A very experimental Jumpsuit Hack, or Southly for short.

I’ve had a heck of a time of it this month, between a nasty flare up of ME and trying to keep my house tidy to sell it, there’s not been much opportunity to sew so far. Hence, by Friday of week One I’d got as far as cutting out my pattern for Dresses week. Luckily I’d chosen a pattern that was New To Me, so I carried on and began my usual adjustments, specifically a full bust adjustment and a little extra length.

Not feeling all that confident on the fit, I figured I better make a quick muslin. Before I knew it week Two was over as well…

And suddenly my week one entry has become my week three entry.

In the summer I wear a lot of Jumpsuits.*

I am a big fan of them because they are so light and comfy to wear. I find that when I wear separates the waistbands irritate me in the heat, and my legs stick together in skirts and dresses. Jumpsuits are the answer to all these issues.

So, I took the bodice from the True Bias Southport Dress as my starting point. I’ve combined this with a modified version of the shorts from By Hand London’s Holly Jumpsuit pattern.

Here’s what I did:

I cut a lengthened version of the Southport bodice, using the tank top tutorial on their blog.

I traced the shorts pattern from the Holly Jumpsuit, adding several inches in the middle of the short, in order to add length and crotch depth without affecting the waistline. I decided how much I needed by holding the pattern piece up against myself. Highly  technical, I know.

I also needed to add a few inches to the waistline of the shorts in order to get it to match the bodice. This is because the Holly shorts are quite fitted and the Southport, with it’s drawstring waist is a much more casual shape. I decided to keep the extra room all the way down the leg of the shorts as I wanted my shorts to be loose and billowy like culottes or a skirt.

Mission Accomplished.

The construction was pretty straightforward, mostly following the pattern directions, except that I sewed up the shorts completely rather than leaving one side open since I wasn’t intending to insert a zip.

On the bodice, I left the buttonholes and buttons off until after I’d attached the bodice to the skirt, as I needed to try the shorts and bodice on together so that I could make sure that they were going to join at the point where my waist is. I had to trim about 4 inches off the shorts, so I obviously added way too much to them! And about the same from the bodice, which I was expecting as I’d cut it the same as the tank top version I made previously, which is more hip length.

After cutting the shorts down I had to take them in a bit at the waist, as they were now too wide to match the bodice.

Once the waistline came together it was just a case of hemming the shorts and sewing buttons and buttonholes. I recently got a new machine with a 1 step buttonhole feature, which is pretty cool, but very frustrating when it goes wrong. I think I need to make lots of things with buttons to practice a bit more.

Overall, I think it’s a pretty fun garment. It’s loose and casual, which is perfect for hot weather (which of course we no longer have, this being Britain) and best of all, comfy. I’d like to have a go at a version with an elasticated waist, which the Sewaholic Yaletown already has, so maybe my next jumpsuit could have a surplice bodice…

I’m really pleased I’ve finally gotten around to making a jumpsuit, I’d been putting it off because of my totally unfounded and highly generalised belief that anything with a crotch seam is much too difficult for an amateur like me.

*I know to many of you this may be a Romper suit, but to me it is and always will be a jumpsuit, whether the pants are long or short. Rompers are for children.

Now wish me luck getting next week’s Indie Royalty entry finished in time!