You Play Too Much!

 

My love for dyed or dyed look fabric continues this summer. Today, I am featuring this organic woven Denim wash fabric from Nature's Fabric. I love the mottled variations in the blues of this print. I also love that I didn't have to spend time creating the final result.

My day-to-day life during this pandemic requires simple, easy and comfortable clothing. When this fabric arrived, I knew I wanted to make something practical and fun. Little Miss saw the fabric pinned to my dress form and said it absolutely screamed a jumpsuit! I was immediately excited because I love jumpsuits, have many jumpsuit patterns, but thought I had too many. I am learning that when my pre-teen(with all the opinions) cosigns an outfit, it must be a good idea.

I hit my stash and found McCalls 7936.

I chose t make view D in size medium with the side seam pockets and the fabric belt. I extended the length of the belt by about 12". I wanted to have the option of tying it once or wrapping it obi style around the front then back.

There is no shaping to this jumpsuit so the belt helps pull in the excess fabric at the back.

This is a fast and easy project to make, the most challenging element for a newbie is the front zipper.

In this fabric, for casual styling, I sewed it without significant modification. 

When I make it again, I will make it longer, omit the belt and add back darts to pull in the silhouette.  

This will be heavy in the rotation in the coming months. It is relaxed and the cotton is perfect in this Texas heat.

Happy Sewing,

Bianca

Sew Trippy Stripe Jumpsuit!

Oh my goodness, I love this jumpsuit! 

I had big plans for my most recent acquisition from Natures Fabrics.  I ordered three black and white prints with large Polka Dots,  large stripes and micro stripes . My plan was to incorporate these three fabrics into a fun outfit. I planned on a slim leg stripe jumpsuit with a fun polka dot over-skirt.

I chose to sew Simplicity 1158, but when I saw the wide leg view, my '70's soul child spoke up and I made a switch up. I loved the dramatic vision of the over skirt, but as I thought about practicality, I couldn't go through with it. I have skinny calves and couldn't see myself wearing the slim leg jumpsuit without the over skirt. I also couldn't see myself wearing the dramatic combo in everyday life.

                         

I decided to go with a simpler, yet wearable look. I went with the micro stripes for the bodice and the large stripes for the pants, the yoke and the back ties.

 To pull it all together, I made the waist tie with a solid black cotton from my stash.

The pattern construction was straight forward, but I made a few tweaks. The pattern is drafted for woven fabrics, but I used knits. Both are very stable with good recovery. This allowed me to cut them on the cross-grain to showcase vertical stripes.

Laser-cut pattern weights available in my Etsy store.

I added a bias casing to accommodate the elastic instead of using the suggested, folded up seam allowance casing. Such narrow casings are ridiculous to me. With the added bulk of the pockets, it would be a task to get the elastic through without a headache; I wasn't about to fiddle with that. I centered the casing over the seam line and stitched the edges down leaving an opening for insertion. 

This change allowed me to use wider elastic and makes for a more visually prominent waistline when it is not belted.

  

I shortened the "sleeves" by 1 1/2 inches. After construction, I felt it porturded too far giving a 80's shoulder pad vibe. I cut them down and re-hemmed with my cover stitch machine. 

The change to a knit fabric meant there is more flexibility and ease of getting in and out of this. The back overlap is secured only with the neck ties to allow for getting in and out easily with a woven. It is unnecessary with this fabric so I will stitch across the back overlap so it goes not fall open with wear. 

          

Every time I make a jumpsuit or see one on social media, there is a comment about the impossibility of using the bathroom while wearing one. I don't understand that. I have been potty-trained for 40+ years. I know when I need to go and how to hold it if the restroom is less than ideal. "But you have to get naked in the bathroom!" If I didn't wear underwear daily, I still wouldn't be concerned, the bathroom is the most (second most?) naked friendly room I know of.

There are probably larger issues behind the jumpsuit objections, the ones I can come up with are all medical. If health problems are the root of these objections, I will mind my own business.

Jumpsuits have been around and keep coming back around into fashion and I am here for it! This is my second jumpsuit of the year and I foresee more to come! This pattern has been in my stash for a few years and I am glad I made it up. I think I will get lots of wear with this one. I will be making  assorted waist ties to add pops of color versatility for greater use.

On which side do you fall in the jumpsuit debate? Do you wear them or is it a pass for you?

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

Back in my Time Machine with Leo Narducci Vogue 1389

In my recent quest to find jumpsuit to make, I discovered that I had five vintage patterns in my collection. Some of these were inherited, others bought in a bundle with ones I loved. The Pattern Stash Contest on PR, had me looking in my stash again to make something I was once excited about. I enjoy wearing my Simplicity Jumpsuit  and decided to make another. This time I decided to use my Vogue 1389 Leo Narducci Jumpsuit pattern.

                      

This sleeveless jumpsuit has shawl collar with front slit, front zipper closing and cutaway armholes with self bias bands. The self belt holds in fullness at waistline. Included is a slightly flared cardigan jacket has front and neckline band, cutaway armholes and full-length sleeves. 

When I first saw this pattern, I liked that the jumpsuit pieces were continuous, without a separation at the waist. Looking at it, I was not crazy about the width of the collar. I chose to sew it as intended before modifying it. I really wanted to make this in a white cotton spandex, but I did not have enough of it in my stash.

If you are a follower of this blog or have liked the Facebook page, you know I have a vast fabric stash. After my recent acquisition of 120 cuts of fabric in various lengths, types and colors, I could not justify purchasing fabric for this garment. I opted to use a navy blue seersucker from my stash. I choose it because I wanted a fabric that would be cool in the Texas heat and need little ironing.

The instructions, as always, were easy to follow. The only exception was the facing illustration. The picture and language were a bit tricky for me. I do not think it would be a problem for most. I am a visual learner and the illustration was simply not clear to me. I just thought about what needed to happen and figured it out fairly quickly.

The instructions required installing a regular zipper I chose to use an invisible zipper. I am torn about the depth of the neckline. I think it is about 1-inch to low for my taste showing cleavage. It does not gape, so with a blue bra, I should be fine. I wanted a deep hem so I added  three inches to the leg length before cutting it out.

This was a fast project to make and I am happy with the result. It is the kind of garment that requires an Afro puff and ginormous sunglasses.

If you want to sew in your time machine, this pattern is available through several Etsy vendors.

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

Jumpsuit Redemption: From Meh! to Marvelous!

So, I am sure you recall my jumpsuit failure from this post. I was less than impressed with it, but was not going to give up on the jumpsuit idea altogether. I decided to give Simplicity 1355 a try. I liked the bodice of view C, but in the pants of view A.

Simplicity 1355

                  
I had a black and white rayon challis print fabric in my stash. It has a slight texture to the right side and a wonderful drape. The pattern has a lot of ease and based on the the finished garment measurement I decided to cut the size small. The jumpsuit went together relatively fast with little trouble with one exception. The armscye is very deep and wide. Have a look here:

Look how wide size small is on BIRA

I decided to make a vertical dart in the side to reduce the gap. I chose a dart because I wanted to close the distance under the arm only, not the entire bodice.This was a simple fix that required minimal seam ripping of the binding I had completed. The pattern calls for bias tape here, but I felt it would have negatively impacted the drape, so I omitted it.

I had to remove this much on both sides.

I am undecided about whether going down to a size would have eliminated the need for this adjustment. The pants portion fit fine, if a bit loose. I am undecided because of the pockets in the pants. I feel like the pockets give added bulk but limited utility. They are too shallow to hold much more than a credit card. If you add pockets to your jumpsuit, I suggest you make them deeper. That being said, in a light weight fabric better pockets will weigh them down... I am a pocket lover and say skip the pockets on this one. In the photos below, my hands are in them as far as they will go. In any case, it is not a deal breaker on style. I like the end result.

The adjustment in the armsyce was needed and worked well.

I like the simple back detail.

And the front detail.

It feels good to have successful result after the other jumpsuit. It is good to know you can go from Meh! to Marvelous!

Happy Sewing,
Bianca