I tried a jumpsuit and I liked it! #jumpingintojune!

Oh yes, indeedy! At the eleventh hour, by the skin of my teeth, or even by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin (!), I think I just about made it… I’ll allow you to revel in the ridiculous photos a while longer…

Seriously, I had no idea how hard it was to get some even vaguely flattering photos whilst bouncing on the monkeys’ trampoline (not to mention the serious concentration it took to, ahem, hold myself in, as it were -anyone with children, you know what I mean…). And yes, there are some outtakes at the very end, rest assured. My son had a whale of a time taking such daft photos of Mummy though, so I tickled him at least…

So this is my version of a jumpsuit, and probably about the only version I’m ever likely to don if I’m honest. Yes, it’s a jumpsuit disguised as a dress Chris, but just for you: it’s a culottes jumpsuit 🙂 For those of you who didn’t read my original post this is Vogue V9075. The original version looked more like this, but I shortened it by a fair bit to make it wearable…

This was the first Vogue pattern I’ve made, and I was very impressed. I was advised at the outset to try a FBA, and I did have a vague look, but life’s just been crazy-busy of late, so I just sized up to a 12 instead. This worked well with the bodice, but resulted in ridiculously large trousers. I took the outer leg seams in by a whopping, two inches on either side. The pattern lived up to its name ‘very easy’, and with the exception of getting my head around the legs, was pretty, plain sailing 🙂 I unpicked the legs four times, before realising that I’d actually got them right the first time, and it was in fact, the front darts that I’d managed to sew on the wrong side! It’s a beautiful fabric and it was a dream to sew with, but it’s very tricky to tell the back from the front, especially when you’re tired…

So yes, at the grand old age of 42 I can honestly say that I tried a jumpsuit, and I liked it! 😉

Liked, not loved, but I’ve achieved the impossible in making something that I can actually imagine wearing quite a lot! We’re lucky to be heading over to Disney World in Orlando in the Summer and I actually think this will be perfect for sauntering around in 🙂

And the outtakes? Oh, yes there were many…

Apologies, that last one really is a shocker!

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When life just gets in the way…

Well, of sewing at any rate…

Life has been mad busy of late, and I’ll save you the boring, mundane details, but something had to give, and sadly it was my sewing (and reading, but it’s sewing we’re here to talk about). When life gets hectic I know better than to dump the exercise (that way only leads to stress-induced headaches and getting run down), so when I have had a bit of spare time I’ve forced myself out to the gym (I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I truly believe that yoga keeps me sane). Between that, the odd bit of cleaning up the house (Thimberlina I wasn’t joking when I suspected you of spying on me this week,  I didn’t want to scare the neighbours, should they drop by without warning) and spending some time with the kids, other things have just had to slip a little…

What to do? I know some sewers like to squeeze in the odd half hour here and there, but to be honest I think this only really works if you have a dedicated sewing room. By the time I’ve hauled all of my sewing paraphernalia down from the spare room to the kitchen, and made myself the obligatory cup of tea to accompany any said sewing time, the half hour would already be over. So reluctantly, I’ve had to take a sewing sabbatical of late 😦

The upside of this though, is that when I did finally manage to squeeze in a couple of hours sewing this afternoon (children safely installed in front of Minecraft always buys an hour or so…), boy did I enjoy it! I’d forgotten quite how peaceful and therapeutic it is. And just in case any of you think all this is just an elaborate ploy to avoid making that darn jumpsuit, here’s some work-in-progress shots of my now, beautifully, lined bodice…

A few of you commented on how great Vogue patterns were when I first mooted this design and I have to say I totally agree. This is by far, the neatest lining I’ve ever achieved. I hereby vow never to bother with those awful facings again, this method of lining is the way forward…

I’d be lying if I neglected to say that at this point I am sorely tempted to abandon the culotte-trousers in favour of a nice, full skirt, but I’m not going to give in to such pesky temptations! Several of you have already proved that jumpsuits can be done, so it’s on its way and with a bit of luck, I’ll be jumping in June rather than July… 😉

# jumpintojune

Simple Tees

Can you believe it’s taken me this long to sew my first t-shirt?

Thank you so much Sharon for recommending this pattern 🙂 It’s a freebie from Maria Denmark: you simply have to sign up to her newsletter to be able to download it. It’s called the Kirsten Kimono Tee, and do you know I’m rather taken with it? It’s a fairly loose design, but with more fitting around the hips which is really flattering. I imagine it would look particularly nice with flat-fronted trousers. You can see the fit better on Betty above. Because of the loose, kimono sleeve as well, it was easy to layer up with a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath for colder weather (which was pretty handy when we were up in Anglesey recently).

I’ve never used one of her patterns before, but I found the instructions really clear and easy to follow. To be fair, it’s a pretty, simple design, but I was impressed with how the neckline came together: very straightforward following the accompanying images. I’d definitely consider purchasing another of her patterns.

Both of these fabrics came from my stash. I made the cream and blue striped one first which I’m particularly pleased with. The second one is ok, but I don’t like it quite so much. I really didn’t have a lot of fabric to play with, and couldn’t manage to cut it on the fold so had to do it in two halves. I really should have tried to match up the stripe better on the front though. Typically I got it perfect on the back!

I’m kind of wishing I’d made these earlier, as they would have made weekends much easier during MMMay. I’m finding fitting in any sewing time in at the moment tricky though. I get a lot more wear out of long-sleeved t-shirts (we live in an old, Victorian house in the NW of England, so no surprises there). So inspired by these makes I’ve already printed off the free, Plantain t-shirt from Deer and Doe. I can’t quite tell whether the shape will be as flattering though, as it seems to swing out at the waist. Anyone else had a go?

But before then, the next bit of sewing I’m planning on is finishing off that jumpsuit #jumpingintojune…