This is the McCall’s 7908 jumpsuit in stretchy denim. It pretty much combines a lot of current trends: it’s a jumpsuit with a bit of that utilitarian boilersuit look about it, and it has wide, cropped legs. No pats on the back for me, who in theory would like to sew more timeless pieces, but who in practice often jumps on the trendy bandwagon. (But you know what? Sometimes trendy things are so much more fun to sew, don’t you think?)

Current trends notwithstanding, this would have been the perfect entry for the #flashbacksewingchallenge, being very 70s in its denim jumpsuit glory. (This is the exact outfit I needed when some students asked me and a couple of other profs to star in their Charlie’s Angels spoof a couple of years ago. If you’re too young to remember Charlie’s Angels, which aired on TV from 1976 to 1981, go have a look at some iconic OGs of badass female special agents.) But I forgot to post it before the closing date for the #flashbacksewingchallenge, which was yesterday. So I’m just gonna have my own little vintage sewing contest over here all by myself. Oh look, I won! Yay, me!

There’s a flaw in the fabric that you can see on the right leg in the pic above. I embraced the flaw as an ode to ‘sustainable sewing’. Ok, really, I embraced the flaw because I had no choice if I was going to get this jumpsuit out of the fabric I had on hand. I originally bought the fabric several years ago to make a denim skirt, and they threw in a bit extra because of that flaw. I had even cut out most of the pieces for the skirt and sewn the back together. Then it sat in a bag in the basement for a few years. I finally realized that my heart was not in the skirt project but the denim would be perfect for this jumpsuit. With some mad Tetris skills, I was able to just barely eke out all the pieces I needed.

Notice the sleeve below: it looks like it has two shoulder seams as well as a centre seam. Those are the flat-felled seams of back yoke and back centre seam of the skirt I was part-way through making. I had to leave those seams as-is. I don’t think it detracts from the jumpsuit; if anything, it’s a unique-to-me design element.

Another unique-to-me design element is a result of laziness and indecision. (Hands up, all you sewists who know exactly whereof I speak!!!!) I decided I wanted to use hot pink topstitching, so I did that on the bodice. After making the bodice, I was unsure if it was the right choice. My old friends laziness and indecision pushed me to just go ahead and sew the rest of the jumpsuit without the pink topstitching.

Me: “Should I rip the topstitching out?”
Laziness: “Too much trouble.”
Indecision: “I dunno.”

Me: “Ok then, should I keep sewing the rest with pink topstitching?”
Laziness: “Too much trouble.”
Indecision: “I dunno.”

Me: [just keeps sewing] “La la la la…..”

Sorry, these pics are pretty crap. My camera’s auto-exposure kinda blows a gasket when I’m wearing dark clothes against my very pale skin.

I would have liked to have made the pants full-length, but lack of fabric put that option out of the question. As it is, I used as much length as was available, and I should probably hem them a little shorter just to make them looked like they’re actually supposed to be cropped. Overall I didn’t spend too much time fitting (and I think it shows — that bodice is too roomy), and sometimes I think I should put more effort into perfecting things. But mostly I just accept that this is how I roll and enjoy myself. 🙂

Overall, I’d really recommend this pattern. I felt rather stylish while I was out and about in the city in it. If you want to see a killer version of this pattern, click on over to my Clothes Making Mavens co-host Helena’s site to see what it looks like in the hands of a design genius and highly skilled seamstress!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

— Lori