Welcome back everyone!

I experienced a phenomenon I haven’t had in a while: being a Plus One for 2 weddings in the same month. 🙂

From my many hours of reading fashion magazines & web sites, shopping for a wedding guest outfit can be a daunting & frustrating life moment, especially when you don’t have a high-end budget for high-end designer looks.

Fortunately for me, I am a home sewing enthusiast with a large pattern collection to work with.

Here is the first outfit I made.

Since I decided to sew my own outfits for these 2 weddings, I wanted to go slightly out of my comfort zone and picked a jumpsuit to make for the 1st wedding. I had 4 yards of this lightweight cotton fabric in pistachio green with a silver pinstripe embroidery that would be perfect for a late summer wedding. All I needed was some backing fabric to cut down on the translucent quality so I looked through my pattern collection for a jumpsuit designed to accommodate sheer fabrics. This McCall’s jumpsuit set has a sleeveless option (C) as well as an option using sheer fabrics in its construction (A). I decided to make the sleeveless jumpsuit but use the sheer romper’s instructions to sew it.

First I made a toile of just the bodice so I could see how the design & pattern size worked on my figure. The neckline looked too deep to wear a bra so this bodice would need to be close-fitting, and the shoulder seams were too wide without altering them shorter. This is why sewers practice on cheap muslin first, lol. Imagine diving in right away with the real fabric only to end up with a garment that is unwearable.

Finally I got the fit right in the bodice so I could start on the jumpsuit with the real fabric choice. The instructions were simple to follow and I had an easy time putting the pieces together. The only challenges I encountered from constructing the jumpsuit was handling the raw edges and inserting the invisible zipper properly. The fabric I used for this project frays easily so I put in the extra effort making French seams and zig-zag stitches along the seam allowance for a cleaner look.

I’m grateful how the jumpsuit turned out in the end. The bodice fit closely with the shoulder seams sitting properly on my frame while the length sits neatly above the hip. The pant length is long enough to wear with heels without tripping, but the pant crotch could’ve used a bit more length to accommodate the high-sitting bodice. Next time, lol.

Okay one wedding guest outfit down, one more to go. 🙂