Summertime Playsuit!

The final product!

I’ve secretly been attracted to the notion of the “playsuit” for a while now – so frivolous and carefree, and a little bit silly! To me, they just scream fun and summer and ice-creams and sunshine.

I decided I was overdue for one, and what better time than during New Year’s  summer celebrations?  It was meant to be when this this cotton watermelon fabric that I had been eyeing off for a while came on sale at Spotlight. At just over $3 per meter, how could I resist?

Of course, I didn’t actually have a pattern, but I did have a vision. The resulting garment is a hybrid, using the bottom half of a “sportsuit” from a 1956 Australian Home Journal for the shorts (and yes, I feel there is a slight difference between a play suit and a sports suit) and the Sweetheart Sundress bodice from Gertie’s New Book for Better Sewing.

“Sport Suit” pattern, Australian Home Journal, 1956

All along I knew I wanted shirring in the back – added comfort with lots of ease combined with a snug fit to maximise the ‘play’ factor. Serendipitously, Gertie’s bodice even had instructions on how to adapt her back bodice for this very purpose. Moving the zip to the side for both the shorts and the bodice was the only major change.

Full of virtuous intentions fuelled by the extremely new year, I was diligent and prepared a calico toile  for the bodice.  A few minor adjustments were required, mainly in the bust area to compensate for my lack of bustiness. This was simply a bit of pinching in the side seams and centre front seam. I had made the shorts before, so I knew that the side seams would need taking in, as the pattern isn’t my size. As the fabric isn’t of high quality, I lined the front of the bodice with a plain white cotton to give it a bit more body and structure.

I was worried that this bodice style wouldn’t suit me. I am not very busty, and this bodice sort of calls for it. I was concerned that it would all look a little pathetic. However, I think the gathered detail on the front creates the illusion of more, and I was pleasantly surprised!

This should have been a relatively simple and quick project, but for some reason I just made lots of stupid mistakes which required a lot of unpicking. Probably the fact that I was combining two different patterns didn’t help the situation – I sewed the shorts on three times before I felt the fit was OK. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the back bodice piece might be upside down. I’m not going to undo all that shirring to find out though! I gave the whole thing a bit of a lift by using some old white bias binding I had lying around as contrast around the bodice band, shorts hem and shoulder straps. These were all finished by hand, so that was also quite time consuming.  It was a super hot day when I made this –  over 40 degrees –  sweaty hands do not make for easy hand stitching!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the final product.  I’m not sure how many playsuits I actually need, but if I did make it again, I would make the crotch a little longer (I had to do a very narrow seam to try and get a bit more length), but it’s OK.  I would definitely recommend this bodice pattern – I think I’ll be using it down the track for a dress or two!

Holidays are over and I’m now back at work, so I’m not entirely sure when/where I’ll have the opportunity to wear it, but hopefully there will be some nice weekend weather before summer ends. The only problem is, I’m so fair, that I don’t usually expose this much skin, as I tend to burn to a crisp!