Diary of a Chain Stitcher

How many jumpsuits does one woman need in her wardrobe? If you're me the answer is an awful lot! I was just beginning to think I might have stated my desire to have any more jumpsuits on rotation when Closet Case Patterns released the Blanca Flight Suit . I love the contemporary cut of this and all the little details which Closet Case Patterns do so well. Whilst I love the full on workwear vibe in the denim I felt like the second view with the short sleeve, tie belt and cropped leg I might get a little bit more wear out of. Heather models a sample made up in a linen which I loved the soft, chic yet relaxed vibe of so I hunted down some linen for my own.

After all those garments from my holiday wardrobe I've got something more seasonally appropriate to share with you today...an entirely woollen outfit! The Mandy Boat Tee is a free pattern download from Tessuti Fabrics which is very popular with sewists online. I'm sure many of you have made one already! I've finally jumped on the Mandy train and am wondering what took me so long when I am such a fan of Tessuti's pattern drafting and suggested construction techniques. This top is a slouchy knit style with boat neck, dropped shoulders and close fitting three quarter or full length sleeves. It is a very quick sew and so so easy to wear! I like to wear mine with a high waisted bottom and a french tuck - very Tan France! I think I had been tentative about making this top (despite the rave reviews) as I tend to prefer a more figure skimming silhouette. I'm quite petite and don't go straight up and down so always feel a bit swamped in 'oversized' or ...

I can't remember which image I saw that inspired this top. I possibly spied it on Pinterest or while I was scrolling through Instagram . All I can remember is that I couldn't find a sewing pattern for it! Again I'd limited my options by wanting to make it last minute before holiday so it had to be a PDF download but it sort of surprised me as I felt sure I'd seen many boxy little button up tops with v-necks around. Anyway, admitting defeat I turned to my pattern stash to see what I could use as a starting point. The closest to the vision in my head was the Kalle Shirt & Shirtdress  from Closet Case Patterns . I've made a maxi length version of this before which incidentally I also wore a lot on holiday and got a lot of compliments on! This time around I started with the cropped length of the pattern and I cut the size 8 as before. I'm sort of between the 6 and 8 on my top half and could probably stand to go down to the smaller size but I'm happy ...