I had a boyfriend when I was at university who used to find it amusing to call me 'Jumble Bum'. Nice, right?

I hate to say it but this phrase still bothers me and at the time touched a raw nerve as I really did not like the size of my bottom. Before I met him I was that girl who always had a sweater tied around her waist to hide the offending body part and he did nothing to help that situation. No, he was not a good boyfriend.

Nowadays I really don't care so much but there are still certain clothes I avoid out of habit and well, because my bottom-to-waist ratio doesn't work with that style in RTW clothing. Short bomber style jackets being one and drapey trousers, especially when they're tapered being another. All I can hear when I see the latter and the wobble they often accentuate is that awful nickname.

Anyway, even though I absolutely loved the Judith Jumpsuit when I saw it and bought it aaaagggges ago, I haven't had the nerve to sew it. I knew the fabric had to be absolutely perfect weight and drape to make this look anything on me and I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Then, serendipitously, Silke and Nadja from Schnittchen Patterns, contacted me to see if I'd like to join their Sewing Around the World series and I knew straight away that I should sew Judith, (having previously sewn the Tanja dress). Bottom Demon and shitty boyfriend be damned.

(Incidentally whilst I am absolutely 100% not a fan of anything to do with the Kardashians, I do kind of like the fact they've made having a big round booty a good thing.)

I spent a long time trying to find the right fabric and then remembered the incredible inventory on Stoff & Stil's website.

There I found this sandwashed cupro.

I can't tell you how unbelievable this fabric is. It feels like the most luxurious, heavy but beautifully drapey four-ply silk crepe. It is so fluid and incredible to touch and so comfortable and breathable to wear and aside from a little bit of sticking it is really easy to sew. This is the first time I've bought cupro but I will be buying it again and again. It is utterly DIVINE (totally worthy of all caps.) Seriously, I know we're all fabric lovers here, but you haven't lived any kind of fabric life until you've touched this stuff.

My September has been tricky and knowing that I needed to sew this was making me feel both guilty and stressed. And because it's a jumpsuit there were a lot of fitting changes I needed to make, which of course pretty much doubles the amount of time it takes to make. But, once I started actually sewing, my stress disappeared as this is such a fun make. The construction order is different to anything I've made in the past, but it's very clever, is not at all difficult and creates a lovely finish.

I would say the same about this pattern. At first glance it looks like a pretty casual simple design, and to be honest when I was fitting it I really wasn't sure I was going to like the end result. But I'm so happy that that isn't the case. The long rise of the pants and high elastic waist make ones legs appear so long, the blousing on the bodice, creates a small waist and balances out my hips and bottom and the sleeves - I'm not normally one for this type of sleeve - are so pretty and flattering without being fussy and again balance out the bottom half of the pattern beautifully.

Schnittchen provide limited instructions with their patterns but accompany it with photo tutorials on their website. And they have a hugely comprehensive body measurements chart on the pattern which I found really helpful and made me wonder why other companies don't do the same?

The only issue I have with this make at all is that I now have two similarly shaped navy blue jumpsuits. Awesome wardrobe planning over here as always.

Alterations

There were a lot of adjustments but that is the same with every jumpsuit (well all three) I've made. Now I'm familiar with the adjustments I need to make to most patterns, I tend not to have to make more than one muslin. I'm lanky and hippy and broad shouldered and long chested and short of front rise, so for others perhaps such a list of changes would be unnecessary.

Added 1 inch to the bodice length
Widened the shoulders front and back by 1/2 inch
Forward shoulder adjustment of 1/2 inch (which I think puts the sleeve overlap in the wrong place but it still works.)
Dropped the bust dart by 5/8 inch
Added 3/4 inch to the back crotch curve
Raised the crotch 1/2 inch
Added 1 and a quarter inches to the leg width
Swapped a lapped zip for an invisible one (which was probably a mistake as it's a bugger to do up.)

I'm so pleasantly surprised by how much I like this jumpsuit. It's comfortable, I think can be as casual or as fancy as I feel and it looks kinda cool.

And look at my bottom. It's large, it's shapely, wobbly and not really my favourite part of me, but I like it in this jumpsuit. So hooray for having a Jumble Bum!

Thank you Silke and Nadja for unknowingly forcing me into uncomfortable territory and for inviting me to be a part of Sewing Around the World. I like feeling all kinds of international!

See you soon x

*I bought this pattern although Schnittchen did send me other patterns as a gift and they covered the fabric from Stoff & Stil for this. But my thoughts are mine.

You can read more about this and me over on the Schnittchen blog.

The Judith Jumpsuit - good for all bottoms!