Sewing Is A Virtue.

Sewing my own clothing is making me more stubborn, and yet, more patient. Both pieces in this combo were intended as something completely different than their outcome, and both actually made it to completion because of these attributes.  

First up, the cropped jeans blazer, which was meant to be a peplumed affair: Simplicity 1919 (OOP). I was ever so patient with this jacket! So patient, my hands literally turned blue! (Oh yeah, the dye on this one is strong. Every time I touched this thing, I promised myself it would be a short session, then hours later, I'd walk away looking like something out of Yellow Submarine. CLEARLY EXHIBITING EXTREME PATIENCE. AND YES ALSO STUBBORNESS.)

I fitted, I pressed, I changed thread colors, I topstitched with care…

AND THEN, EVEN WHEN MY BLUE HANDS SAID WOMAN QUIT AT THE CROP I STUBBORNLY WENT AHEAD AND PATIENTLY MADE A LINED, CLIPPED, GRADED, TOPSTITCHED, CURVED FIVE PIECE PEPLUM WAIST WHICH I HAD TO EVEN MORE PATIENTLY RIP OUT WHEN I ENDED UP LOOKING LIKE I WAS AUDITIONING FOR SWEET VALLEY HIGH: THE CAREER GIRL YEARS.

Happy with my eventual decision. Mad at those lapel wrinkles, which don’t show IRL as much as in these photos. Or do they? Must check that.

As for the jumpsuit, well. WELL.

The jumpsuit is actually pants.

Burdastyle’s 119 Jersey Track Pants pattern was the candidate, and my vote proved very ill advised when I threw them on for the initial fitting. Although I love Burdastyle drafting, I wonder if the jersey patterns don't take negative ease into account as much as they should? My size came up too wide, the waist gathers were thick and frumpy, the thin waistband was out of proportion, the length in both the crotch and leg were of supermodel stature. In short, they were a hot mess, and not the chic little pair of pants I imagined. But I was far too stubborn to abandon this dreamy Rayon Jersey (from Mood) to the loungewear shelf. So, I quite patiently made a laundry list of mods...

· hacked off 4″ from the hemline, gathering the new length into cuffs

· took away 1″ from waistline


· increased the crotch curve by 3/8ths


· removed gathers from waistline


· added 6 evenly spaced inverted box pleats to front and back waist


· stitched each pleat closed about 3″ down from the waist line


· cut 16′ of jersey on the crossgrain, folded to equal an 8″ band when attached.

WHAT?! I ACTUALLY REMEMBERED WHAT I DID?! Yeah. Been keeping a notebook filled with details of my sewing process now, the better to explain myself later. (Though I could practice a little more patience in penmanship. Such chickenscratch.)

The ridiculous 8 inches of foldover band length were meant to add adjustable proportion at the waist: wear it pulled up high-waisted, wear it scrunched down low on the hip. But, lo and behold, when I pulled them on and tried the band at “high” height, I found that those inches were also just enough to serve double duty as a top! Did I just make a jumpsuit? I maniacally breathed to my mirrored reflection. HEY YOU IN THE MIRROR. Are you kidding me?!

Well, the answer is: I ALMOST did. I DECIDED TO BE PATIENT HERE! AGAIN! You see, although the top did stay up on its own in my stomp-around-the-house-test, I’ve got two pieces of doublestick tape aiding and abetting in the frontal boob tube area for the photos (the better to avoid flashing the streets of New York). Before going permanent on this unanticipated path, I wanted to see all angles of this jammy in pictures, and not just in a mirror. We all know mirrors lie. Believe in Cher.

Now that we’ve got pictorial evidence, I’ve decided to make things permanent. I’ve got rayon leftovers at the ready for options…maybe wide gathered straps? Or leave it strapless with an elastic casing? I'd love to find a way to make it secure enough for a jumpsuit, but still have the option for pants. Hmmmm. Suggestions welcome!

these virtuous separates were made using my fabric allowance as part of the mood sewing network. and i highly suggest grabbing some of that jersey!