Hello, my lovely readers, I’m very thrilled to show you my border print jumpsuit.
Technically, I sewed it before the Zadie Jumpsuit but I could only reveal it to you now. This border print jumpsuit is my first contribution for the Minerva Maker Blog and it went online today.
This gorgeous border print viscose jersey was sent to me free from Minerva Crafts, in exchange for a blog post. So head over to the Minerva blog and read all about the fabric, the pattern I used, the sewing process, and more photos.
Only if you’ve been living on a desert island for the last six months you are not aware of the sewing storm the Zadie Jumpsuit from Paper Theory Pattern has caused. On Instagram alone, there are at this moment about 1700 posts with the #zadiejumpsuit!
When I first saw the pattern, I was intrigued by it but at that time I was sewing another jumpsuit for the Minerva Crafts Blogger network. (This post will come online on July 10!) So the need to sew a Zadie Jumpsuit got a little diffused.
Then the ‘Sew Together for Summer 2019‘ challenge opened and guess what was the focus? A jumpsuit of course! This brought the idea of sewing the Zadie back to live. But the thing that really got me started was the message I received from Gerda, @three_eight_cake to sew together a Zadie Jumpsuit with some other Belgian sewists (Melissa, @floating_sewist, and Kirstin, @smallbobbins). We even talked about meeting and shooting some pictures together with our Zadies. Unfortunately, it was a bit difficult to find a date. But I sewed a Zadie Jumpsuit and I am super thrilled with it!
The Zady Jumpsuit pattern
Why is this such a good pattern? First of all, no need for buttons or a zip! The jumpsuit wraps around the body and fastens with a tie at the waist. Secondly, it has a relaxed fit. These two features make it an uncomplicated sew.
Due to the relaxing fit and based on the finished garment measurements, I cut out size 16 and didn’t grade between sizes.
The pattern is drafted for the height of 170 cm and I’m 180 cm so I had at least to lengthen the bodice. I did so with 2 cm at the provided line on the pattern piece and I took 1 cm extra seam allowance at the hem of the bodice.
To check if the crotch depth was long enough I pinned together (half) the pattern and tried it on. I raised my arms and the tissue paper tore a bit at the crotch. The message was clear: I also had to lengthen the crotch line with 2 cm.
Yep! I can raise my arms without hurting myself!
At last, I lengthened the legs with 10 cm because I want to be able to wear this jumpsuit in the colder seasons.
The Fabric
One of my sewing goals for 2019 is to shop my fabric stash. So I browsed through my collection and found this eggplant crèpe that I bought last September at ‘The Fabric Sales‘. I remember now that I bought it with a jumpsuit in mind.
The texture of the crèpe fabric. Also, the eggplant colour is very difficult to capture.
I only had 2,50 m of this fabric and with all the lengthening I had to do there wasn’t enough fabric for the pockets. So I used a remnant of the silk of the Kingfisher Top for the pocket facings. And even these remnant pieces weren’t big enough so I had to divide the pocket pattern into 3 pieces.
Sometimes the pocket facing is peeking!
The sewing process
Paper Theory Patterns itself announces the sewing of the Zadie Jumpsuit as a quick and an easy sew and they are right. The instructions are concise and clear. I followed the work sequence except for one step! I always immediately staystitch all the curved and slanted seams. In the instructions, it happens after already having manipulated the bodice a few times.
After sewing the bodice and the trousers part separately I pinned it to form the jumpsuit and the fit was spot on. This asked for a happy dance!
To attach the binding I used a zillion pins and this also worked perfectly.
Conclusion
It’s a cliché but I am JUMPING of joy for my Zadie Jumpsuit! Everything is great about it: the design, the feel, the fit, the comfort when you wear it, the compliments people give you, the sewing… In short, a sewing project that only gives you happiness!
Will I sew more Zadies? I am really tempted but my sewing queue is SEW long so I think it is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.
Are there still people who haven’t made a Zadie Jumpsuit? If you are hesitating I can strongly commend to go for it!
F I N A L L Y!
Finally, I finished my V9075 jumpsuit. Ever since I saw Beth’s, from SewDIY, linen version of this jumpsuit I wanted to make one for myself. That was in November 2015! After that I was I was always fascinated when I saw some V9075 jumpsuits on sewing blogs and social media. I even featured some in my eye-catchers posts, including Rachel’s and Alex’s versions. Last March 2017 I bought the pattern with a discount online and even though I had some suitable fabric in my stash I didn’t start sewing it.
Until, right before the Easter break, I had this sudden vision of using this charcoal fabric from my collection and I went for it. Needless to say that I am over the moon that I finally finished the V9075 jumpsuit!!
The V9075 jumpsuit pattern
Why am I so drawn to this pattern? Well, it ticks several of my favourite boxes: a jumpsuit, princess seams, pleats, culottes with very wide legs, and pockets. Did I mention the wide legs?
This is the third Voguepattern I sewed and now I’m familiar with this company pattern specifics. I know that the finished garment measures are indicated on the pattern pieces and this is very handy. Based on this finished measurements I cut out a 20 at the arm and bust and graded to a 22 at the waist and hips. To fit my belly I graded a bit at the princess seams and narrowed the pleats. This after I lengthened the body with 2,5 cm and the crotch with 4,5 cm.
Grading at the side and the princess seams.
Narrowing the pleats.
To be sure that the jumpsuit would fit I made a muslin. I didn’t want to end with any form of cameltoe! The lengthening was okay, I could raise my arms and didn’t feel uncomfortable sitting down.
The bodice was a little too wide under the arms but that was easy to modify.
The fabric
I used this cotton and silk blend I bought at Goldhawk Road in April 2017. It was the end of a bolt, with a separate piece attached. That made that I had more than 3 meters for a ‘good price’ like the seller said! I never sewed with this type of fabric before but it went smoothly.
The silk gives it a faint shine and the cotton some rigidity, which I like for this silhouette. Also, this fabric has a great wrinkle recovery. On the pictures here in this post, you see how the fabric behaves after I wore the jumpsuit for a day. I cycled, I had lunch, I sat at my desk to write reports, and I had a walk.
The sewing process
On the pattern cover, you read that this is a very easy sew. And it is! It only takes much time because there are a lot of seams and these legs are very long and very wide! In my case, the side seams of the legs are 90 cm and the hem of one leg is 137 cm.
The instructions asked for lining the bodice but I didn’t do it because the fabric is rather heavy. Also because I didn’t have suitable lining when I sewed this jumpsuit in our holiday house in Italy. Instead, I finished the neckline with a facing. Next time I will probably use a
bias binding finish.
The not so blind zipper! The neckline finish with facing and rainbow overlock thread!
The only thing I struggled with was the blind zipper. Again, being in Italy in the countryside, I had only access to a small haberdashery shop. I needed a blind zipper of 65 cm long, although I had a smaller one with me to show, the one I bought was not a proper blind zipper. The first tape went in easy, using my blind zipper foot, but the second tape was horror. The stitches were to close to the teeth so the fabric got caught in the puller. Aargh!! I had to redo it several times and ended with some hand stitching. So it is not perfect but good enough for me.
Conclusion
I am sew excited about my V9075 jumpsuit that I can’t hide it. I love, love wearing it. You have to do some arm exercises to get the zipper open but after a few times, you handle that like a pro.
Will I sew more V9075 jumpsuits? I hope I will.
The first outing of the V9075 jumpsuit was at the celebrations of the diamond wedding anniversary of my parents-in-law. Introducing the women of the family.
