Free Pattern Friday: Cabana Tie Playsuit for Adults

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I try to publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

As I type this, my part of the UK is experiencing its hot and sticky phrase of the year. I'm so happy I had the foresight/luck to make this playsuit in advance, because it's all I want to wear right now. If your part of the world has its own hot and sticky phase, I recommend you download this pattern. In fact, even if your area doesn't really have a phase like that, download this anyway because it looks cute worn with a T-shirt underneath. You can access the Cabana Tie Playsuit pattern via the Matchy Matchy Sewing Club website by going through their cart and check out process, as you would with any other order. This pattern is available on a sliding scale, pay-what-you-can situation, from $14 to free. If you have the means to pay for this pattern, please choose a paid option. If you don't, then I really hope you access this pattern for free, and enjoy making and wearing it. Big thanks to Matchy Matchy Sewing Club for sharing this accessible sewing pattern with the sewing community. 

(image source: Matchy Matchy Sewing Club)

Pattern type:

The website says it best: 'The Cabana Tie Playsuit is an easy to sew, effortless jumpsuit. The fit is slightly oversized and relaxed with wide, voluminous legs and a dropped crotch. It includes inseam pockets and a drawstring style shoulder strap that can be adjusted to your desired length and finished off in a large bow or knot.' The original pattern is ankle length, however, I cropped mine by about 20cms because I prefer the proportions of calf length with this type of garment. 

Sizing info:

As with all MMSC patterns, this one is generously graded. It includes sizes XXS - 6XL, which corresponds to Bust 31” - 64” / 79cm - 162cm. The loose, gathered nature of this pattern gives you lots of wiggle room, so you don't need to stress too much if you find yourself in between sizes. 

Fabric info:

The one downside of the MMSC website is the don't give much recommendation for suitable fabrics. They link to some fabrics that they sell, so you can to read between the lines a bit for fabric advice. For the Cabana they link to their linens, however, I would really recommend looking for very drape-y fabrics. I used a light-weight woven viscose with slightly slubby texture that I got at the London Destash Fabric Swap earlier this year. I'm not massively into wearing prints, but this garment could be a great canvas for a large-scale print. 

Findings:

This is my second experience sewing a Matchy Matchy pattern, and it was just as enjoyable as my first. The instructions are super clear, with excellent illustrations to guide you through. Even though this is a free/low-cost pattern, it produces a garment that is anything but basic. It feels really nice to wear, both in terms of comfort and in terms of feeling stylish. I don't have a well-fitting strapless bra at the moment, so in these photos you can see I'm wearing a regular bra which should give you an idea of the coverage of this pattern. Today I'm wearing it with  slim-fitting T-shirt underneath because it's a little (only a little) cooler. 

Customisation ideas:

• Mess around with the leg lengths to get the perfect level for you. 
• Try turning it into a dress or top
• Rather than using self-fabric for the tie, use a contrasting fabric, or wide ribbon or rope. 

Would I make this again?

I would absolutely consider using this pattern again if the right fabric came my way. A slinky, solid black version would be lovely...

Denim V-Neck Jumpsuit: Adult Babygro?

For yonks I've been coveting a denim jumpsuit. A kind of 'uniform' item that I can throw on whenever I can't really be bothered, and just look put-together and casually cool. My main role at Fabric Godmother is ordering sewing patterns, so I'm well positioned to judge the merits of the various options. The question remains however: have I made the most comfy garment ever, an adult babygro, or both?!

Pattern:

After a long hard think which involved a lot of hashtag stalking, I landed on the V-neck Jumpsuit pattern by The Assembly Line to make my jumpsuit dreams a reality. I liked the modern, casual style, but I decided to make some tweaks. Like others before me, I decided to go with buttons to fasten it rather than concealed press studs. I also shortened the bodice length by about 3 or 4cm because I heard it's very long in the body/low in the crotch. I didn't make a toile, but I did muster the patience to baste/tack the main garment together (minus sleeves) before final construction to check the fit. Based on my findings, I chose to make the top part smaller, and slightly closer fitting. I also added patch pockets to the front instead of inseam side pockets to break up the expanse of fabric a bit. 

Fabric:

The fabric I chose for this project is a 9oz mid blue denim made from recycled cotton fibres from Fabric Godmother (not sponsored but I get a staff discount). It also has some stretch content to really double down on the comfort factor. I did a bit of additional top stitching here and there on this garment because I love how after laundering denim fades a bit and the ripples start to show. I absolutely love this fabric and am now eyeing it up in the other colour ways. 

Thoughts:

Yes it is comfy. Yes it looks like a giant babygro. It's not quite the sleak, modern mum-uniform I envisaged but there you go. I've still been wearing it heaps, and having fun layering it under and over other garments. 

Free Pattern Friday: Adult's Playsuit (Hacked)

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

It's the second month in a row that I'm posting about a free sewing pattern from the amazing resource that is the Peppermint Magazine's sewing pattern range. Can you blame me?! There's so many summer-friendly styles that are quick to make and easy to wear. The patterns are really easy to access; the A4 and A0 pattern files plus instruction documents are downloaded directly from each style's webpage, with just a sign up to their newsletter required (which you can obviously unsubscribe from, should you wish). It is also easy to donate a few quid to say thanks and to support this wonderful resource if you can afford to.

A couple of months ago I saw a woman in my local park walking her dog whilst wearing some black, linen-y cropped dungarees that looked amazing. I immediately identified them as the kind of summer dungarees that I wanted in my life! After giving it some thought, I realised that I could create something similar using the Peppermint Magazine playsuit pattern as the basis.... 

(image source: Peppermint Magazine) 

Pattern type:

This summer playsuit pattern, designed by Emily from In The Folds, is a cute little romper with tie straps, patch pockets and a concealed side-zip fastening. The fit is designed to be close fitting around the bust, with more looseness around the waist and hips with additional ease. 

As you have no doubt noticed, I lengthened the legs to mid-calf length. Where I live, the weather doesn't reach roasting-hot many days during the year, so I felt that I'd get more use from a longer version. 

Sizing info:

This pattern is graded to ten sizes, from 30" to 51.5" bust and 33" to 54.5" hip. I usually I have to grade out between by bust and waist/hips, but because there's more design ease through the waist and hips anyway, I made the straight size D and the fit worked out fine for me.

Fabric info:

The pattern advise is as follows: 'Consider using light to mid-weight fabrics such as: linen, linen blends, cotton, gauze or chambray. You could also consider sateen, silk (crepe de chine or habotai), tencel or viscose (rayon) for a dressier look. For a boxier silhouette, consider light-weight denims or heavy-weight cottons.' 

For mine, I used a light-weight, cotton canvas curtain that I found in a charity shop. It's pretty soft, and has just the right amount of body to avoid VPLs or anything like that. 

Findings:

I got this pattern printed using an A0 printing service, so I already set myself off on the right foot with this project! As with the other Peppermint Mag patterns I've tried, including others designed by In The Folds, this was a pleasure to use. The instructions are lengthy enough to impart all you'll need to know, without being overly fussy and confusing. Overall, I found the construction process was logical and straight forward. 

I'm pretty happy with the finished item. The model in the photos is wearing the sample without anything underneath in most of the photos, which I think most people (and definitely me!) would find uncomfortably revealing. I love wearing mine as seen here, with a basic, tight-ish fitting knit top underneath. 

Literally my only criticism is that I think there should been a small bust dart positioned from the armpit. That area gapes a little, and for any one fairly full-busted, I'd recommend making a toile/muslin, or at least having a fitting before cutting out the front facing piece, to see if it's something you could use. 

Would I make it again?

Hmm... possibly? There's a lot of dungarees patterns out there that are on my radar to try, but I wouldn't rule out using this again as the basis for another project. 

Free Pattern Friday: Adult's Valley Jumpsuit

Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.

Friends, have I got a blinding free pattern to tell you about today?! (Short answer: yes.) You've probably already heard of the amazing resource that is the Peppermint Magazine's collection of free sewing patterns. But if you haven't: this Australia-based magazine employs the talents of an indie pattern designer to produce a free sewing pattern to coincide with the release of each print edition of their magazine. The magazine is released quarterly, so that's four incredible new free sewing patterns a year with 41 patterns already available to trawl through. The patterns are really easy to access; the A4 and A0 pattern files plus instruction documents are downloaded directly from each style's webpage, with just a sign up to their newsletter required (which you can obviously unsubscribe from, should you wish). It is also easy to donated a few quid if you can afford to, and seeing as print magazines are generally in a precarious position these days, I think it's important to do so to say thanks and to support this wonderful resource. 

Pattern type:

The pattern I've just road tested and am writing about today is the Valley jumpsuit. Designed by Raphaëlle Bonamy of Ready To Sew patterns, the Valley jumpsuit is a casual, super wearable style with elasticated waist, button front and large patch pockets. I absolutely love that the instructions are available in English, French and Spanish. The design itself is is really clever, consisting of just three pattern pieces that need to be cut from your fabric. The bodice and sleeves are ingeniously formed from just one pattern piece that you cut a pair of, and in the same vein, the trouser part has no side seams so is also made from one pattern piece. To get the garment on and off, the button front is assisted by a small back neck closure to open things up sufficiently.

Sizing info:

There's so much talk in the sewing community in recent months (years?) about size inclusivity, and many pattern companies are listening and expanding their offerings. I think the sizing of this particular pattern is a great example of what we'll see from most sewing pattern releases in the future. Spilt into two ranges (sizes 32 - 46 drafted for a B-cup and sizes 46 - 58 drafted for a D-cup) resulting in busts from 31" to 54" and hips from 35" to 60" approx. being catered for. In total the pattern has been graded to 28 sizes, including half sizes, which should help you to achieve an accurate fit. I appreciated that the garment ease for bust, waist and hips has been shared to give additional information when picking a size/s, because who wants to toile/muslin a whole damn jumpsuit?!

For mine, I used the size 38 for the top part of the bodice, and blended out to the size 40 below the bust for the waist downwards. According to the size chart, I should have gone for a larger size for the waist, but the elasticated waist meant that I was easily able to accommodate by tum. 

Fabric info:

The Valley jumpsuit instructions suggest that you select 'light weight fabric with drape ranging from tencel, cupro, linen, ramie or hemp, batik, poplin or light denim' for this pattern. 

This is my third jumpsuit made from African fabric, I just think they're a match made in heaven, and I'm sure this will end up getting as much use as the other two get. This particular fabric was given to me by Wax and Wraps, who sell African textiles by the metre, or in fantastic, monthly, sewing subscription boxes. It's a printed version of a traditional fabric from Cameroon called Ndop that's usually resist dyed with indigo. Check out this interesting article for more info on Ndop. This fabric I used for my jumpsuit is a wonderful, light-weight cotton with a similar handle to a poplin, but slightly less crisp. Because there's a linear aspect to the print design, there's a noticeable chevron effect at the centre back seam of the bodice, which I really love. The fabric was slightly narrower than the pattern called for, plus the fabric matching gave me some additional head-scratching, and I ended up having add a seam and piece the fabric to fit one of the bodice pattern pieces. I defy you to spot where it is in the finished garment though! 

Findings:

Going back through the instructions to write this post, I'm still blown away by the inclusivity of the sizing. I'm sure that sadly there are still a number of sewers that aren't able to fit this pattern who otherwise would have liked to have tried it, but that really has to be small minority. I'm also still really impressed by the drafting: that such a cool-looking, well-fitting style has been achieved with effectively just two pattern pieces. However, because there are so few pattern pieces, and subsequently fewer seams, I wonder if this style offers fewer opportunities for making fit adjustments, I don't know. 

Anyways, on top of my standard blending between sizes, I also shortened the bodice length by 1.5cm to allow for my short-waistedness (AKA high natural waist line). I usually have to remove about 2cm of length from the torso area of all sewing patterns I make, yet this time I wish that I hadn't. If I make another, I'll add that measurement back in because raising my arms up isn't the most comfortable! I might also lengthen the front and back rise on the bottom part a bit, because the rise on this garment is definitely higher than the rise on my other jumpsuits (my Zadie jumpsuit, pattern by Paper Theory and my Roberts Collection jumpsuit, pattern by Marilla Walker). If you are tall and/or have a long torso, I'd definitely recommend lengthening the bodice pieces before you cut out your fabric. It's always easier to remove any extra length that it turns out you didn't need, than to try and figure out how to add in some extra length later on.

Speaking of cutting out your fabric, one downside to having just two mammoth pattern pieces as opposed to a number of smaller ones is that I found that I wasted quite a bit of fabric in the lay. This was compounded by the fact that I had some pattern matching to consider. However, even though you have to cut the pattern out of a single layer of fabric, the cutting out process was probably quicker and potentially less of a headache than a pattern that consists of more pieces. 

When it came to the actual sewing, the instructions were wonderfully clear and easy to follow. To prevent the instructions document from becoming too unwieldy, some steps are included as links to posts on the Ready To Sew website, or in the case of the steps for making the waist casing, a YouTube video. This provides space for more detail and clearer visuals for these potentially tricky bits. I'm sure it's particularly helpful for visual learners, and turns this pattern into a real learning opportunity for beginner sewers.  

As I mentioned above, I would have preferred a tiny bit more length in the body and possibly the rise, but beyond that, I am genuinely thrilled with this jumpsuit! I wasn't sure initially that I liked the look of the patch pockets. I added them thinking that I could remove them at a later date, however I really like their placement and proportions now they're on the actual garment. 

Customisation ideas:

• Shorten the sleeves
• Shorten the leg length to make a playsuit/romper
• Add a side seam to the trouser section then taper or widen the leg shape for some different looks. It's amazing what this can do to completely alter the feel of a garment
• Adding a side seam to the bottom section also allows you the possibility to add inseam or slanted pockets if you'd prefer 
• Change the neckline to a V-neck
• Use smaller buttons and group them in pairs

Would I make it again?

Yes I could easily see myself making more of these, probably in a solid fabric, a black linen perhaps. 

Ankara Roberts Collection Jumpsuit

I've been getting a lot of satisfaction recently from using some of the older pieces from my fabric stash. This African wax print (AKA Ankara) fabric has been in there for at least 8 years, and became many different project in my mind before I actually made it into this jumpsuit. 

Fabric:

To finally get this fabric out of my stash and into my wardrobe, I added it to my #2020makenine plans (which you can see in this post). As Ankara/African wax print fabric goes, this one is pretty stiff, so finding the right project for it had taken me some time. I'd pre-washed it twice to see if it would soften up, but I think that's only going to come with lots of wear and the sporadic washes it will receive over (hopefully) years. 

As you can see, this fabric as a bold, large-scale print. I had quite a bit of it, but full-length jumpsuit patterns are hungry for fabric, so I didn't have the luxury of trying to match sections of the print at any point. I think the random-ness and resultant placement looks fine though. 

Pattern:

I've been in love with the Roberts Collection pattern by Marilla Walker for yonks. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this one, as the pattern includes a jumpsuit, dungarees, pinafore and top patterns. I finally decided to buy it in paper form from Fabric Godmother just before lockdown. 

(image source: Marilla Walker)

I traced the pieces for the jumpsuit off as I wanted to retain the original. I knew I'd been making some adjustments, plus you never know if you'll need a different size somewhere further down the line. Firstly, I altered the shape of the back pieces, to change the inverted V-shaped seam (see the line drawings below) into a regular, straight waist seam. I always have to remove length from the torso of tops, dresses and jumpsuits, and even though I then folded out 2cm from the front and back pieces to account for this, I wanted the option to add some length back or remove more length, should a mid-way fitting deem it necessary. 

(image source: Marilla Walker)

Thoughts:

I was hoping that the unfussy, casual style of the pattern would prove a suitable canvas for this intense print, and overall I think it just about works. There's a slight vibe of sleeping onesie/pyjamas about it, but that doesn't bother me at all. I could have positioned the lowest button slightly higher, which I would alter next time. Plus there's something slightly off with the fit around my bum (it often needs readjusting after leaning forwards) but it's not a major issue, and I reckon I could sort that out for future versions by comparing the rise of this pattern with the rise of the Heyday dungarees pattern. Ultimately though, I'm very happy with this make and wearing it is a lot of fun. I've got more older-stash items busting to share with you soon. 

They Said it Could Never be Done: A Hawaiian Zadie Jumspuit

I appears that most manifestations of the Zadie Jumpsuit pattern are made in lovely, earthy, solid-coloured linens. And whilst I fully agree that those look incredibly, I decided to head towards the other end of the taste spectrum for this, my second version of the Zadie pattern. 

My first version, if you recall, was made in some wonderful lock-and-key print African wax fabric (AKA Ankara). I adore that jumpsuit and it's one of my very favourite garments to wear. I love both the way it looks, and the way it feels. The only pattern alteration I made was to fold out 2cm from the bodice pieces to account for my short-waistedness, which I feel was a success. 

This Hawaiian print cotton poplin has been in my stash for almost six years. It came from Fabric Godmother, before I worked for them in any capacity. I've long been a big fan of Hawaiian print fabric, so it's a surprise to me that I hadn't used it sooner. I nearly used it a number of times during my several-year-long Rockabilly phase, yet I came out the other side of that phases with the fabric remaining unused, so I put it into my #2020makenine plans (you can see the full nine in this post).

The most head-scratching part of this project for me came at the beginning, trying to position the pattern pieces onto my limited amount of fabric. Not only was my length of cotton shorter than the pattern called for, but I wanted to cut the back piece on the fold (rather than in two halves) so as not to break up the print. In general I had to be very careful about print placement, positioning two sections of the print too close to each other, for example, would be super noticeable. To make it work, I ended up omitted the hip pockets, which was a shame but a necessary sacrifice. I also made the length shorter, but I had wanted to do that anyway.  

I constructed this jumpsuit mainly through the recent, very excellent, online Sewing Weekender event (organised by Charlotte from English Girl at Home along with Kate and Rachel from the Foldline), which I was very proud to contribute, adding my own little talk about saving money and resources whilst sewing. I hadn't expected to the chance to enjoy any of the content (basically due to the kids being around), yet I managed to watch quite a bit of it. Because I had already made this pattern before, I didn't need to concentrate on my project too much which really helped. 

As for this jumpsuit, I really like it! The print and colours are a bit intense, but when the sun is shining, I think it works well. I can definitely see yet more Zadie's in my future. Maybe a subtle, earthy-toned linen one should be next...

Jill Jumpsuit: It's Officially Summer!

It's unlikely to come as a shock to learn that I do not shop at Primark. (For readers who haven't hear of Primark, it's a fast fashion, high street clothes shop selling cheap, low-quality clothing for adults and children. The company is regularly accused of using garment factories whose workers have few rights, receive very low wages and work in unpleasant and dangerous conditions.) However, last summer Primark displayed a child's playsuit in the window that my daughter loved. No, I didn't buy it for her. I made vague noises about how I would make her one similar, and I counted on a rapid turnover of window display to help her forget about it and get me off the hook. 

Pattern:

Shortly after, the sewing pattern company, Rebecca Page, released the Jill Jumpsuit pattern for women and children. The style is the spit of the playsuit that we saw in the Primark window: same ruffle round the shoulders, same shoulder ties, same blouson top. Actually, I think that the Primark version was made from something woven and the Jill jumpsuit is designed for knits. Anyway seeing as I had a couple of lengths of suitable slinky jersey in the stash, I had no excuse not to make it for her! 

(image source: Rebecca Page)

For this, my first attempt at this pattern, we went for the short length option and size 7-8 (she's 6.5 years old at the moment), hoping that she'll get two summer's worth of wear from it. I constructed it during a series of small windows of opportunity using both my regular machine and overlocker and it was easy enough. I wasn't keen on the method they suggested for binding the armholes but did it anyway, and in hindsight I don't think they look the greatest, not that you can see them really when its being worn. The pattern also includes pockets in the side seams, but I hate the way in-seam pockets tend to look in jersey (in fact in general), so I left those out. 

Fabric:

My lovely friend Lisa had a recent clear out of her fabric stash, and I was the very grateful recipient of lots of kid-friendly pieces, including this one. This summery jersey with a flamingos/pineapples/butterflies print on a stripe-y background is perfect for this hot weather style garment, and there was just enough for the short length version. I'm really pleased that this pattern was designed for knits rather than woven fabrics, because there are few garments less comfortable than an ill-fitting playsuit!

Thoughts:

Honestly, I wouldn't have chosen to make this style of garment for her if I had full control. I was a little concerned initially that this style could be viewed as 'flirty', which is not an adjective I want applied to my 6yo's clothing. But I feel strongly that children should be given an age-appropriate amount of autonomy on certain decisions that apply to them, and clothing is an important method of self-expression and experimentation. I'm hoping that this particular playsuit falls on the side of 'cute' rather than 'flirty', but either way, it cannot be denied that she LOVES it. During the recent heatwave she wore it almost every day, and drew pictures of herself wearing it, which were eye-wateringly adorable (to me). 

Finding a middle ground between what I'd like to make her/dress her in, and what she'd like to wear is important, and something that we're evolving with time. I can see a time in the very near future where she helps with the actual construction, and will, no doubt, play a bigger role in selecting styles and fabrics. 

As for this pattern, I plan to use it again, but with some tweaks. There's a slight bit of pulling/tightness at the side seams, and I need to have a look at the pattern pieces to work out if it's the shorts/trousers side seams that need elongating, or if it's the side seam at the top that's creating the issue. I'll also lengthen the rise on the front and back by a small amount, and possibly remove some of the fullness of the top section. In this version, I ended up removing and repositioning the shoulder ties further in because they kept falling off her shoulders (they still do on occasion), and I think that reducing the volume in the top will allow me to make a ruffle-free version more easily also. 

Thelma Boiler Suit

I have mentioned it before, and I'll say it again, it seems that my personal style has headed firmly into the realm of 'Art teacher'. This boiler suit feels like some kind of logical conclusion to this trend! When I went to university (in 1999!) my department was in the same building as most of the other Art & Design courses. A lot of the Fine Art students would hang out at the front of the building having a fag (did I mention this was the 90s?!) and a coffee from the nasty coffee machine whilst wearing paint-splattered coveralls, with the sleeves tied round their waists if it was warm. Coming from my department (Fashion) where everyone was constantly scrutinising what what everyone else was wearing, these baggy-boiler-suit-and-paint-clad Fine Art students seemed so refreshingly unconcerned with their own appearance, and therefore really sexy! I feel I have digressed.... 

Anyway, I probably look like the tutor at an evening class for pottery, and I'm here for it.   

Pattern:

I'd long been drawn to Ready to Sew's Jean-Paul coverall pattern, for living out my coverall/boiler suit fantasies. But then Merchant & Mills released the Thelma boiler suit pattern with all manner of bells and whistles (including concealed front button fastening) in paper form rather than PDF only, and I was fully sold. I bought it but then I got scared and the pattern sat on my shelf for a lonngggg time. Even once I'd bought the fabric for it, I waited months for the right time to start this project. It just seemed like such an undertaking. For one thing, if memory serves, there are about 24 separate pattern pieces! Eek. This was going to be a commitment. 

Cutting out the paper pattern pieces alone took a whole evening, and I poured over the finished garment measurements on the pattern trying to decide which size to cut out. Ultimately, I made the decision to pick one size smaller (10) than the body measurements on their website's sizing chart would have had me make (12). Because it had so many pieces and required a lot of fabric, I knew I wasn't going to make a toile(/muslin) for this project so sizing down on spec felt risky, but with the 1.5 cm seam allowance, I felt confident that I could claw back some width should a mid-way fitting deem it necessary. The annoying thing is that I could easily saved myself the stress because just before I started this project, I was in the M&M store in Rye and I could have just tried on the size 10 Thelma sample that they had in the shop! But I was feeling too cold to get undressed, and a bit tight on time, so I didn't. 

What to say about the making of this pattern? Unsurprisingly, there are A LOT of steps in the construction process, and it very much earns its description as an experienced-level pattern. The different pattern pieces for the left and right fronts resulted in a lot of head scratching, for example. The only things I changed about the pattern or construction, however, were to raise the position of the breast pocket by about 5 cm, and leave off the flaps from the rear pockets. Even if I'd felt the need or desire to to go off-piste with this project (as I so often do), I think I would have felt too far out on a limb to try!

Fabric and buttons:

For the main fabric for this boiler suit, perhaps unimaginatively, I bought the exact fabric from Merchant & Mills that they'd used for one of the pattern samples in their photographs. It's a rich, brick red, sanded twill: thick but soft, with a dense twill weave. I'm such a fan of rusty colours at the moment, plus I wanted to avoid navy or black that I otherwise would probably have gravitated towards, as I feared the result of those would look too much like I was about to fix your car. 

Both my sewing machine and overlocker HATED this fabric. There were many sections, particularly around the side seams at the front hip pockets, and around the concealed fastenings and facings, where you are sewing through many layers of dense, thick fabric plus interfacing, and my machines were not into it one little bit. But we made it through, just about, although I suspect it may have contributed to the recent demise of my elderly overlocker. 

For the back neck facing, I chose a scrap of black and white gingham from my stash. I didn't have enough for the pocket bags as well, so I just used some navy poly/taffeta from my stash for those. And for those to whom such things are important, these pockets are deep. Like, man-pocket-dimensions deep. 

The right buttons for this project alluded me for a long time. The pattern called for 16 of the blighters, and I found a couple of styles in another shop that I liked, but there wasn't enough in stock. In the end I found the perfect buttons for this boiler suit when I wasn't even looking for them. My friend Paula and I were in a lovely yarn shop in Brighton called Yak (we've both recently been dipping our toes into knitting, but that's a whole other blog post) and I found these gorgeous black and speckled-effect ones at the counter. At £1 a pop, it seemed like an extravagance when most of the buttons are concealed anyhow and I'd already spent way more than I usually do on the main fabric, but the speckled effect on these buttons is the exact same shade of rust/brick red and I knew I had to have them. I think they are actually made of clay, because I broke one almost immediately and had to reconfigure the button situation on the cuffs as a result so that I'd still have enough, but after four wears of the boiler suit at time of writing, including multiple trips to the loo, no more have broken at thus far. 

Thoughts:

This project was truly major for me. I'd say that it was at least as much work as a coat project: and although I enjoyed the sewing, I frequently wondered if I would ever come to the end and actually get to wear the thing! I also spent most of the project terrified that it wouldn't fit very well. I have a naturally high natural waistline, but I also usually have to scoop out the crotch (!) of my trouser projects, so I wagered that those adjustments would cancel each other out in this garment, and decided to leave the pattern be. I (figuratively) held my breath til the end to see if everything felt and looked ok. 

Aside from time and effort, as I mentioned above, I also invested a lot more financially than I usually do in my sewing projects. It's so rare that I buy a paper sewing pattern as PDFs are cheaper, but there was no way I was taping together so many pages for this project. Also, if I do buy new fabric, I almost always get it from Fabric Godmother where I'm lucky enough to get a staff discount. So buying 3.3m of full-priced fabric from M&M definitely made me feel a little faint and promise to myself that I'd do a good job with it! Oh, and those buttons that cost me more than I usually spend in total on my sewing projects...

So the pressure on the resultant garment was high, but I'm so relieved to announce that I love it and it feels like all the elements of the garment have ended up where they should on my body. Because I so often wear knit tops, the thick twill does feel a bit heavy and inflexible on my upper body, but I expect that I'll get used to it over time, and also that the fabric will soften a bit with wear and laundering. The two other minor issues I have are A), there's some weird excess fabric issue that sometimes appears either side of the concealed fastening/fly front area, you can see it most noticeably in the pic above. I'm not entirely sure what causes it, but I've noticed it in some photos on their website plus other peoples' Thelmas on IG, so it seems an issue with the pattern rather than solely with mine/my body. And B), that I must not wait til I'm desperate to go to the loo!!! I probably made the second issue worse by sizing down, but I'm so glad I did as I think the 12 would have swamped me (or I'd be constantly asked by people if I could unblock their drains). This boiler suit and I are in it for the long haul. I hope it will have a very long life and see a squillion wears. 

But the best thing of all? I get to twin with my little girl!!!!! I snapped up this amazing child's red Dickies boiler suit for £1 (they were asking 50p) at her school's nearly-new clothes sale and it's sooooo good. She is always creating things from cardboard boxes and trying to invent excessively-ambitious contraptions, so this is EXACTLY the garment she should be wearing at all times!