TL; DR – The machine you use MATTERS, and I might have to accept that I’m not a jumpsuit person.

I love jumpsuits. Except I have a big chest, a short torso, and I am a little on the short side (AVERAGE HEIGHT I SHOULD SAY). So…jumpsuits don’t always love me back. I saw the Meadow Jumpsuit on Mood, and well, that wrap front? YES PLEASE.

I love a good burgundy, found me some ponte, and got busy making the outfit.

I knew it was going to take longer than usual. For one thing, I’ve never done a notch collar before. For another, I had decided that I had to do straight stitches the entire length of the garment, I was not going to fight with the old machine anymore, I was going to break out the new Brother SM1704.

While there isn’t a stretch stitch on this one and of course they use their own proprietary bobbin, OH MY GOD THIS IS WHAT SEWING IS SUPPOSED TO BE. I was always jealous of all those YouTube videos I would watch to figure out how to do things and their machines just whizzed away, sewing at great speed and ease, while mine chugged along, wheezing. The new machine isn’t any fancier when it comes to the stitches I can do (but it does have a top-loading bobbin!), but man, the motor on this one is SO much better.

And, the top thread doesn’t break all the damn time.

As for the jumpsuit pattern, I learned my lesson from the whole Hazel Coat debacle that I needed to figure out what the finished garment measurements were before doing ANYTHING. So, there I was, deciding between size 16-18 and 20-22. First, let’s look at the difference between the two sizes as compared to the difference between the other sizes. This is one of the pattern pieces for the pant:

As you can see, the smaller sizes kinda get bigger at a steady rate and then BOOM Y’ALL BE HUGE. So, I measured the 16/18 and it was a little snug, so I made a franken-muslin of the pants using leftover fabric from the Kielo and the Axel, and OMG the 20/22 was ENORMOUS on me. I’m not so great as to be able to grade between these two for the ENTIRE PATTERN, so I got out the pattern pieces from my Pukeko pants, and they lined up better with the size 16/18 so I went with that.

Look, the pattern is free, grading is hard, and so I’m glad I took the time to look, but also that I already had a pant pattern that fit to compare it to. The person at Mood said in the comments that she had made a size 20, and I so desperately wanted to know her measurements, but alas. At least I knew it could be flattering on someone who was around my size?

So the directions were good enough as long as you knew how to set a notch collar, which I did not, so I had to hunt around for those tutorials, and the pattern itself didn’t have the markings every single tutorial said that it should have. And, notch collars are hard to get sharp when you’re using a knit fabric on the particularly stretchy side. I’m pretty pleased with the results, all things considered.

The final product is really good. I might still move that bust dart which isn’t even a bust dart as it is nowhere near my bust, but I’m pretty happy with the results! I’m glad I made the smaller of the two sizes, but now regret is kicking in and I’m like, would it had been more flattering had I had some more room, but then again, I’m not sure if I needed 8 extra inches of ease.

This is definitely not a beginner pattern, but as these things go, it wasn’t impossible, and hey, I was going to have to learn how to make a notch collar someday!

Note, however, still have not sewn a zipper.