It took a lot of faith in the "Great British Summer" to plan and make this jumpsuit when the sky has been permanently grey so far this year. But it's finally here, both my finished jumpsuit and the sunshine! Here are a few snaps of me enjoying a sunny stroll around my friends allotment. It felt like being in a chateau garden in the south of France rather than the London suburbs!

I used the I Am Valerie pattern in a size 46. It's an oversized jumpsuit designed to be super loose so I didn't need to do much fitting beyond adjusting the straps to the right length so it was really quick to sew up. The jumpsuit is meant to be full length but I made it in a midi length instead which I prefer. The belt is not part of the pattern. I made this myself to give me the choice between wearing it oversized or cinched in at the waist.

The print on this Minerva exclusive crepe back satin is just stunning. I love a bold print and this does not disappoint. Its a black and pink animal print on a vibrant green background printed to look like it has a slight woven/ linen like texture. The contrast between the jewel like dark sapphire green really make the pink cheetah spots pop. The satin really shimmers in the light as you can see in my photos and has a smooth feel and beautiful sheen. It's drapey too but as it's a medium weight fabric it also holds it's shape which is a bonus. It's only printed on the satin side and the crepe side is white which is the colour of the basecloth. This was quite handy though as it made it really easy to see my pattern markings.

I always prewash my fabric to allow for shrinkage before cutting into it. So I washed this on 40 degree cycle (which is what I will wash the jumpsuit on). The fabric did not crease in the wash so after an air dry it was ready to use. I did give it a quick press on a low heat but it didn't really need it. I used my rotary cutter to cut it out and had no issues with the fabric shifting or fraying.

I would recommend using either a Sharps Microtex needle (I used size 60) or a ballpoint needle as I found a standard machine needle snagged the fabric. Both the microtex and ballpoint needles worked fine with the fabric. A bonus of the satin having a crepe back is that the texture of the crepe helps it to stay in place under the presser foot. I did think about putting tissue paper under the foot (for about half a second!) but it didn't need it

I'm excited to get lots of wear out of this over the summer now the weather is brightening up!


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