Safiya Jumpsuit

I'm a bit late to the jumpsuit party. I'm sure they've been cropping up more frequently, in fashion and in patterns, for at least a year. But the first ones I saw had the shape of boiler suits in a lighter fabric. I actually quite like that shape, but I wasn't ready to dive straight into that!

My most recent SewHayleyJane box came with viscose crepe based on an Italian wallpaper pattern. Although to me it looks like Delft fireplace tiles! And I had received the latest Tilly and the Buttons book from my Mum for Christmas, so it was about time I did something from that.

In the book there's a hack to make the Safiya trousers into a playsuit, and a hack to pop pockets in. So I sorta half-hacked the playsuit - after all I wanted the long legs of a jumpsuit. Side note: is that the difference - just long v short legs? Either way, I wanted the long leg style. I quite like the idea of the mock-wrap bodice. Doing the half-hack version did mean a bit of jumping around in the book, but it was all relatively easy to follow. Definitely much easier than one of the more commercial patterns. 

Sizing was interesting. As usual I fall between a couple of different sizes, again, two sizes away from each other. My chest is a size 5, and my waist a size 7.  I decided to a size 6, since elastic waistbands are forgiving. The nice thing about the TATB pattern was that it gave me the actual dimensions of the finished piece, which meant that I could actually check what would work. I wish more patterns would do this. 

The main issue I had was that my fabric wasn't quite wide enough to accommodate the bodice front pieces while folded. And I was getting a bit tight on fabric - after all it's a whole jumpsuit! So I couldn't cut out with pattern matching in mind. In some ways that's a blessing, as it saved me from having to pattern match! 

 

Once cut out, I overlocked most of my seams. I didn't do the arm or leg holes, since I'd hem them in one piece once the seams had been joined. I'm definitely a growing fan of overlocking edges and then straight stitching. Mainly because if I do it wrong, it's much easier to seam-rip and re-do. 

The making up is very much a case of following the instructions. First is the bodice, then the trousers, and finally attaching them both together. The bodice has grown on sleeves, which means I get to make it up in my favourite order (stitch front to back at the shoulders, then along the sleeves and down the sides to complete the bodice).  I pinned everything as I went, which really helped. 

As well as the top, I added pockets. I used one of the fat quarters that came with the SewHayleyJane box. 

The instructions basically make up the bodice and trousers separately, and then join them together. This was the most confusing part of the make for me, as it meant making sure the wrap pieces of each side of the bodice were pinned in the correct order. Luckily there's a picture in the book, I looked at that loads of times for reassurance. 

It actually went pretty smoothly! It doesn't look great on a hanger, but I think that's just the nature of this make. And perhaps in a plain fabric it would look better. 

 

In terms of fit, I can just get it on over my hips - for some reason I forgot to account for that. There's plenty of fabric there, so an extra inch of elastic would have been just right. I'm glad I didn't grade to a size 5 on the bodice, as I actually have a little trouble shrugging it on and off my shoulders. Which of course I have to do every time I need the loo! Why didn't I think of this!?

I love how you can't tell it has pockets at all, let alone that they're in a contrast fabric!

I'm very happy to have a jumpsuit in my wardrobe. And with this fabric it makes me feel very much like I'm on holiday in Italy - although I've never actually been there.  

I am very likely to do the Safiya trousers in a plain fabric at some point. And there are more patterns in the TATB book that I want to attempt still. So plenty to work on!

Summary
Pattern:		Tilly and the Buttons book - Safiya trousers with pockets and mock-wrap top
Fabric:		Loseta blue viscose crepe
Lesson learned:		I'm still not great at sizing my clothes!
Audio book:		Caliban's War  -  James S A Corey ❤️