I'll take that cute little playsuit. In black, please.

People, it has been hot as balls lately. I don't cope well with heat, and it has led to some emergency sewing (one time when 'I don't have anything to wear!' is actually true!). With predicted temperatures up to 40° celcius and air conditioning at work that's less than reliable, I needed something loose and comfy.

Enter the Salme patterns playsuit. I've had this pattern for YEARS but something kept me from making it (mostly the combination of not being too fond of my thighs but not liking longer length shorts either. No idea why I bought it in the first place.)

Balancing is though.

Just a word of warning: The instructions are brief. They're literally one page with a few diagrams (which is, admittedly, more than what you can say about Burda). They weren't always clear either, by the way. I don't think I would have figured out the pockets when I first bought the pattern!

As you can see here, I omitted the waistband. That's because this thing is apparently drafted for people who are a lot taller than me! It's weird, I've never really had to adjust patterns when it comes to torso length, and now this is the second time in a month I come across something that is at least ten cm too long! As a quick fix I decided to just skip the waistband and make the casing in the waist seam. (Another thing that wasn't very clear in the instructions: they tell you to cut a rectangle of a certain size for the waistband but omit to mention that you actually need two! One for a lining.)

I had lengthened the shorts a bit to make sure I didn't end with buttcheeks hanging out (there's only so much I can get away with at work) and I ended up chopping it all off again because the shorts hang a bit lower now! The good thing is I can easily bend over now without worrying about bursting out of my clothes. I also added a button to the pockets to keep them from hanging too much.

The fabric is a nice and drapey black viscose I've had in my stash for a while. Nothing much to say here, it's like most of this type of viscose I've worked with: sews and presses well, awesome to wear.

The little kimono sleeves are pretty awesome! I get sunburned really quickly, so covering my shoulders (and loads of sunscreen) is always a plus, but nobody wants to wear sleeves in the heat... So something light and flappy that just about covers them works well enough.

If I make this again i'd definitely take some length out of the bodice. The reason that I didn't do that on this make is mainly because the excess length is more in the shoulder/neckline area: it's way too low to wear without a top underneath it. Apart from the weird pocket instructions (which only really make sense if you use a pocket lining with an entirely different colour) and the slight fit issues I really like this pattern, and might even make a second one!