Sewing my first Jazz jumpsuit by Ready to Sew was a bit of an impulse project. I have been planning for a year now to make myself the long-sleeved playsuit version out of gingham, but never found the right kind. Last summer I bought myself some different coloured cotton double gauzes from Ditto Fabrics in Brighton, I used the mustard one to make a Peppermint Peplum top, but had the biggest amount (2 metres) in a sea green colour way. I haven't been sure what pattern would suit the colour so it has stayed untouched in my stash. I went back home to cat sit for my family cats last week so chose some projects to take with me cut out. In the mood for a new summery jumpsuit, I settled on the double gauze.
I have made some of this pattern before, when I hacked a top out of the sleeveless bodice. The numerous variations; sleeves, trousers, shorts, skirt, or sleeveless, make the pattern so versatile and yet the shapes are so simple. I encountered a few issues along the way, but I would definitely make this again. I'm thinking of hacking another top, this time long sleeved like my jumpsuit and without a peplum/gathered waist. I french seamed the whole thing and I'm so glad, because double gauze frays so much and is so delicate. I was worried that it would be hard to do as you can't iron the seams, but it's really easy to fold them over. The texture of the fabric means it stays in place and so it's easy to finger press and sew even without pins on some seams.
The sleeves
My first problem was the shape and size of the sleeve openings. I think this may be down to my fabric choice, I think perhaps the pattern pieces stretched because of all the crinkles in the fabric so my pieces ended up bigger than they should have been. The opening of the sleeve was just so huge, it didn't look like how I've seen it in the photos. It was so wide that there was hardly any gathering needed for it to fit the size of the sleeve bands.
I really like a gathered sleeve opening from having done one for my Jain by I Am Patterns, but that used a different technique. For I am Jain you create a hem and feed thin elastic through the channel which creates gathers. I think this is a much cleaner and easier way of creating this look. Jazz's sleeves are supposed to be wider, but I think it just didn't marry well with this fabric, and instead would be better with linen or something less squishy.
I thought I would see what the sleeve looked like if I inserted some elastic into the band, but the band is so wide that it just looked lumpy and frumpy and didn't do much to create gathers.
I decided to unpick the bands from the end, as I really didn't like them, and make a hem. While I made the rest of the jumpsuit I was choosing between keeping the hem untouched, or feeding through some elastic like I Am Jain. The elastic looked really nice done in this way, but in the end I decided to go for something different and keep them flared.
Waist seam gathering
Issue number two. After having constructed the bodice and some of the trouser seams, you join the two pieces together at the waist by gathering the trousers to fit the width of the bodice. Sadly, my trousers were only slightly bigger than the bodice which meant only very subtle gathering could happen. On top of this, the front section, where front bodice and front trousers meet, didn't require any gathering because they were exactly the same size! This is definitely a "mistake" and I wonder if it is my fabric stretching out or if it's the pattern. I was sad about this because I was looking forward to the front gathers, and it seems odd to have them only in the back.
The zip
Despite these little things, it was going well, but I was put back with zip difficulties and it took me quite a bit longer to finish. The pattern stipulates a very long 60cm zip. I could only find 56cm from my haberdashery, so bought this size. The zip goes all the way down through the waist seam.
While inserting the invisible zip into the back seam, I didn't think to make sure that the waist seam on either side matched up, and because you have to sew one side of the zip from neck to crotch, and the other side in the opposite direction, the fabric is pushed by the sewing machine and moves. My waist seam therefore did not match up either side. I was so happy with my invisible zip insertion only to close it and see this;
At first I thought that it was the waist seam itself that didn't line up and was thinking about having to undo my french seams. But I realised that it was the way the zip was sewn on because when I looked at the crotch pieces, the right hand side (which is the higher up side) crotch piece was also higher up:
Obviously I was going to have to unpick and re sew the zip in some capacity, but I couldn't think how to avoid the same thing happening again. A lovely person on instagram suggested a tutorial to avoid this- and it looks like a great solution. In the end I didn't use this idea as I decided that I would just insert a shorter zip that stops before it hits the waist seam, as I could get into the jumpsuit with this much space (I checked) as the back is quite long. I didn't want to have to re-sew it if it was a tiny bit out, even after following the tutorial, as the fabric is delicate and I had already sewn the zip twice.
@minimalistmachinist suggested that I just cut the zip instead of buying a new, shorter one, which was a great idea. I did this, but I still unpicked the whole thing, both sides, so that I attached it evenly.
I still wanted to french seam the back seam below the zip, so looked up how to do this. This tutorial is very good. It isn't quite 'seamless' as you can tell something is going on with the angle of the fabric at the seam in that tricky part directly below the end of the zip. I hand sewed the seam up to the zipper teeth because there was no way the machine was getting any where near. The folds in the fabric are very forgiving and hide most of this awkwardness, but it still bothers me, I'd like to be able to achieve a more seamless finish in future.
Reflections
I love this jumpsuit- the double gauze is a perfect combination for the pattern. The lightness and softness of the fabric coupled with the fact this pattern is very loose with no tight points makes it truly like wearing a cloud, these are definitely secret pyjamas. This will be perfect for hot weather as it'll breathe and won't cling, but also provides coverage from the sun. It's a shame about the gathers at the front, I'd really like to make the pattern again and see what happens.
I made a size 38 and really like the fit; it's roomy but not too baggy, I love the depth of the V neck, and the trousers are surprisingly wide legged. The fabric works really well with the statement sleeves and wide legs because of its floatiness and the its texture lifts the simple shape. It's so comfortable that I feel very casual wearing it, but I think the result is also pretty glam and I can imagine wearing this to a party/formal event. I would love to make one in black double gauze.
I don't have many things in this colour in my wardrobe, despite loving these hues of green for other things. I was a bit worried it wouldn't suit me but I'm really pleased in the end. It nearly exactly matches the colour of my Kanken!
One other minor issue I encountered was that the centre front waist seam seemed to droop down to create a slight V shape, despite stitching looking completely straight from the inside. I redid the line of stitching several times but it was hard to tell if it really improved. I think it's slightly better now, but you can still see the V. I think it may be due to the fabric drooping and being pulled by the crotch seam and therefore, unavoidable. It's not hugely noticeable anyway.
Pattern: Jazz, Ready to Sew (S. 36)
Fabric: 2m of Double Gauze in Sea Green from Ditto Fabrics