Festive Sirocco Jumpsuit

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you have the mind space to look at one more short Christmas post despite the festivities being over. It turns out, that despite not being very active in documenting my makes throughout 2019, I made a fair amount. Autumn found me in the midst of sewing the Christmas Suit and it prompted a festive themed dress code for the now traditional Christmas dinner with friends. Not being one for festive clothing, I had nothing to wear - no dresses from previous years, no Christmas jumper. A friend planted the seed of a Christmas jumpsuit and I couldn't shake it off until I had made one. One of the sewing highlights of the year for me was the release of the Sirocco Jumpsuit by Deer and Doe. I knew instantly that this was the jumpsuit I had been desiring and didn't hesitate in purchasing the pattern. It was the obvious choice for this make if I could find a decent festive jersey. 

After a prolonged search where I considered cute baby owls wrapped in scarves and bright cars travelling home with real Christmas trees on their roofs, I eventually settled on this print from Stoff & Stil. The jersey is wonderful - it's soft, cosy, and has great stretch recovery. The print is horizontal but there is enough happening that you can easily get away without lining up it up when cutting out. I didn’t spent too much time worrying about lining everything up. I was careful with the front bodice as you don't want a misplaced bauble, do you?

Stitching the jumpsuit was fairly quick and easy. With the exception of under stitching the pocket facing and hemming, I sewed this on my overlocker. I'm not that experienced in sewing with stretch fabrics and took my time at the overlocker to ensure that I didn't stretch any of the pieces, especially the neckband. I did accidentally stretch out the pockets when under stitching the facing. You can spot this when the jumpsuit is laid flat but I don't think it's noticeable when I'm wearing it. Hemming was a breeze - for once, the twin needle on my Janome behaved itself fully. This is actually my second Sirocco and I made one minor change to the fit. I raised the bodice by three centimetres which made a significant difference to the previous fit. At some point soon I will be unpicking the overlocking at the waistband of my first version. I hate unpicking overlocked thread but the much improved fit will be worth the time and effort.

 I was excited by this make until I got to the end. I worried that it looked too much like pyjamas. I intended for it to be like wearing secret pyjamas but I didn't want to look like I was actually wearing them. I was a little fearful about wearing it out in public. When I don’t like a make, I tend to wear the item at home alone for a few hours to see if my thoughts change. It wasn't until I paired the jumpsuit with a pair of heels that I began to love it. It is amazingly comfortable to wear and I began to think that it would become a second skin - I wore it three times in six days. I'm now slightly sad that I will be putting away until the end of this year. To make up for it, I will be accelerating plans for a third version. I was lucky enough to receive some gorgeous petrol blue bamboo jersey for my birthday in November which is destined to be a Sirocco.