winter sewing: Nettie bodysuit

My winter sewing plans stated, with complete confidence, that my first attempt at the Closet Case Patterns Nettie bodysuit would be plain black, for maximum utility.

However, sometimes you're in Fabric Land searching for a plain black four-way stretch that isn't also obvious swimsuit fabric and you walk past something that's matte, super-soft and super-stretchy, and you can't pass it up even if it is tiny black and white cheetah print layered over unidentified black blobs. I'm certain that I will make a plain black one at some point when the right fabric comes into my life, but this substrate is so perfect for a bodysuit that I will cheerfully make new clothes to go with it if I have to. 

This pattern is mostly super-simple. I chose not to put the shelf bra in because a) I wasn't making the low back version and b) there is zero chance that a shelf bra would do anything at all to support 34G boobs, so it mostly makes up like a standard T-shirt with a couple of pieces of binding round the open leg holes. If you don't put in the snap crotch this is about an hour's worth of work. But I did, because why be half-naked in a public loo if you don't have to? Also, I wanted to do the version with the high back to start off with and I wasn't sure whether that would give me enough stepping-in room.

I used scraps of black silk and hammer-in press studs. I struggle to hand-sew things securely enough and I didn't want my bodysuit randomly coming undone in public, but it did make it that much more annoying to redo everything when I realised I'd done it wrong. The instructions for this bit lost me (as instructions sometimes do) and I'd have been better off pinning and experimenting to get it right. The second time it worked... and then one of the hammer-in studs fell out. But I put it back in, and now I have a functional snap crotch! I was worried it might be uncomfortable, but I literally forget it's there.

As you can see, the legs are cut super-low. In many ways this makes absolute sense; you don't get any weird VPL, it's guaranteed to provide total bumcheek coverage with no fear of awkward wedgie situations, and given that the lower half will be covered in almost all instances it's right to prioritise comfort and practicality. But at the same time there is no denying that this is not the most flattering cut in the world. It is very much lump-emphasising. This may or may not bother you, but I thought the record should reflect.

Because this pattern is drafted with negative ease and thus super close-fitting, I used about five different sizes (ranging from a 12 in the neckline and shoulders to a 20 in the hips and upper arms) and added an FBA by just cutting some boob-shaped lumps into the front side seam at chest height. This fabric is stretchy enough that I probably didn't need to go to a 20, but I wanted to play it safe. For any future versions I'll keep the variation in sizes but choose the sizes themselves based on the fabric stretch.

I did debate making scoop front and scoop back, and I'd still quite like to try that, but I do worry that it wouldn't stay on my shoulders. I know I could add bra carriers, but I don't want to add bra carriers on something that's meant to be super-easy and casual. If I can find a suitable fabric at a cheap enough price, I think I will give it a go for science. Either way I'll definitely make another one (probably two). I will definitely not make the dress, because that level of bodycon is beyond me.

I'm wearing it with Papercut Palisade shorts. These were actually the first ones I made; I cut the trousers out first, but then decided I really needed a pair of shorts for a burlesque class I was going to that night. Not having a go-to shorts pattern, I just cut out another pair and ran them up in an hour and a half. As a result they're not the most beautifully finished, but I do like them and I do think I'll have another go. Possibly out of stretch woven if I'm going to wear them to dance classes. 

(It's super-weird to put photos of myself in a bodysuit and no bottoms on the internet, but I feel like it would be a really unhelpful post if you couldn't see the fit below the waist. So here's me leaning into it.)

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm heading out of the country today for a few days (she says confidently, PLEASE NO MORE DRONES AT GATWICK). We're having our first Christmas by ourselves this year, and we've booked a trip to France in the hope of getting some actual sunshine back into our lives. Whatever you're doing over the next few days, celebratory or not, I hope it's joyous! When I get back I'll share the completely OTT green velvet dress I'm wearing for Christmas lunch.

I thought I'd include this photo of me reacting like an Austen heroine being spotted across the room, while also wearing an animal print bodysuit on some stairs. I don't even know.