Fad Sewing

Whilst I do love my fabric stash, there are some fabrics that need to be sewn up whilst they are still fashionable.  I think that this print is one of those fabrics.  I decided that I may as well go the whole hog and sew up a fashionable garment at the same time, that being a strapless jumpsuit.

I have very little sewing time at the moment, but I had thought that this would be a fun fabric to wear to some event in the festive season...time running out and all that, I whipped this outfit up on the day of the school Christmas concert.  Nothing like a self-imposed deadline to encourage bodgy sewing! I'm pretty proud that I got it to a wearable state in a day though.  I may return to it and adjust the fit a little though.

This pattern is a mash up of a self-drafted strapless bodice and the Style Arc Erin Culottes.  When I bought this pattern, I knew that I was going to attach it to a strapless bodice, so I really should have bought a size down.  I didn't though.  I just cut-out my regular size and took the side seams in a whole heap.  This worked out okay, because I also extended the top of the culottes by the width of the waistband, in order to eliminate the waistband, and the pocket opening ended up big enough that the pockets were still functional when I took in the side seams.

The fabric is a stretch sateen (from Tessuti), which had me pondering the best way to go about the strapless bodice.  I decided not to line the bodice, because it is difficult to find fabrics with the same stretch and I didn't want the fabric bagging out because it was lined with a non-stretch fabric.  So the bodice just has a facing.  I didn't know how much to take in the bodice to accommodate the stretch and not put too much pressure on the fabric.  In the end, I just took the side seams in until it felt comfortable, but I may need to take the side seams in a smidge more.

I find rigalene boning uncomfortable, so I have kept the boning to a minimum, that being the front princess seams.  I would like to try spiral boning one day, thinking that it might be more comfortable, but that day has not eventuated yet.  In the meantime, I am relying on a waist stay to keep this garment up.

Overall, I'm not sure that the garment works, but I got plenty of compliments at the concert, so perhaps the fabric makes up for the pattern sins.