Today, I’m very excited to share one of my final makes of 2020. It’s not the last thing I sewed this year but it is one of the last things that I sewed just for myself and just for fun (two of my top reasons for sewing!). I started making this jumpsuit back in November as part of my birthday-month celebration. Isn’t sewing for yourself a great way to celebrate? Plus, there’s nothing like a fun and playful jumpsuit to make one get into a celebratory mood.
I was in a black and white mood last month as you can see from the blouse I blogged last week. I often think that it’s more convenient to sew the same color thread for a few projects in a row. But, then when I’m feeling lazy about changing my thread color, I remind myself how little time it actually takes to change the thread. For me, it will take at most about 3 minutes. That reminder usually motivates me to make the change. So maybe, it’s more convenient to know how long it will take me to actually do a task. :)
Anyway! Back to the jumpsuit. This jumpsuit is the Audie Playsuit by Amy Nicole Studio. I had the pleasure of meeting Amy in person twice in 2019 and she is such a delight. I first “met” Amy when she asked me to be part of a blog tour for her Patti Pocket skirt pattern in 2018. You can check out that blog post here. Amy designs for petite sizes (5’4” and under) and as you may know, I’m 5’11” and design for tall sizes. So, I need to add quite a bit of length to her patterns but it’s totally worth the effort.
I made view A of the pattern which has narrow straps, princess seams, front slash pockets and a center back invisible zipper. The other views have options for an open back, shorts and a peplum tank overlay with a ruffle. I love those other design features but I knew I’d want to wear a bra and I like to have a more fitted waist, so view A was perfect for me. I also cut the pant legs extra long for a full length, instead of the cropped design of the pattern.
For the playsuit, I cut out a size 12 at the bust and a size 10 for the waist and hips. I did a 1” full bust adjustment. (Amy has a video tutorial for how to do an FBA for princess seams on her blog.) Because I’m 5’11” with a long torso, I added about 2” in length to the bodice, 2” in length to the crotch and 6” to the length of the pants. With jumpsuits, it’s really important to get the length right and fortunately, Amy includes finished measurements for the bodice and crotch lengths in the pattern. It made it much easier for me to estimate the length adjustments I needed. For reference, my measurements are roughly upper bust 35.5”, bust 39”, waist 29” and hips 39.5”. This pattern goes up to a 56.6” bust and 61” hip.
I’m using my pdf printable sewing planner in the photo above. I have two designs for this planner in my shop. You can check them out here.
I did do a muslin for the bodice and unfortunately I didn’t make notes about my pattern adjustments in my handy sewing planner. I believe I add a little more length or just needed to make a correction to the length after my FBA alterations. I did not muslin the pants and just crossed my fingers that my length adjustments would work. I was VERY relieved that they came out perfectly. Phew!
The instructions are really great. Although, I didn’t strictly refer to them. I released a jumpsuit pattern last year (check it out here) and the construction is very similar. So, I mostly went from memory on construction. Amy does her instructions with efficiency in mind, sewing as many thing as possible before pressing. She even includes a cheat sheet of steps to help you sew more quickly.
The made only a few minor design changes. First, I made the straps slightly wider and shorter. The shorter straps means the bodice covers a little more of the underarm area. I also adjusted the shape of the armhole a little bit to make it match my altered straps more smoothly. Finally, I lengthened the pant legs to go all the way to my ankle instead of being cropped. I often struggle with deciding the right pant length. As a tall person, I’m very sensitive to pant legs and shirt sleeves that are just slightly too short and make me feel like a child who’s outgrown their clothing. So, I tend to err on the side of too long. Plus, it’s much easier to make something shorter than it is to make it longer.
Looking at the photos, I can see a little bit of the invisible zipper peeking out and gosh does it bug me just a little bit. I used the zipper foot that came with my Janome machine and it usually works ok with an invisible zipper because it’s so narrow. In the future, I’m thinking I may need to buy a real invisible zipper foot. Or, try and see if the one I have for my Brother machine will fit the Janome. Sigh. I hate going back to fix something after it’s all finished. But this is one of those things that might bug me. Fortunately, it’s in the back so I will really only see it in photos. Much easier to ignore that way.
The fabric for this project is a medium weight rayon that I was gifted by The Fabric Store when they had a brick and mortar in Los Angeles. (I miss that store so much! And actually going to a store! I haven’t been fabric shopping in a store since February.) I’ve had this fabric in my stash for years now and I think this was the perfect project for it. The medium weight is really nice for a jumpsuit because it’s completely opaque. The fabric also has a nice drape which works well with this design.
The pattern on the fabric is very busy which is great for hiding any seams that are slightly misaligned (a good thing imo). But, it also means that it’s harder to see the style lines of the pattern. I wish it was easier to see the lines of the princess seams because they are really beautiful.
I really love my jumpsuit and I’m looking forward to warmer weather and being out of lockdown so that I can really take it out on the town, or even just to a sophisticated outdoor picnic. For extra warmth, I think it would work well to style the jumpsuit with a fitted turtleneck underneath and even leggings or tights. The day I took these photos, it happened to be fairly warm so I didn’t need the extra layers.
You can learn more about this pattern in Amy’s shop. Amy sent me this pattern for free but with no obligation to write or post about it. All opinions are my own.
