paper theory zadie — Play

Pattern/Technique: Zadie Jumpsuit by Paper Theory Patterns, size 22

Modifications: Removed 2” from crotch rise, added 2” to the bottom of the pant leg. Cut size 28 belt for extra length. Decreased bodice length by 1” to have waist sit more closely at my natural waist.

Materials: 3m Black Washed Linen from Blackbird Fabrics

New skills: n/a

Lessons: I figured out a new technique for sewing even pleats: I stuck a forked pin vertically into the pleat to hold it in place while pressing it.

Something went squirrely with the pleat placement on one side of the garment such that they were lined up perfectly on 3 of the pleats, but the last front pleat was 1/2” off. No idea how it happened, but I fiddled with it to make it line up, and sewed a “secret pleat” at the side seam of the garment to deal with the extra fabric. I didn’t run into this problem the first time I sewed Zadie, but it’s good to know I can come up with a resourceful fix when stuff like this happens.

I need 2 strips of bias tape to finish the neckline.

Because the front bodice/pant edges are cut on an angle, you should not try to align them when pinning. Instead, your alignment point should account for the 1cm seam allowance.

What I'd do differently: Be a bit more careful with marking pleat locations when transferring the pattern.

Care: Hand wash cold, hang to dry, iron low

I’m really proud of this jumpsuit. Because in making it I did something I couldn't do for a long time: I learned how to use a serger by reading a manual. That might not sound like much, but technical documentation was my Waterloo for years--reading led to confusion led to a shame spiral led to giving up and so on. And if you can imagine what % of my job is spent with technical docs, you can guess how uh, not great that was. Making progress on “fixing your brain” like this is subtle, non-linear, and really. freaking. hard. So when reading my serger manual /didn't/ lead to questioning my existence, I was pretty dang thrilled.

Pattern: Zadie jumpsuit by Paper Theory Patterns.

Toile 01: Straight size 22 with no modifications

Final Garment: Size 22 with 2" removed from the rise, 2" added at the bottom of the pant leg, and size 28 waist ties because I like them long. Sewn in a cotton/linen rayon blend from Joann Fabrics.

New skills: Sewing / fitting pants, using a serger (I bought a Bernina L450 and I’m enthralled with this new superpower.)

Lessons: Curved pattern rules are hugely useful for pants alterations, and sanity checking an altered pattern by overlaying it on the original is a great way to make sure all the curves are still correct. The back/front pieces of pant legs are different widths by design, so don't assume they should be the same width.

Err on the side of too many pins while securing bias tape in place. There were a few places where I sewed the bias tape but the fabric had slipped out so I had to seam rip and re-sew all of those portions.

Patternsy is an amazingly useful service based in the UK that prints out sewing patterns on tissue paper (and frequently has sales on shipping). I'm a bit envious they've created such a simple/elegant service that meets the customer's need so thoroughly (serious product management lessons here).

While sewing a toile in raw cotton, use a dark thread to make seams more obvious if you need to rip them out.

Make sure to scribe ALL of the markings when transferring a pattern, even little things like arrows pointing the direction of the pleats.

Extra care and extra pins to make sure pleats match up is time very well spent.

What I'd do differently: Since the pant legs are designed as culottes, I might not re-add 2 inches to the legs after I shorten the rise (my legs are shorter than the form they used to grade the pattern). I'd also love to make a set that goes all the way to the floor. Before my next set I'm going to practice concave curves on my serger because overlocking the seam on the crotch gave me quite a bit of trouble.

I’ve noticed while wearing it that the waist might be a little lower than my natural waist, so I may shorten the top portion by an inch or so too. I probably won’t add that inch back into the rise because the crotch lowers as the fabric relaxes while being worn.

Care: Machine wash in cold water on a delicate cycle, do not use chlorine bleach or fabric softener, tumble dry low, use a cool iron