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Jaipur Jumpsuit
This jumpsuit/romper is my first sewing project that was directly influenced by Me-Made May 2020. It’s been so fun to see everyone else’s handmade clothes, and I’ve been spending more time on Instagram than I’d like scrolling through #memademay2020. I’ve seen so many amazing jumpsuits that finally, one day last week, I pulled out the Simplicity 1355 jumpsuit pattern I had purchased a few months ago and started cutting.
By mid-morning, I had a full bodice, and by the time I went to bed that night, all that was left was the hem. I don’t like doing important finishing steps like hemming at the end of the day – definitely don’t want to do details like that when I’m tired, and I also wanted to try on the jumpsuit again the next morning, in natural light, to make sure my chosen length was what I wanted.
I’m calling this my Jaipur jumpsuit because I bought this fabric on my wonderful trip to Jaipur. It’s one of those fabrics that, when I bought it, I liked it of course… it had great colors and reminds me of Moroccan tiles… but I didn’t know what I would make with it. It wasn’t until I started cutting it that I LOVED this fabric. The more 3D it became, the more this fabric came to life! It’s so fun… fabric is so magical.
The pattern calls for facings on all the bodice pieces, but I decided it would be easier and cleaner to just add a full bodice lining. I didn’t want to add bulk with my lining – I was already worried that my Jaipur fabric, which doesn’t have much drape, would be somewhat “poofy”. I found this very soft, very drapey striped cotton in my stash and it made a perfect lining. I think it’s navy and white, but it could be black… I haven’t been able to look at it long enough to figure it out, haha. Ironing this fabric was dizzying!
To reduce bulk, on the lining I sewed the shoulder pleat into a dart. I also added a tiny amount of the outer fabric to the neckline seams to create a bit of a facing in case they flap open. The back of the pattern called for an overlapped/wrap look, but I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that, so I just sewed the two pieces together along the center seam. Of course, that is how the jumpsuit can be pulled on and off! So I had to add an invisible zipper to the side seam to get into my romper.
Speaking of – would you call this a jumpsuit or romper? I’ve been confusing the heck out of David because he has no idea what either one is. In my opinion, a romper has shorts – if the legs are long, it’s definitely a jumpsuit and NOT a romper. But a jumpsuit can be shorts OR pants, in my opinion. Yes?
Regardless, I’m happy to finally join the club with a me-made one-piece in my wardrobe. This is just what my Miami life needed and I can tell I’m going to be wearing it a lot.
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Blue Poppy Maxi Dress for Lectoring
At the beginning of this year, I became a Lector at my church. This means that on my assigned weeks, I get to read one of the Scripture passages of the Mass from the altar. It’s a great privilege and it’s really special to serve in such an active way.
I only had the opportunity to read on three occasions before the church shifted to virtual Masses due to Covid-19, but those three occasions wiped out the majority of my lector-acceptable wardrobe. When I’m scheduled to read, that means I spend the first ten minutes of Mass sitting on the altar, facing the congregation. None of my skirts are very short, but I don’t have many that go well below my knees, and that’s obviously what I want if I’m sitting facing everyone.
“it has pockets!”
“Lector Skirts” were high on my sewing list, and “isewlation” is the perfect time to work through my more practical to-do’s. On my recent trip to Japan and Thailand, I bought this gorgeous poppy-printed rayon in Bangkok specifically to make a lectoring skirt. Fortunately, Bangkok fabric prices mean I always buy more than I need, and I had enough fabric to make a full maxi dress.
I have a much easier time wearing dresses than skirts, because skirts always have the issue of finding a matching top. This dress will be easy to throw on for dinner by the beach (dreaming of someday when we can go out to dinner again!), and it will be perfect for lectoring with a little sweater over my shoulders.
I lined the bodice with a soft knit to add some comfort to an already very comfortable dress. I didn’t use a formal pattern for this dress – a few years ago, my mom bought me a dress in this style and I LOVED the fit but the fabric wasn’t quite right. So I traced the simple shapes of the dress to save the pattern, a la Tabitha Wheelwright, and my mom returned the dress to the store.
I didn’t include pockets as I was sewing the dress because I was eager to just be DONE. And then I realized a dress without pockets is just sad. So I opened the seams back up and added in-seam pockets. I might not use them often but I’m glad they’re there.
I have fun selecting lining fabrics that coordinate rather than perfectly match. This allows me to work from my stash and worry less about having all the perfect fabrics before I can complete a garment. My bodice lining is a golden yellow that matches the yellow poppies, and again, it’s comfy knit which is more important to me than having it be a perfect match. And the in-seam pockets are a peach that matches the pink flowers. The pockets, especially, are never seen from the outside of the garment, so this fabric was also chosen by weight first – it’s a midweight rayon with enough support for a pocket, but thin enough that it won’t weigh down the dress.
The back has a little keyhole with a button, which is mostly a design detail, as I don’t need to unbutton it to put on the dress. Choosing buttons is always both very fun and very challenging! Here I debated going for something more “fun”, like a flower shaped button, or something more contrasting, like the handful of yellow buttons I found in my stash. In the end, I went with a flat pink shank button… nothing fancy, but I like its simplicity. I used a thin hairtie for the button loop! I have a whole pack of assorted colored hairties that I keep on hand for occasions like these when I might need a thin, colored elastic.
I’m looking forward to the day when I can wear this dress farther than around the block to my favorite pink wall! But I can’t complain about days spent inside, they certainly help me cross projects off the endless to-sew list.
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Me-Made May 2020, Week 1: Thoughts
Happy May! Somehow, we’ve made it all the way to this new month and it’s time for my favorite sewing-community celebration: Me-Made May. Started by Sozo Blog, here’s her Me-Made May FAQ if you want a formal introduction.
The wonderful thing about Me-Made May is that it’s simply a celebration of anyone who makes their own clothes. There aren’t formal rules or requirements. I’m realizing now that I’ve never actually posted my outfits in past Mays, so this will be a first. I’ve done a few Mays now, though, where I’ve worn at least one me-made garment every day for a month, and I love the challenge.
My first MMMay must have been at least five years ago now, but May arrived and I decided I was ready to take part. I’m best at all-or-nothing, so I decided to wear at least one handmade article of clothing each day. It was a big decision at the time. I had a pile of handmade tops in my dresser, but for some reason they hadn’t really made it into my wardrobe rotation. I mostly wore jeans to work, and there weren’t really any rules for what tops I could wear, but for some reason I never chose my me-mades.
I think that in my head, that pile of shirts was still just, “things I made,” not, “things I wear”. It wasn’t a pile of clothes, it was a pile of accomplishments. But what a sad life for a shirt to lead!
Suddenly, every morning when I opened my dresser, I was confronting that pile of handmade shirts, and forced to choose one. It was a huge learning experience! I wore each shirt all day, and at the end of the day knew exactly how I felt about it. There was at least one that didn’t fit quite right, and I knew I shouldn’t use the pattern again. There were a few whose fabric wasn’t quite right, or that didn’t feel like me. But for the most part, I felt great. I was wearing the clothes I had made, clothes I was proud of, clothes that made me feel like me.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that one month of focus changed my sewing habits and my dressing habits for good. My (Marie-Kondo-folded) tops sit in my drawer by color, with the me-mades interspersed between ready-to-wear: they’re no longer sacred objects, they’re just clothes, and I wear them. I make much better decisions now when buying fabric, and I’m able to focus on buying fabrics to make garments that I’ll actually wear. My sewing practice feels much more efficient and joyful when I know that I’ll wear the clothes I make, even if they take more time or effort.
This year, I’m planning to wear a me-made every day. Sometimes this might just be a simple refashion, but every day it will be something that came from my sewing machine. Unlike previous years, I’m going to document what I can. One of the downsides to sewing more basic, wearable garments, is that when I finish them I simply… wear them. This is fantastic! This is what they’re made for! But this also means I skip pictures for the blog or Instagram, and MMMay will be a perfect time to catch up and share.
I’m excited, as always, to take stock of my handmade garments and re-find some old favorites. I’m hopeful that I will be able to better diagnose any gaps in my handmade wardrobe, and maybe get to start on some new projects. I’m already loving the peek into what everyone else is wearing – the #memademay2020 hashtag on Instagram is an absolutely fantastic source for finding new patterns to try. I made a hashtag to keep track of my outfits this year: you can follow along at #samanthasewsmmm2020!
My formal goals are to post at least 2 outfits per week to instagram, and blog one article of clothing per week, but I’ll be wearing me-mades every day even if I don’t post.
Are you playing this year? What’s your goal? And if you’re posting outfits somewhere, please share – I’d love to see.
See all my Me-Made May Instagram posts here: #samanthasewsMMM2020, and here are all of the Me-Made May 2020 blog posts.
