© Style Dtour 2016. Affiliate links are used and may result in commission earnings. Powered by Blogger.

Tie a Bow on It

Vogue Jumpsuit
Earrings are Banana Republic from 2016

     When I first saw this jumpsuit pattern I knew I had to make it (pattern photo is at the end of the post). It is semi-naked, has pockets, and felt like it would be the perfect garment to vote in. I was right, it was! (For me that basically meant sitting at a computer thousands of miles away but I was pleased I was able to figure out the citizen abroad voter registration, at all.)  The pattern is the Vogue 1708 and, annoyingly, only available in paper pattern form, so I picked it up the last time I was in the States. Also, as an aside, instructions on the "Big 4" patterns (Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick and McCalls) don't always make a lot of sense to me. It could be that if I had more of a traditional sewing education (instead of mostly YouTube) they would, but I find I struggle with them and there are NO additional aids (real photos, videos, sew-a-longs) which seem to come standard on indie patterns. This Vogue pattern is also almost DOUBLE the cost of an indie pattern, but, you know, no one forced me buy it, so, I digress.  
     I was adamant that I wanted to make it in a bold print fabric, like the model on the pattern. I ended up scouring my local fabric haunts and nothing jumped out at me. This jumpsuit requires just under 5 meters of fabric for the outside AND the lining (so almost 10 in total) and every time I saw a fabric I liked I tried to imagine wearing 10 meters of it and it killed the vibe. Enter this clipped dot linen/cotton blend fabric. The dots give it a little personality and, even though I'm sure I'll stain this almost immediately, the light color and fabric make this feel desert appropriate. 

   My first go-around was actually with the red and white fabric below. It's a polyester, which I try to avoid but it was from a local boutique that was selling last season's leftover fabric and it screamed "beach coverup" to me. This one, since I'd be wearing a bathing suit underneath, I did not line, and I also hacked the bottom to be a skirt with a high slit, since that felt more poolside appropriate. I'm glad I did this one first because I learned some valuable lessons and might go back and re-do the waistband when I get a chance. 

     Back to the second version. I ended up interfacing the waist ties so they would have a little more structure, and as a result I was able to get that nice poofy bow. Interfacing, if you don't know, is basically a support fabric you can buy in varying levels of stiffness and that you add to things like shirt collars, to give them some body or shape. I used a fusible interface, which has tiny little beads of glue all over it. You iron it to your main fabric with a deadly hot iron, melting the glue and praying you layed it down facing the right way and didn't just melt it onto your ironing board. Fusible interfacing is 100% something I did not know existed this time last year. 

     I also played around with different ways to tie the straps, and while I love the idea of the big neck bow I think I'd only ever actually wear it like that with a shirt or cute bralette underneath. I look forward to wrangling those ridiculously long straps sometime soon in a bathroom stall near you (except probably not near you and probably not soon).  Thanks for stopping by!




No comments