Denim Devotion

This is what yesterday's sneak peek was all about: I made a denim jumpsuit! And wore it to a party dedicated to denim. But that's not really why i made it.

The idea for this jumpsuit had been lingering in my head for a while now. I had been a bit sceptical about the so-called return of the jumpsuit, since I kept thinking about this:

Source: thefashionpolice.net

But then i stumbled upon the Anthropologie version of a denim jumpsuit, and things took a turn for the better:

I loved the lines and the seventies-vibe on this, and thought it could be a very flattering wardrobe addition. So with this denim party coming up, I started to piece a pattern together. Remember the muslin I was working on earlier? I slightly altered the bodice of this dress:

I lengthened it and drafted a waist piece to connect the bodice to the pants, a basic wide-legged pants pattern from Burda Style Magazine.

I also added patch pockets and used some scraps from my Festival dress for the pocket lining and facings.

All in all I'm quite happy with how it turned out. The denim has a slight stretch to it so it's super comfortable to wear, and I feel really good in the whole thing!

There are still a few fitting issues I'd like to resolve one day though. The crotch is still a bit too low for my liking, shortening the bodice a bit more could help this. There is quite a bit of excess fabric in the back as well. If I ever feel like it I'd rip out the zipper and waist seam and restitch them for a better fit. But for now I'm pretty pleased! The zipper could do with an extra two centimeters as well, right now I have to actually hold my butt in to get the thing on.

The biggest problem I encountered was one I still don't quite understand. When making my muslins I made sure all seamlines matched up well enough, but somehow on the final garment they managed to het all mismatched. Is there some kind of denim sewing seam matching magic I'm missing? It's not super obvious since the whole thing is dark blue, but it still bugs me a bit.

This was my first time ever working with denim, and I've listed some things I noticed on the way:

- The fabric was easy to cut and sew, it doesn't shift too much and although there is some stretch, it didn't stretch while sewing.
- I was a bit scared of how my sewing machine would handle denim, but this proved to be no real issue. I used a denim needle and even though the bulkier seams were a bit more difficult, the machine itself did a great job.
- Denim (or at least, this denim) ravels like CRAZY. I zig-zagged every edge and topstitched most of them down. I know flat-felled seams are recommended for garments like these but i've never done one of them and didn't want to risk running late with this because of a new technique.
- It also left a lot of fluff and lint in my machine. I had cleaned the bottom part (where the bobbin is) before starting it and opened it up halfway through, only to find it fluffier than after three regular sewing projects.
- This thing is HEAVY! I didn't notice it at first but near the end, when all pieced together, my arms got tired quite fast from lugging this heap of fabric around.

And the Denim Party? It turned out to be pretty awesome...