DIYing the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde pants and jumpsuit

As I’m sure you’ll have heard if you’ve been remotely near Instagram, the much-revered slow fashion brand Elizabeth Suzann are sadly shuttering their business – but more happily made the generous decision to open-source the patterns for many of their garments. The patterns were temporarily made available by some enterprising sewists via Dropbox, but Elizabeth has now announced she intends to release the patterns herself at some point in the future, so they are no longer available until she does that. Edit to add: It was suggested that people who downloaded the patterns make a donation to a movement working to combat white supremacy. I picked StopwatchUK, the campaign for fair and accountable policing.

I’d never bought any ES clothing and while most of the styles veer towards too wafty/boxy for my tastes, I did get swept along in the excitement and tried a couple of the patterns out: namely, both the ‘work pant’ and jumpsuit versions of Clyde, which is largely and rightly famous for its delightfully scoopy pocket situation.

I first made a wearable toile in a horrid polyester, for which I did an Instagram story construction sewalong – there’s lots in my saved highlight about picking sizes and how I went about construction, so I won’t repeat it all here. Then I made a proper pair in this this light and crinkly (alright yes, wrinkly) ‘Flow’ viscose linen from Lamazi Fabrics – in the Cappuccino colour, although as you can see it’s actually significantly darker than the product photos – more of a Mocha imo.

I made my size according to the chart, an 8 in regular length, but my Clydes are fitting rather looser and baggier than the RTW version, probably because this fabric is loosely woven and drapey (my toile fitted more neatly). They veer a tiny bit hippy for my taste as a result, but I’m still wearing them a lot as they’re so comfortable. I have a thicker cream cotton to make one more pair as they sure are good for these stay-home times.

(My top is the discontinued Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank in leftovers from my Claudia dress! Love that I was able to eke something else out of that special fabric.)

I made the Clyde jumpsuit fairly rapidly afterwards, in an indigo enzyme washed linen from Ditto. I didn’t toile and this is the size medium regular.

The fit is generous and it isn’t sitting quite right on the top half where I’m more petite. I fudged removing some excess/gape from the princess seams but next time I’d cut a size or two down and pivot out some of that armsyce/neckline gaping.

I made a long, skinny tie belt as I didn’t think I’d like the shape without, but turns out I’ve been wearing it largely unbelted despite this perhaps being more ‘flattering’. See also: work at home lifestyle.

When I posted this on IG I grumbled a bit about my beef with linen fabric; namely that everyone else seems to love it yet I find it nothing but heavy, creasy and scratchy – even this supposedly enzyme-washed one. Common advice is that it softens up with washing and wear but to be honest I don’t wash my clothes very often – certainly not every wear – and I don’t really have the patience to wait for a fabric to get nice. I’ve been throwing it into the washer whenever I do a coloured load, which has helped a bit and it’s developing that nice worn-in effect along the topstitched seams. The comfort of the silhouette means I’ll tolerate the fabric, but I’m still far from a linen convert.

For two free patterns resulting in highly home-lifestyle-appropriate garments that I’ve worn a ton, I’m very happy with my pair of Clydes. I don’t know if it’s just because I know they’re RTW patterns but they definitely have the feel of well-drafted garments you’d buy in a store. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the official pattern releases to see if I can pick up more fabrication and construction tips.

20 thoughts on “DIYing the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde pants and jumpsuit

  1. Emily

    Hi, the request from those who made the patterns widely available was to donate to a Black-led nonprofit or community organization when you download and use the pattern. Don’t forget that important step! Or if you did donate, I’d love to hear where— I think sharing helps encourage others to do this when they make the patterns too.

  2. Nakia

    I feel like I want to fight you about linen. It has a soul! A resilience! A luster and strength! It is what heirlooms are made of. Puppies and babies are a pain too but also worth it. Inhabit this fiber with reverence and joy. Your projects look fantastic.

    1. Katie Post author

      Ha ha, I can’t say I care much for puppies or babies either. I do really appreciate linen in other people’s projects. It’s just not for me I don’t think, although let’s see how I feel about this suit over time.

  3. Kathy

    Great projects and beautiful results!

    Peggy Sagers of Silhouette Patterns recommends washing linen fabric in Coca Cola (even white linen) to soften it and many people online indicate it works very well though I haven’t tried it myself.

  4. Eileen

    I would love to make both the Clyde jumpsuit and pants. Is there anywhere I can still get hold of the pattern? Personally I love linen, but the quality and softness does vary a lot.

    1. Katie Post author

      Afraid not, until Elizabeth Suzann releases the patterns! I haven’t given up on linen completely but definitely will look out for high quality and softer types.

  5. Barb

    Hi Katie, I’m bummed that I missed this brief pattern opportunity, but happy to wait for ES to do her thing. I am curious how you found this? I’ve been on the ES email newsletter for awhile and didn’t see it. Did I miss it? Some other hot tip site I need to know about? I just don’t want to miss the next phase! I think I want to live in Clyde everything – especially after seeing yours – both lovely.

    1. Katie Post author

      Hi, I found out completely via Instagram – @minimalistmachinist was one of the coordinators. But the ES mailing list will be the right place to hear about the official release!

      1. Barb

        Thanks – I’ll stay on the ES list for sure. Your blog is wonderful. Learning a lot about pants and all kinds of stuff. Your zipper beautification mod on the Blanca is genius and Closet Core ought to be pointing everyone to it!

    1. Katie Post author

      Wow, good memory. I don’t wear them often to be honest and I think they’d be too big these days. You’ve reminded me to dig them out though and re-assess!

  6. Florence

    Such a gorgeous jumpsuit, but I agree on the linen – so scratchy – I’m always amazed when people choose to sleep on/in/under it – how do they not end up furiously stripping the bed in the middle of the night and lying on the bare mattress? I’m fascinated by the Coca-Cola tip though :)

  7. Kat

    Katie–I could use an assist with cutting this pattern, and I’ve been searching high and low on available tutorials to no avail! Looking at this all taped together is throwing me for a loop (and I’ve cut plenty of patterns before! I’ve just never been great at visualizing and intuiting pattern pieces as they come together). I’ve gathered that it’s the xxs, xs, s, m, l, etc. lines that are nested and differentiated by color (and not the numbered sizes), but I don’t understand the differences between the inner set and outer set, if that makes sense (there seems to be two sets of the sizes for most pieces). Many of the tutorials I have read describe an inner sew line and an outer pattern cut line, but that doesn’t really add up for me, as they go on to say it represents the .5″ seam allowance, and in many cases, those second sets of nested lines are more than .5 inches from the pattern cut line. I’m not sure I’m articulating this well, but I’d appreciate ANY advice you have on actually cutting the pattern here. Thanks from this sewer who has spent more time than she cares to admit trying to measure pattern pieces to see if they can add up to finished measurements to give her the vaguest sense of which lines to cut…

    1. Katie Post author

      Yes, the inner line is the sew line and outer is the cut line. Where it’s larger than that, it’s a hem allowance…

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