting 6-9M, which is also the biggest size it comes in. If she has a growth spurt before the 22nd, we shoot her from the waist up.
Budget
White Plaid for six: CA$154.94 before HST. At full price the same six pieces would be $289.94.
Now the alternate pitch. Ruby and Sam lobbied hard for Star Wars Cookie, which is black with little cookie-shaped Star Wars characters on it and is honestly very cute. It’s part of the licensed collab and it’s marked “Excluded from Promotion.” For the five of us who aren’t June:
- Star Wars Cookie: $64.99 + $64.99 + $64.99 + $49.99 + $49.99 = $294.95
- White Plaid: $29.99 + $29.99 + $29.99 + $22.49 + $22.49 = $134.95
That’s $160 for cookies. The kids were offered the difference toward their own Christmas lists. They took it in under four seconds, which tells you how much they actually cared about the cookies.
One more line item: the product tiles also say there’s an extra 10% off with the code APP, and it’s labeled an app exclusive. I didn’t download the app to test whether it stacks on the 50%. If you have the app already, check before you pay.
Transport & Delivery
- Shipping: Rewards members (free to join) get free Basic shipping on $50+, which is 7 to 9 business days. Everyone else, including members who want it faster, pays $9 for Standard at 4 to 5 business days. We’re well over $50, so Basic. If I order today, that’s roughly October 22 to 26.
- Grandma’s set ships to us, not to her. Their shipping page is clear that one order goes to one address. Sending hers to Sudbury means a separate order, and her one set on its own is under $50. She’s driving down on the 21st anyway. She will change in the upstairs bathroom like a professional.
- Returns: free, either in store or with a prepaid label, within 30 days of delivery. Do the math with me. If the box lands on October 22, the return window closes around November 21. That’s the day before the shoot.
So the fitting is the night the box arrives. Everybody tries everything on. Not “we’ll see.” Not the Saturday before. If Sam’s pants are too long, we exchange them while we still can.
Schedule, Sunday Nov. 22
1:30 June’s nap. Non-negotiable. The entire schedule hangs off this nap.
2:30 Wardrobe. Adults first so we can help the kids.
2:45 Sam negotiates his fee. Rate is set: one candy cane, paid on wrap, not before.
2:50 Tripod up, timer on the phone set to ten seconds, Marcus does the run back to the couch.
3:00 Roll.
3:20 Wrap, whether we have it or not. We will have it. Shot 47 is always the one.
Contingencies
If June has a blowout: the zipper goes both ways. That’s why we chose it.
If Sam refuses: he is in the shot in pajamas or he is in the shot in his hockey jersey looking miserable, and the miserable one goes on the card. He knows this. It worked last year.
If the light goes: lamps on, warmer photo, nobody will notice.
If White Plaid sells out before I hit “place order”: Navy Plaid for everyone over five months, and June wears white. She’ll be the punctuation.
Where to Find Wardrobe
If you’re running your own production, here’s the women’s printed flannel set on Old Navy Canada. It opens on White Plaid. The men’s, kids’ and baby pieces, plus every other print and the Disney and Star Wars ones, are all in their matching family pajama section. Check every family member’s size in the print you want before you fall in love with it. I’d start with the kids’ sizes, because those went first.
The photo at the top is a stock photo, not us. Ours doesn’t exist yet. It’s on the sheet for November 22, at 3:00.
Call time is 2:30. Be on time.
Disclosure: those are affiliate links. If you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, discounts, sizes in stock, fabric details, shipping and returns terms are as I saw them on the Old Navy Canada site on the morning of October 13, 2026. Prints are selling out by size, so check the product page and your bag before you pay.