SEW BOSSY: Salme Patterns Playsuit

A few (many?) months ago I started noticing many of the bloggers I like to read had participated in something called the SEW BOSSY INITIATIVE.

The SEW BOSSY INITIATIVE is the brainchild of Heather from Closet Case Files (of Bombshell Swimsuit Fame) and Oonaballoona from Kalkatroona. Here are the ground rules:

Find a sewist pal whose style you admire and send each other a complete project by mail! This can be a great pattern or stash busting activity and does not have to cost a lot of money. Suggestions to include in the package:

1. A pattern or email link to a PDF pattern
2. Fabric
3. Lining
4. All necessary notions, threads, zippers, etc.
5. Love notes and candy. 

This is the perfect time to pass along a fabric you aren't sure was quite "you", or a pattern you don't feel like grading up.... but more importantly it is a chance to connect and bond with each other while we force ourselves out of our comfort zones and experiment with different colors, styles and ideas. Also, boss someone around their sewing machine. Think of it as the sewing world equivalent of a trust fall.

There are so many bloggers I admire, but if I could be any sewist for a day and be in her brain and steal all of her sewing ideas, it would have to be Kelli from True Bias. She had me at Ikat Blazer. So in October last year, I decided to take the plunge and contact Kelli. She said yes! Phew. It was kinda like asking someone for a date. We agreed to keep it pretty gentle - no hard and fast deadlines. 

I was pretty excited to see what Kelli would send me. When the package arrived, I tore it open extremely quickly. And inside was something I would never have ventured to myself, and I thank Kelli for making me think outside my sartorial boundaries, because I am now the proud owner of an Ikat Salme Patterns Playsuit.. 

Salme Patterns are PDF patterns and don't come with seam allowances, so the pattern required some prep work. Once I'd added the recommended 1cm seam allowances, I muslined the size 38. It needed the following adjustments:

1.  Lengthened the front crotch curve by 3cm.
2. Lengthened the back crotch curve by 2.5cm (to ascertain how much to lengthen by I measured the crotch curve of my Tessuti Chloe Pants - comparing against another pants pattern is my standard way of altering the crotch in pants). 
3. Took in the side seams another 1.5cm in total on each side.
4. Lengthened the shorts by 3cm.
5. Changed the pocket pieces completely. I really didn't like the way they were constructed so I changed the pockets to be constructed as per the Grainline Maritime Shorts - so much easier and neater). 

The Ikat fabric is soooo soft. I want more. A pleasure to sew.

The pattern calls for a purchased belt, and I do have a few nice belts, but I had seen a beautiful wide, colourful trim on Tessuti's Instagram page and knew I wanted to make a belt from it. So I purchased about 90cm, and some 5cm belt spacers from Buttonmania and made a very simple belt. I really like the belt with the playsuit - what do you think?

I admit I was a tad nervous about the logistics of a playsuit. I'm going to come out and say it - would I be able to go to the loo easily enough? I drink a lot of tea, so this is quite a concern for me. I was pleasantly surprised - it is actually quite easy to handle - it is more the belt that is annoying as I have to be a bit gentle with it.

So - Kelli, thank you for bossing me into a playsuit - I now have a playsuit for playing in! Naturally I had to test it's propensity for playing so I climbed our Japanese maple tree in the front yard. In wedges and in front of the neighbour's cool teenage daughter who plays really loud techno music in her car. I can report that the playsuit stood the test of tree climbing.

Make sure you pop over to Kelli's blog to see what I bossed her into making - our time differences mean her post may not be up yet… or maybe it is - I'm hopeless with time differences!

Thanks also to Heather and Oona for hosting the Sew Bossy Initiative - I hope they like what we've made! Are any of you playing along? It is very fun!