Designer Stitch Eden Jumpsuit

Today's project is brought to you partly thanks to the #sewtogetherforsummer challenge, which is hosted on Instagram by Sarah, Suzy and Monika, as that gave me the push to stop thinking about sewing a jumpsuit and actually get on with it. Jumpsuits are quite popular in the sewing community at the moment so there are a fair few patterns to choose from, but I decided that I'd start my jumpsuit journey with the Designer Stitch Eden pattern.

Eden has a V-neck bodice, with sleeveless or cold shoulder sleeve options, an elasticated waist, tie belt, pockets and relaxed fit legs. It can be cut to playsuit or cropped trouser length, and also comes with a separate waistband piece so you can make elasticated waist trousers as well as the jumpsuit/playsuit.

It has different bodice pieces for B, C, D and DD cups, with 11 sizes ranging from 32" to 52" bust.

This was my first time using a Designer Stitch pattern, and I'll admit that I didn't get the best first impression of the pattern and there were initially a few things I found a bit annoying.

Firstly, I sent the A0 version of the pattern to be printed (I used Dotty Print this time, and would happily use them again) but even in this version you have to stick two of the sheets together because each of the leg pieces are split across two sheets (each leg piece could fit on one). The instructions also tell you to stick all 4 A0 sheets together, which seems a bit crazy to me because that would make a fairly unwieldy pattern sheet! It also seemed like there was a lot of wasted space between the pattern pieces compared with other patterns I've used.

The pieces aren't always clearly labelled - for example the waistband piece doesn't indicate that it's only needed for the trouser option (the waist elastic casing on the jumpsuit is formed from the seam allowances). That is clear from the cutting layouts in the instructions, but it would be helpful to have it noted on the pattern pieces too.

I also noticed a few typos - for example, the quick step sewing guide at the start that lists the steps that are relevant for each version includes the steps for sewing just the trouser option under both of the jumpsuit options, and the steps for sewing the cold shoulder sleeves on the sleeveless version. Also, unless there was something odd about the printing on my version, on the trouser pattern pieces the "allowance" of "hem allowance" is written incorrectly as both "llowane" and "allowane".

None of these things are really a big problem individually, but all combined together they didn't fill me with confidence about the pattern at first.

Thankfully, things improved once I got on with the actual sewing process and it was a more positive experience. The body measurements and finished garment measurements are some of the most detailed I've seen, which helps to make sure you're picking the right size. The instructions are fairly clear and simple, and I didn't have any problem sewing my Eden jumpsuit.

In terms of sizing, based on my measurements (bust 38", waist 32", hip 42") I cut a size 4 at the bust, blending out to a 5 at the waist and hip. I'm 5'9", and I lengthened the bodice pieces by 2 inches - while lengthening bodice pieces is normal for me, that's more length than I usually add. The trousers were a fairly good length on me, but I used a slightly larger hem (2" instead of 1 1/4") as that hits my legs at a better point.

The only other change I made was to use a 16" zip instead of the 20" zip recommended in the pattern. I did this because it means that my zip finishes above the waistband - when I made a toile, I found it a bit of a pain to do the zip up over the elasticated waistband and with the amount of ease in the waistband I found there was no need to undo the zip below the waist. That might not be the case if you have a bigger difference between waist and hip measurements, but it could be worth a try!

The fabric I used is a rose print chambray that I bought locally in a shop that doesn't have a website, but I have seen similar fabrics available online (although typically I can't find any now!).

I wasn't entirely sure how much I'd like wearing a jumpsuit, but I'm happy to report that I really love my finished Eden. It has all the practicality of trousers, whilst still giving you the ease of just being able to put on one garment and feel put together that you get from a dress. In spite of my initial reservations about the pattern, I really enjoyed the actual sewing process and I'd happily use Designer Stitch patterns again. The definitive sign of success is that as soon as I'd worn this for the first time, I started plotting other versions of the Eden jumpsuit to add to my sewing queue. So all in all, this one is definitely a winner and there will be another jumpsuit or two in my future!

Noodlehead Traverse Bag

Today's project, a Noodlehead Traverse bag, has been gradually brewing in my mind for a few months. Back in February when I was tidying up my fabric stash, I realised that I had a fairly sizeable chunk left of the canvas (from Sew Me Sunshine, but now sold out) that I used to make a backpack last summer. I resolved that as soon as the weather was more appropriate for the print, I'd have to make another bag so that the fabric didn't go to waste.

It took me a while to decide what would be the right pattern to make the best use of the amount of fabric that I had available - I wanted to use as much of the leftover canvas as possible, but also make a bag that I'd definitely find useful.

In the end the Traverse bag was the winner, as it's very similar in style to a bag that I already own that's now looking a bit tired because it's been used so much, and I've sewn Noodlehead patterns before so I knew that I could trust it to be an enjoyable project.

The Traverse bag is a crossbody bag with a main zippered compartment with interior slip pocket, back zippered pocket, and a front pocket with flap closure. The bag comes in two sizes - the regular size which I made, and a mini size.

The regular is a good size for me to use as my day-to-day bag, with plenty of space for all my essentials (wallet, notebook, a little pouch with lip balm and stuff, umbrella (definitely essential for the current British summer!), shopping bag, etc.), and the added bonus of being able to fit in a small bottle of water.

I always find that one of the trickiest parts of making a bag is gathering together all of the supplies and making sure that everything will look right together. Thankfully for me, I also had a decent amount of the lining fabric that I used for last year's backpack so that was the obvious choice for the lining.

I decided to highlight the black and gold in the print in the zips/hardware/piping, as although the turquoise/blue in the print is much more of a "me" colour that would have been harder to match. Not that all of the golds match each other or the print exactly, but they're close enough. The supplies that I didn't have in my stash were gathered together from a variety of small local shops, and an ebay order when I couldn't find a 14" black/gold metal zip locally.

I also decided to buy a leather strap from Etsy instead of making a fabric one. This isn't a cheap option, but I think it makes the bag look more professional. It also made more sense for me in terms of colours for this project because I didn't want a black strap because I thought any more black than I was already using would make the bag look less summery than I wanted, but truly "gold" fabric would have been hard to come by.

Once I had all my supplies gathered together, cutting out all the pieces also caused me a bit of a headache. The pattern mainly just lists sizes of pieces to cut out, with a pattern piece for the front flap. I'm used to that from other bag patterns so that didn't bother me, but working out how to fit all of the pieces onto my slightly oddly shaped leftover pieces of fabric required a bit of pattern tetris! Thankfully it all worked out, and with only very small scraps left.

The sewing process was pretty hassle free. As I expected from previous experience of Noodlehead patterns, the instructions were all very clear and I always felt like I knew what I was doing. The only thing I struggled with slightly was sewing through all of the layers where the strap holders join on to the main bag, and that was only an issue because my sewing machine objected to the thickness of the many layers I was asking it to sew through. A little gentle cajoling was needed, but I got there in the end!

The pattern is very good in terms of giving you a bag that feels well put together, and also offers lots of useful pockets and compartments.

My finished Traverse bag looks really good I think - and I've already had a couple of people be surprised that I made it so I'm obviously not alone there! While garment sewing is always going to be my first love, I do also really enjoy making bags every now and then for a bit of a change so it was a fun project to work on. I've been using it pretty much every day since I finished making it, so I think we can definitely call that a success, don't you?