I don’t make many jumpsuits, but I decided that making a jumpsuit with Simplicity 3011 would be the perfect challenge. Not only that, but after the first completion, I decided to “hack” the pattern into a two piece set!
The First Jumpsuit
The first jumpsuit was made as the pattern stated. There were some minor changes made to the pattern in order to try to get the fit right. My usual change for pants would be to raise the front crotch seam by about 1/2″, which is what was done here. But this pattern did offer some unique challenges.
Originally the sleeves of this were very long and the cuffs made them even longer. I removed the cuffs, shortened the sleeves by about 2″, then reattached the cuffs. because I wanted the sleeve to have the blouson effect, I tightened the cuffs by increasing the seam allowance to 1-1/4″, basically doubling the standard 5/8″.
The only “problem” I had with this pattern (which really wasn’t much of a problem in the end) was putting the zipper in. Because I haven’t done many garments with zippers in knit fabrics, it would have been easier to add some additional interfacing along the opening.
The pants portion of the jumpsuit is lined with a knit tricot. This is a type of fabric that’s often used for lining lingerie. That lining gives the pants the coverage I wanted and the perfect amount of extra weight it needs.
Here are some ways that I styled this jumpsuit. All of these jackets are made by me.
The Second Jumpsuit
Since making a jumpsuit with Simplicity 3011 went so well once, I did it again. This time I made some modifications. My one piece became two pieces.
The zipper was shortened to about 12″. I then closed the rest of the seam that would have been a part of the zipper opening. Since jumpsuits are made in two pieces anyway, the actual separation was easy. I wanted the bottom (waist) of the top to have elastic to give it that look of a one piece.
Because the material was thicker, this two-piece was not lined. The fabric is a brushed two-tone sweater knit. It’s super soft and easy to sew. The top portion was lowered by 1-1/4″ while the waistline at the pants was raised 1-1/4″.
Both of these were sewn primarily with the serger.
Let me know if you have any questions about this process. It was fairly easy and quick to do.
Here is the video I made about this project…
