Every day we come across many sewists and some of them walk a long way with us in our journey. One of them is Miranda who has made a Zadie Jumpsuit in a naturally dyed Cotton fabric. Her earlier make was the comfiest Indigo Dress with pockets!
Let's know about how, and what of her design story.
Over to Miranda...
Zadie Jumpsuit in Jhag Ajrak handloom cotton
Jumpsuits are one of those magical garments that look great and make you feel great all at once. I truly love a good jumpsuit, so when I made my selection for this collaboration, I wanted to pay tribute to one of my favorite sewing patterns with some of Fabriclore’s artisanal fabrics.
The Fabric
I chose a geometric print from Fabriclore’s Ajrak Cotton Pure Handloom collection. The collection is inspired by the Mughal and Sindhi cultures of India and consists of hand blocked designs which are hand pressed into cotton. I love the repeating geometric shapes combined with the earthy tones of this fabric. Perfect for a sewing pattern with simple lines. Because the print is blocked by hand each piece of fabric is essentially one of a kind because no two prints will be identical.
There may also be a few, very minor inconsistencies with the print because it is made by human hands and not a machine. I absolutely love this fact and I embrace the fabric knowing that one artisan created a unique piece of fabric for me to use.
I pre treated the lightweight cotton fabric according to the guidelines on the website. Because natural dyes are used, it is best to gently hand wash the fabric in cold water separately before sewing as the fabric will bleed. Two washes should be sufficient to remove the excess dye before stitching. I plan to handwash my garment separately in the future.
The Pattern
The Zadie Jumpsuit pattern by Paper Theory is a cult classic among home sewists worldwide. The pattern is beginner friendly with clear instructions and there are also a few sew-a-long videos on YouTube to help you along the way.
While sewing this jumpsuit you’ll learn skills like:
• Stay stitching
• Under stitching
• Making and sewing bias binding
Although this pattern is beginner friendly, it is advisable that you make mock up of your jumpsuit first to assess the fit. This practice version is often called a toile (UK) or a muslin (US) and is made in a fabric similar to the one you intend to use finally. The sizing is quite generous so it is recommended to make a toile to ensure the height of the trousers or the rise is sufficient.
When I first made the Zadie jumpsuit, I had to make a few minor adjustments to ensure a good fit. For my height, I needed to reduce the rise by ¾ inch. This is the top part of the trouser pattern and you will find a “lengthen/shorten” line which indicates where to shorten or lengthen the pattern as needed. Most sewists need to adjust this pattern slightly as we are all built differently but once done, you’ll get a great fitting jumpsuit.
I also lengthened the bodice by 1 inch as this is a standard adjustment for me. The more you sew, the more you realize which adjustments you need to make to your paper pattern before stitching. Once you have made adjustments to your paper pattern, you’ll be ready to sew your final version in your fashion fabric.
For this lightweight fabric I used a universal needle and my stitch length was set to 2.5mm. You can use an overlocker or zig zag stitch to finish the raw edges of the garment. I chose to use French seams to conceal the raw edges. This is my finish of choice for lightweight fabric as it adds strength to the seams which will make the garment last longer.
I made one other modification to the pattern and that was to lengthen the legs of the trousers. The pattern comes with cropped trousers but I lengthened the legs by adding about 5 inches to the pattern ( for reference I’m about 5’2” tall). I really love the this adaptation for autumn.
The final jumpsuit will be perfect for summer as this cotton is lightweight and breathable. I plan to layer this jumpsuit with a turtle neck jumper to make it wearable in cooler months. The fabric made a great jumpsuit but would also be perfect for a button up shirt as it presses really and would make really nice collars and plackets.
My jumpsuit is already set to be a firm favorite in my wardrobe because it is so easy to wear. I highly recommend trying this pattern and some fabric from the Ajrak collection would be a perfect match.
I look forward to sharing another make with you all again soon.
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