quarantine projects: the most ridiculous leopard print lounge set

Hello and welcome to... whatever this is.

Did I make a matching leopard print loungewear set? I sure did. Do I look ridiculous? Clearly. Do I giggle at the sight of myself every time I pass a mirror? Of course! Do I love it to death regardless? Hell yeah. 

I bought this sweater knit from Abakhan last Christmas. I'm always drawn to leopard print and almost always back away because I struggle to style it in a way I'm happy with. I would have backed away from this too were it not for three factors: it's very soft, there was a huge length of it (rare to find 3.5 continuous metres in the Abakhan bins) and we were on our way back from a funeral so comfort was needed. Once I got it home I had no idea what to do with it - I always feel like 3+ metres of jersey should become a maxi dress, but that would have been deeply ill-advised with this print. It's a little faded, and the black has flecks of white in it, so when it came down to it, loungewear was the only option. 

(This is not very elegant, but it was the only way I could reasonably show you the back and the shape of the top while still remaining in frame and not removing all the furniture from our living room. For a one-bed in London we've got a decent amount of space here, but you still slam into limitations very quickly the minute you try to do anything that requires distance.)

I went with the lowest difficulty setting and used hacks I've tried successfully before: the Closet Case Patterns Sallie jumpsuit made up as trousers, and a mash-up of Jalie and Burda hoodie patterns (Jalie body cropped by several inches with altered neckline, Burda men's hood, no ribbing at cuffs or waist and no kangaroo pocket). It was a bit of a squeeze to get both out of the fabric I had, and in fact the waistband of the trousers is just the extra length I cut off the bottom of the hoodie when I tried it on and realised the weight and drape of the fabric was making it hang lower than I wanted. There's also a slightly awkward white selvedge stripe running down the side of one leg. The selvedge was about two inches wide, and that was two inches I needed, dammit. 

The Sallie trousers are my number one TNT pyjama pattern. I've always preferred jersey pyjamas to cotton ones, mostly because of my thigh spread, and since these are intended to be the bottom part of a jumpsuit they're super high waisted (which I also prefer). They have large, well-constructed pockets, I don't have to mess with the length, and all I have to do is cut an extra strip of fabric and run a piece of elastic through it as a waistband. I've done this four times now and I love them all. 

I know how ridiculous I look in this. I wasn't prepared for quite how daft some of the photos look. This one gets me particularly: a slightly awkward position and the onesie effect make me look half my height and twice my width, like a photoshopped toddler, but also somehow the afternoon light was amazing so it gives the illusion of this glowing porcelain skin which I can assure you I did not actually have. It's so bizarre. 

I've been wearing this at home all the time. Because the top is a hoodie I don't want to actually sleep in it, which puts it one step (or half-step) above actual pyjamas, so even though I clearly don't intend to leave the house it doesn't feel like I've already given up on the day. Also I find it very amusing to answer the door in this. 

Also in these photos you can see my scraps pouf, a free pattern from Closet Case Patterns. I really like the idea of this and was hoping to make a second (I have enough scraps for it), but London living strikes again and there isn't really room for it in our squished little living room. We're going to keep it here for now and work around it, in the hope that when we move we'll have a bit more space for things like this. It's nice to have my several bags of scraps in here rather than in a pile in the corner, at least. 

It's been another uninspired week in Casa Slapdash, so I'm not sure what will be up next. I have a bunch of things cut out and since most of them are fairly uncomplicated I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get one of them sewn up over the next couple of days. I've also ordered myself another couple of pieces of fabric, and when that arrives I'm going to have a Maxidresspalooza. Whatever it is, I guarantee it'll look more sensible than this.

How is everybody doing? Week six seems to be rough for most of the people I know - we've now reached an undefined middle where nobody can really remember pre-lockdown and it's way too soon to start thinking about post-lockdown. I've downloaded a mood tracker app which is showing me swinging about wildly from day to day, getting shit done and totally on top of my emotions one day and going ARGH and spending three hours asleep on the sofa the next. It's exhausting. We've taken the week off Zoom calls and other such because so many of our friends just want to talk about Covid and we just... can't. Anyone have any fun facts? I could really go for some fun facts right about now. 

a really late winter sewing wrap-up

For obvious reasons my winter plan was a bit of a misfire. My original intention when trying to get my sewjo back was to just cut my losses, forget the whole thing and move on. Then I decided I'd make a few of the projects I wanted the most, but leave it off the blog so I didn't get bogged down in it. I got those things done at the beginning of March and tried to put it to one side, but since then there's been this bizarre creeping dread when I come to post, like I haven't handed in my homework and the teacher's about to find out. Who is the teacher in this scenario? I have no clue. Nevertheless, we must give in to the invisible boogeyman and do a wrap-up post.

Overall I managed seven things from my original list; two during the actual season they were meant for,and another five at the beginning of last month. The rest have been jettisoned for now - I might come back to some of them at a later date, but for now I've given myself permission to ignore them. Results for the five I did make are... mixed, as you're about to find out.

(Also, my dental work has been extended into at least three separate operations, so THAT's a joy.)

Deer & Doe Lupin jacket

This was absolutely a success. I don't have much more to say about the pattern; it's still great, I still love it, I will still probably make it again. This kind of minky-pink suede wouldn't normally be my thing, but it's a perfect colour for a jacket - it goes with almost everything while still looking a bit more imaginative than a true neutral. I lined it with the leftover bird lining from my Rumana coat so it'll be nice and soft to wear over short-sleeved tops and dresses once spring bothers to turn up. It's living in the wardrobe for now because it's too cold to abandon my big coat and too wet to risk going out in suede.

Vogue 8888 dressing gown

This one probably does warrant its own post, but I just feel so uncomfortable in it that I can't bring myself to take a load of photos. I'm not sure my assessment of the pattern would be accurate anyway, because I just hate this. It's too small at the hips so it won't stay closed (as I'm sure you can see), the fabric was a nightmare to sew and press, and even though I spent quite a long time French seaming everything and making it pretty inside, once it was done I said, "oh, thank God for that", threw it on the floor and put my boyfriend's old towelling robe back on. I will have another go at a dressing gown, but not this pattern and not for a while. Turns out I really hate sewing shawl collars, and doing it four times in the last few months has done zero to desensitise me. Shawl collars can bite it, as far as I'm concerned. 

Jersey pyjamas

I LOVE these. They're the trouser part of the Closet Case Patterns Sallie jumpsuit with an added elasticated rectangle for the waistband,and they're the best item of loungewear I've ever made. I wear them constantly at home, and I take them with me whenever I go away, even if it's only for a night. I will definitely make more, and possibly also make a pair I can wear outside. Fabric was an impulse buy from a Sew Over It remnant sale that I really didn't know what to do with once I got it home, but it's perfect for this. (The top here is part of a continued experiment to come up with a knit top sloper -  still a work in progress.)

Simplicity 1370 skirt

I tried this twice and I don't think it's right for me, simply because of the way I'm shaped. This one was way too big and fell down when I walked...

...and this one looked perfect but rode up at the back when I walked, to the point where a stranger had to tell me my ass was hanging out. I think the pattern itself is really nice, but it's not for my small-waisted giant-assed self. I'm currently working on adapting another pattern, which I'll post about when I've finished my second attempt. 

That's everything from my winter plan that I intend to make for now, except the Victory Patterns Esther trousers which I will do a separate post about. I hated them when I put them on, but they somehow look really good in all the photos I've taken, so I'm going to mess about with the pleating and see if I can make myself like them more in person. I'm going to do a quick and dirty planning post on Thursday, which will hopefully lead up to a proper pattern review next week. Fingers crossed.

PAPMAP part three: Sallie, or ARGH

SO.

I'll start off by saying that I really like this. I added an inch or so to the length of the bodice and I much prefer it that way. The trousers are made of bamboo jersey, which I've never used before but is amazingly soft and comfortable, and having a different fabric on top means that this one is going to be a bit more versatile than my first Sallie. I've already worn it a lot.

However, it took me several screw-ups to get here.

My original plan was to make trousers from this bamboo jersey and use a monochrome floral print jersey for the top. I started making that, and it went entirely wrong in all the ways it could have. The lining wouldn't fit inside the top properly, I managed to sew the ties on backwards, the neckline went funny, and I couldn't unpick it successfully because the elastic wasn't having it. I got very annoyed, went out to buy something similar, couldn't find it, and bought this blue Art Gallery knit instead.

The top went together fine the second time, and the trousers also made up OK. But then the time came to attach one to the other, and AAAAGGGHHH. First I sewed the elastic channel the wrong width, then I redid the whole thing and realised at the end that I'd attached the top back to front. When I sewed it together for a third time, the seam allowances were off and it was really difficult to get enough fabric to actually sew the channel shut. Then I hemmed the trouser legs and the thread kept separating and snapping. It took ages. I had to picture a calm blue ocean.

But it is done. It is done, and it is wearable. Much as this was a pain in the bum, I am totally sold on the whole jumpsuit thing. I think I'm about done for summer sewing, but I'd quite like to make an eveningwear jumpsuit (possibly not this pattern) at some point in the nearish future.

To mark the final set of photos ever taken in my old garden (two days til we finally move in to our shiny new flat!), a dance party. Because what else are you going to do in a jumpsuit.

Jump(suit) for my love

For quite a long time, I thought that jumpsuits were the most hideously unflattering thing that one could put on one's body. I mocked them and everyone who wore one, because why? Why would you? When you could be wearing literally anything else? The wearer of the jumpsuit was a person simply unfathomable to me.

The first seeds of doubt were sewn in my mind several years ago, when I was going through a phase I like to call my Try On All the Ugliest Shit in the Shop Because That Will Be Funny period. I recommend it as a game, it's great fun. On one such occasion I was in (I think) Warehouse and I saw a dark denim-look jumpsuit with a little white flower print, skinny legs, a round neck and elbow-length sleeves. I thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen. I took it to the changing room and tried it on, and I was... surprised. While it wasn't something I could have bought - it sported the shoulder/boob/underarm problem which is the bane of my high street shopping experience - it also didn't look anywhere near as bad as I'd imagined. Below the problem area I actually really liked it. "Huh," I said, as I put it back on the rail.

My first jumpsuit purchase came a little later, and I currently own two, both basically evening wear. When I started sewing I had in my head that I could potentially make myself a couple more, particularly for wearing in summer during the day, but I didn't do anything about it until last month when my boyfriend bought me some fabric specifically to make into a jumpsuit because he a) wins at being a boyfriend and b) is a particular fan of the ones I already own. The fabric he bought me was about 50% more expensive than I usually pay, so I was terrified about using it on an untested pattern and messing it up.

As you can see, I did not mess it up.

(Incidentally, I am aware that all these photos are slightly crotchy. That's not the jumpsuit's fault; it's getting stuck to what's underneath. I was taking a bunch of photos at once and decided not to take my tights off before putting the jumpsuit on. I do not recommend this approach.)

This is the Closet Case Files Sallie pattern. I hadn't made any CCF patterns before (I bought the Clare but the weather stopped being cold enough to warrant it as soon as I bought fabric for it), so I had no idea about their drafting or fit or anything. I did a search for photos, but most of the versions I could find were on very thin women which didn't give me much of an idea about how it would sit on my body. I panicked about it for a few days, then bit the bullet and just cut into the damn fabric.

This fabric is an Art Gallery cotton jersey we got from Ray Stitch. I hadn't been to Ray Stitch before because I had no idea where it was, but we accidentally stumbled across it on a Sunday afternoon wander round Islington. It's definitely more expensive than I'm used to but it was also very clear that the fabrics were quality, and I will definitely be going back when I want a treat or fabric for a special occasion. My boyfriend was impressed to be treated like an actual customer rather than a non-sentient pile of beardy reluctance (basically unheard of in fabric shops and haberdasheries, sadly), so I felt a little less guilty than I otherwise would have about the amount he was spending on me. This fabric is well worth the money, by the way; it's the best jersey I've ever worked with by quite some way and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to go back to cheaper knits. I LOVED working with this stuff. Apart from a bit of rolling at the edges, it didn't do anything I didn't want it to do and it holds shape beautifully. It's quite possibly going to spark a revolution in my fabric-buying habits, actually. Post on this forthcoming once I work out exactly what that revolution is going to look like.

I cut a 14 in the top and an 18 in the trousers, then took a honking great dart out at the waist, which I think was the right call fit-wise. Besides the honking great dart, the only other change I made was to sew one end of the neck ties closed and give myself a slightly more difficult job turning them the right way out rather than slip stitching them closed at the end.

The top is lined with the self fabric, so it's a completely clean finish. As someone who is still crap at finishing, I appreciate this very deeply. I also appreciate that the legs were the perfect length straight out of the (figurative) packet, which never happens.

This is SO COMFORTABLE to wear. I'm sitting here in it now and I keep forgetting I've got anything on. It's completely non-restrictive and it's going to be the perfect thing to wear to dance events in the summer. In fact, I am possibly planning to throw out all my clothes and replace them with jumpsuits. Forty jumpsuits! Well, OK, maybe not. But four, at least.

And now, to demonstrate ease of movement and also because I gave this post a Pointer Sisters title and now it's stuck in my head, a dance party:

(There is a block of flats facing my garden with a continuous balcony all the way around. There's never anyone there when I take normal photos, but as soon as I start bouncing around these little faces start popping up like Whack-a-Moles. I'm not sure whether to take this personally.)