Today, I finished sewing the buttons onto this jumpsuit, slapped on some make up, grabbed the camera and headed up onto the roof to take these photos.

This has never happened in the history of my blog. Sewing machine to blog in less than 12 hours. Unheard of.

And I should mention that it’s -4 C plus windchill up on that roof.

So why did this happen? I’m sure you’re dying to know?!

Because I am so darn excited about this jumpsuit!

And I had twenty minutes to spare before going to collect the kids from school.

Over the past few months I have drawn and dreamed up and been inspired by a number of jumpsuits and boiler suits, I think because I’ve been feeling that I want a more casual jumpsuit in my closet. (I’m hoping that jumpsuits have an even longer fashion moment than they have already as I realllllly love a jumpsuit.)

I have even drafted a couple and then got thoroughly disheartened when they turned out to be, well, rubbish. Mainly because my idea wasn’t fully formed, or I was trying too hard to replicate something I’d seen rather than following my own path.

But this one kind of stuck. I’ve spent the past month on and off, drafting and making muslins and tweaking and making more muslins and tweaking some more. It is a process that I suppose could get a little tedious, but I find it so satisfying, really challenging sometimes, but I like the problem solving involved.

It’s pretty all consuming.

I haven’t showered much (which is unheard of - I can’t bear not having a shower every day), I have eaten sporadically (I never stop eating so this is shocking), I’ve dreamt of paper and scissors and measuring tapes, and my house is a bombsite (this is less uncommon).

There was an horrific moment, when I was 90% done with the construction and was serging the leg outseam, got distracted and made a giant (ish) cut in the back leg, just behind the knee. I swore, I cried, I threw the thing in the corner and almost threw the serger out of the window (4 stories up and the thought of braining somebody on the (busy) street below prevented this.)

It was so upsetting as I’ve worked so hard on this, not least to make sure the end result made the most of this beautiful fabric.

I pulled myself together and interfaced the back of the cut, and tried to do the most invisible stitching I could manage. It’s just OK, and in a place that you don’t really notice, although I should have interfaced after stitching as little bits of white are poking through to the right side.

So frikkin’ annoying, but there is always one thing right? Always one thing that goes pear-shaped in a project. Or is that just me?

But I got here.

And as you can probably tell, I’m pretty thrilled with the result.

It has a shirt-style bodice with dropped shoulders, long sleeves with plackets, a collar, breast bellow pockets with flaps, a slightly blousy bodice that is gathered into a snug waistband, fly front, front and rear pockets and a straight ever-so-slightly cropped leg.

It also has three rows of topstitching wherever humanly possible in a thread so close to the colour of the fabric that it is nigh impossible to see. I’m hoping that as the denim fades that will become more of a feature. Although then the wonkiness of miles of topstitching will also become a feature so maybe I won’t hope for that.

The idea is that it is a jumpsuit I can wear casually in the winter / spring. As much as I hate to admit it bare ankles around here at this time of year really shouldn’t be a thing, hence the slightly longer leg than is my go to.

It’s made from a 9 ounce stretch denim from The Fabric Store. It is so so soft, I think it must be brushed. The stretch in this case has accommodated a number of minor fitting sins. It’s possibly a little heavy for the bodice, but I love the fabric so much I can live with that.

There are definitely some issues with the pattern that need ironing out and they become more obvious looking at these pictures. I can see, for example, that the front bodice needs a little more length at centre front so it doesn’t look like it’s pulling. I also found working out how I was going to construct a couple of elements pretty tricky and I haven’t completely resolved them.

And the pattern has 25, yes 25 pieces, which is probably the most I’ve ever used on any pattern. It’s probably the most of any pattern in the history of patternmaking time.

Now I can add it to my kind of ridiculous collection of dark blue jumpsuits. Just how many does a girl need?

Will this amazing abbreviated journey from machine to blog continue? Unlikely, especially given the backlog of projects I have to write about, but I can pretend. However, if excitement about a project and pick-up time allow then maybe.

I’m so pleased with how this turned out. (And aren’t my shoes wonderful?!?)

What do you think? Is this something you’d be tempted to make, 25 pattern pieces and al!?!

See you soon x