Make Nine – The Faux Jumpsuit

Before Covid-19 hit I had 3 weddings to attend this year. I used to be someone who wanted a new outfit for every occasion. I’ve smartened up a little since those days, but it’s hard not to get caught up in owning ever more things. I’ve pledged to myself that everything I buy/make will get 30 wears. This is why I decided that this jumpsuit needed to be faux, so each piece can be worn separately.

As I explained in my pattern selection post I chose the vintage Burda 6968 for my top to showcase my collarbones and the Winslow Culottes from Helens Closet for the bottoms. I posted my idea on Instagram in late December.

I had been admiring the Atelier Brunette fabrics for a long time and I had subtly hinted (directly told) to my boyfriend that I would like 3m of the Forest Green Moonstone viscose for Christmas. (I also advised him to buy on Black Friday and he purchased from The Drapers Daughter). Greens are my colours and everyone deserves a little bit of luxury from time to time.

With expensive fabric on the line I toiled both garments. Non-wearable and now hidden in a Closet Case Pouff. This allowed me to change the Burda 6968 from a gathered neckline to a pleated one to mirror the Winslow Pleats. It also allowed me to stop being vain about my sizes due to the lack of ease in the Winslow pattern and to go up from a size 6 to a size 8 in the culottes. Please see the wonderful toiles below.

Having toiled my final sizes were Burda 6968 graded from a 12(top) to a 14 (waist and hips) and a size 8 for the Winslow Culottes. I am really proud of the finished garments. Both were sewn on my Singer 201k, which I trust with my very delicate and precious fabrics. The top also required bias binding and I cheated and bought some pre made bias binding because I didn’t want to deal with the faff. I took special effort to make both invisible zips invisible because getting a colour match for the zips was a big challenge. I had to take to my old machine (Toyota R2200) for the buttonhole on the neckline and fortunately she behaved admirably. The button is a vintage one I picked up from a Charity Shop. Also, due to these being special makes I added some Kylie and the Machine Labels for me made luxury.