Paper Theory Zadie Jumpsuit

If you'd told me two years ago that I would make a jumpsuit, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I probably wouldn't have believed it a year ago either. But here I am now in a me-made jumpsuit! Over the last few years, I've seen more and more jumpsuits emerging both on the high street and as sewing patterns. At first, I wasn't entirely sure if I liked the style, but as different jumpsuits started appearing I began really liking them. My apprehension about making a jumpsuit wasn't because I didn't like them but because I could never really see myself wearing one. 

Because I started making my own clothes when I was quite young I've often felt that a lot of patterns aren't really aimed at what I want to wear. I've mentioned before that I think there is a gap in the market for teen sewing patterns, but in general, I've been able to overcome this by drafting and hacking patterns. I'm also not overly bothered about wearing clothes 'aimed' at my age. 

Anyway, as I've got older I've felt able to make things that I've always liked but haven't necessarily wanted to wear; jumpsuits fall perfectly into that category. This is also something I've felt with wide-legged trousers like my Lander Pants which I would never have worn a few years ago but now love wearing.

What truly sold me on making a jumpsuit was this pattern, the Paper Theory Zadie Jumpsuit. I know that it's been around for a while and I've certainly liked it for a while but I now felt like I could actually wear it if I made it. I decided that I wanted to make a jumpsuit at the start of this year and have spent a long time looking at patterns - there are a lot of jumpsuit sewing patterns out there! The main thing I wanted was for it to be fitted at the waist, and I like the design feature of the tie. Thanks to the popularity of the Zadie Jumpsuit I knew about this pattern and thought it looked lovely. I was particularly inspired by Kathy and Fiona's versions, especially as I'm fairly short and was worried a jumpsuit might swamp me. 

The only thing that put me off the pattern was that it's PDF only (and I hate PDFs!) but I liked it so much that I bought the pattern anyway. I bought a copyshop version from The Foldline so that I didn't have to print it which is great, except that it's definitely not worth it cost-wise compared to getting a paper pattern and I always trace my patterns anyway.

Again, thanks to the popularity of the Zadie Jumpsuit I knew that there were some common tweaks that most people made to the pattern. I read quite a few blog posts that people had written and a recurring theme was that it came up really big and that the crotch was way too long. I'm not sure I was quite prepared for the extent of this though! 

When I saw the pattern I noticed how long the crotch was but didn't want to take too much length out in case it was part of a design feature. Well, it may be part of the design feature but I find it hard to believe that the extent of the crotch length is intentional! I took out 1" at the lengthen/shorten line on the trousers and decided against taking out more because there would be no solution if the crotch ended up too short. I was slightly amazed at how long it was even after this adjustment once I tried it on though!

After attaching the legs to the bodice I had to take out a further 1.25" by literally cutting fabric off the top of the trousers. This is not ideal as the wrap doesn't quite match up and risks the pockets becoming too small but luckily it worked fine, I don't think it's at all noticeable. The important thing is that the jumpsuit is still entirely wearable and because the pockets are so big I can still easily fit my hands into them. Also, I now know to take out a good 2" when I cut the legs next time!

The other adjustment I made isn't really an adjustment but on as recommended I sized down and made a size 6 which is the smallest size. Again, I was wary about doing this but I'm so glad I did as it fits perfectly. I have quite a large difference in size between my waist and my hips and often find that things are too tight on my hips but this pattern is loose in style and is still nice and roomy.

There are some really interesting details in this pattern, in particular the wrap which comes up from below the waist. I'm not a massive fan of bias binding but I've grown weirdly fond of sewing it recently and enjoyed taking my time to make it really neat. 

I chose to make the 3/4 length wide-legged trousers (a style which I love, evidenced here) and the short sleeves. For the fabric, I knew I wanted to use a plain chambray and this one from Craft Cotton Co is so perfect. One thing I would say is that this pattern is a fabric eater! The fabric I used was relatively narrow so luckily I had 3m because it was almost all used up.

Whilst this jumpsuit is still slightly out of my comfort zone I really love it and it does feel very 'me'. In using a plain fabric and having short sleeves and a shorter leg length it is a lot easier for me to wear and feels really perfect for the summer. I'd really like to make this pattern again, possibly in black and I'd also like to make a short playsuit version.

Oh, and I've been wearing it! Tentatively at first, but I really love it and I feel so good in it. You might have noticed me wearing it in this post, in which I talked about my English Paper Piecing project. I was wearing my jumpsuit on that day and realised it went perfectly with my quilt and so I had to take photos of the two together. I love those photos so much, the plain chambray next to the colourful quilt is such a great combination.