Category Archives: Butterick

Jumpsuiting for joy

Spring has sprung in London! It may well be temporary as most British weather is, but it’s delightful while it lasts. I always find it so much easier to dress when the weather is nice, and to be freed from the annoyance of layers and tights.

We’re also a week into Me-Made May of course. I’m not doing it ‘officially’ this year but it’s always a nice excuse to take stock of my handmade wardrobe, make a conscious effort to get me-mades in rotation, and to share some daily outfits. I’m putting the odd one up on Instagram and might do another update here later in the month. Here’s a slice of last week’s outfits:

Me-made May week 1

Clockwise from top: Roberts dungarees, new jumpsuit (see below!), Adele dress and Maya hack dress. And urm, the same Clarks shoes every day – I need to buy more shoes. And no, I don’t give up the black in the spring…

Jumpsuit

Here’s a closer look at the new jumpsuit. It’s fair to say by this point that I’m jumpsuit crazy. I think I wear them more than both dresses and jeans by this point, which will probably get borne out in my #MMM photos. So comfy! So practical and cycle-friendly! So quick to get dressed! And they’re fast and fun to sew to boot.

B6312

I used Butterick 6312, grabbed during a Jaycotts pattern sale binge a couple weeks ago. It’s about as basic as a jumpsuit can get: very wide and unfitted, cropped to calf, side seam pockets, and to be worn with an optional belt. The pattern pieces look terrifyingly like a clown suit, but once it’s made up in a soft fabric and belted, it’s secret-pyjama dreams come true.

Jumpsuit

The fabric is an indian handblocked cotton that I bought from IndianStores on Etsy. You may recall I have an Alder dress in the blue colourway: it’s so supersoft and lovely both to work with and to wear. If you’re intro handblocked prints and khadi cottons you should definitely check out that store.

Jumpsuit

It took about 45 minutes to sew, especially since I dipped the back into a deep V and realised I could get it on and off without needing to add the centre back zip. The neckline is finished with self-bias and I French seamed the centre front-to-back seam to get a nice finish on the points of the Vs. After wearing it for a day I found the loose neckline slips around a bit, so I might go back and add a strap to the back neckline to keep it in place.

Jumpsuit

It’s described as very oversized so I cut a small graded to medium around the hip, but next time I’d consider cutting XS/S as it’s still too big around the shoulder. Not perfect in terms of fit, but fun and easy to wear on a sunny day.