Dare I Attempt Another Jumpsuit?

 

As my long-time readers may already know,  I've had very mixed results with one-piece garments.

 

I love the idea of the jumpsuit and I've sewn a couple, but the first one (below), made more than 10 years ago, looked too much like a space suit (and was too tight in the butt to be honest), and the second one, blue linen and made for the Mood Sewing Network in 2015, while more successful than my first attempt, didn't feel quite right either: it was too baggy.

Still, I think McCalls 2054 (top pic), a cosplay flight suit pattern from 2016 (still in print I believe) may have possibilities.  It has some of the features of a real flight suit--like the gray one I found in the trash summer of 2014  (sadly not my size).  Lots of Velcro and zippered pockets.

I whipped up a muslin of the McCall's pattern a few days ago: it fit pretty well in the chest but the legs looked too full.

I made a few minor adjustments and here's the more tailored version.

I've decided to take a stab at this using some stretch cotton twill I bought by mistake from It's a Material World on 39th St.  Normally I don't buy stretch wovens but I didn't carefully test the fabric in the store.  I have more than three yards and since I'm unlikely to use them for anything else why not for this jumpsuit/flight suit?  (The stretch is horizontal and with careful sewing I hope to avoid wavy seams.)

Today I picked up a zipper (fluorescent orange to go with my topstitching thread) and some khaki Velcro.

I'm going to make a few changes to the original pattern.  I'll likely skip the pockets on the lower legs and I might add slant side pockets, which would require cutting across the two fronts at the waist; currently there's no seam line there.  I could also add front patch pockets (deep enough to put my hands in), which is something you see on a lot of jumpsuits, like this one worn by a woman at the Chelsea Flea Market recently (below), who was actually my inspiration for the entire project: I thought she looked fantastic in it.

So we shall see.  I'm still not convinced this is a going to be a practical garment for me.  But maybe in a fabric that doesn't call too much attention to itself and with a well-tailored fit, I might get a lot of use out of it. 

Wish me luck.

Happy sewing, everybody!

PS -- Read my popular "Jumpsuits for Men -- YEA or NAY" post from 2014 here.