The aim was a matching floral faux-jumpsuit, my inspiration was summer garden parties, or perhaps the kind of ensemble that one might wear to an outdoor wedding in the summer. The fabric didn’t necessarily scream ‘Jess’, but I was also quite drawn to it, so perhaps it actually did call my name (but more of a whisper than a scream).
Fabric: This Madison Viscose Twill fabric was sent to me by UK-based Fabric Godmother in return for posting my finished garment and tagging them on social media. The fabric is part of their collaboration with the Print Pattern Archive, this design came from a sample in a 1940’s swatch book and was printed on a silk crepe. I like the idea of re-printing old prints (there’s so many great wallpapers and decorative tiles in the world that need to be fabric)!
Working with the fabric: I noticed that there were some white lines on the fabric where it was cut when it arrived, so I decided that it needed to be treated with care. I serged the ends before washing, used a sharp needle and tried to avoid unpicking as much as possible. The fabric feels nicely hefty (it has a similar feel to 5oz tencel twill) but I’m not sure of the actual weight.
Yardage: I had 3.8m of 150cm fabric. Fabric Godmother did send me a little more than I had asked for, which was just as well since I ended up cutting two identical bag leg pieces (instead of mirrored pieces), even though I was trying to be very careful! I didn’t notice until I’d entirely constructed the front of the pants, so I ended up cutting one of the back legs and piecing together scraps to form the new crotch curve. You really can’t see it in the finished product thanks to the busy print.
The pants: These are my Frankenstein’s Monster pants, which are Glebe Pants adjacent with a lengthened crotch curve. I can give no size information, because the pattern is so far from the original (literally made of different parts like Frankenstein’s Monster).
The top: How many changes can you make to a pattern before it’s really no longer a hack of that pattern and something that’s barely related at all to the original? The top here is the Ashton Top, which I’d made before, but this time I sized down to get a closer fit to my shoulders, did a small shoulder adjustment, scooped out and also dropped the arm hole to give myself more room for my arms (and to remove some excess fabric because of my narrow upper chest). I rotated out the bust dart at the hem to create extra room through the belly, and then I slashed and spread the back and front pieces until I’d created a lot of extra swing. So… at some point this pattern was an Ashton Top and what I’ve got here is the very distant relative that maybe couldn’t even be replicated since I shaved off paper, cut bits away and haphazardly slashed as I went. I did start with a Size 18, D cup though.
