It’s been a while since I posted anything here. Plenty of sewing has happened, but mostly posted on Instagram, if at all. It randomly occurred to me that 1) I kind of miss having the full blog option and 2) Even though my old laptop died, a bluetooth keyboard and my phone might be all I need and 3) a phone tripod with a bluetooth remote might make up for kids no longer being very interested in helping mom take pictures.
In the spirit of trying something new, this outfit is definitely something new for me. I’ve watched with admiration as people throughout the online sewing community have made all kinds of gorgeous jumpsuits/onesies/rompers over the past few years. Admiration hadn’t made the leap to imitation until I saw the Ellie and Mac South Shore Romper. This pattern looks good in every version I’ve seen, on all ages and sizes. Also, it’s a knit with no closures. Let’s face it, at this point we all know that jumpsuits involve getting dressed and undressed multiple times per day, so making that exercise as simple as possible by taking zippers out of the equation makes total sense.
On the one hand, making this out of 2 different fabrics probably defeats the purpose of having a jumpsuit, on the other, neither one of these fabrics on their own would have made a good jumpsuit. The top fabric is double-brushed poly, which I had just enough left over from a previous project to eek out a bodice from, with piecing required for the neck binding. Even if I’d had enough to make a full jumpsuit, I’m trying to avoid the “apex predator” look. The trouser portion is made from a tone-on-tone double knit I’ve had in my stash for a long time. It only stretches across the grain, so it would have made a terrible bodice for this pattern. Put together, these fabrics work perfectly. The bodice is soft and stretchy, and the bottoms are swingy but perfectly opaque.
The sizing for this pattern is terrific, by which I mean 1) there is enough information in the instructions to pick out which size to use, including information about the height they creator was drafting for (5′ 4″) and 2) that height is pretty close to my height, so almost no adjusting was needed. I did find the trouser length a bit too long, though if I wasn’t still living the pandemic life, maybe I’d want the extra lenght for wearing heels. As it is, this outfit is being worn with my standard ballet flats and I’m not sure I even know how to wear heels anymore. I cut off 3 inches from the bottom of the pants before turning up 1/2″ twice and stitching.
This pattern comes with a sash, which next time I might want to consider attaching to the bodice somehow. I like the look of it on other people’s finished projects, but worry about dropping/losing/messing with a self-fabric tie after every undressing/dressing throughout the day. An elastic belt is just as comfy, but much less fussy to get refastened.
I used knitted elastic instead of clear elastic at the waistline. It still gathers up, but is softer and was easier to handle than I’ve found clear elastic to be on other projects. I’m still on the fence about how I feel about the view from the back.
The cross over bodice does want to slip down. Maybe a tiny FBA would have been a good idea. I’ve been periodically readjusting as I wear it today. A camisole under the whole thing would also work to keep underthings from making an appearance, and make things less breezy during restroom trips.
Overall, I’m considering this a successful experiment. I’m feeling pretty comfy while looking like I’m making an effort to wear real clothes.
