Every now and then, I get the itch to make something that is a bit of a departure from my usual style. Maybe it will be a fitted sheath dress that captures my imagination, or a floaty smock top that catches my eye… or maybe it will be an oversized boilersuit! I have made a few jumpsuits for myself in the past and I made my husband Simon a denim boilersuit late last year, but I have never made an oversized, relaxed-fit garment for myself. I was a bit concerned that this would swamp me, as I am only about 5’4″ on a good day, but I really am digging the final look!
After browsing around online, I was really inspired by a fern green boilersuit from Joanie Clothing; I wanted to make something quite similar, but with a few tweaks. Boilersuits are usually made up in hard-wearing, heavier-weight fabrics, like drill, canvas, denim, and twill, so finding the right fabric was going to be key to the success of this sewing project.
Luckily, I found the perfect fabric by Mind The MAKER — an organic cotton medium-weight twill, blended with a small amount of elastane to give the fabric a decent level of stretch. The colourway ‘Chalky Green’ was a perfect match to my inspiration, as it isn’t as deep a shade as the ‘Forest Green’ and isn’t as bright a shade as the ‘Jolly Green’.
Image source: Joanie Clothing
Choosing a pattern to recreate my inspiration was actually pretty easy, as there were some key design features I wanted to have (namely, a zip front, a collar with a collar stand, and a belt tie waist) and I could whittle down my list of potential patterns based on that. I landed on the FibreMood Leah pattern, which was my first foray into FibreMood patterns and certainly won’t be my last! The Leah Boilersuit has all the hallmarks of a classic workwear jumpsuit, with plenty of top-stitching and an oversized fit with a good deal of ease factored in. Bottom-weight fabrics like cotton, denim and corduroy are recommended for this jumpsuit, so I knew my stretch cotton twill would be the perfect match. One thing to note about FibreMood patterns is that seam allowance isn’t included in the pattern pieces. They recommend adding a ⅜” seam allowance, but I used my Stitch Buzz tool to quickly add a ⅝” seam allowance.
I made a size 40 with minimal adjustments. I shortened the leg length by 2″ and as you can see from the photos, I still need to cuff them to get them to hit my ankle. I also shortened the sleeves to better recreate my inspiration, but I unhelpfully didn’t note down how much 😅 I flat-felled some of my seams for a clean finish and also faced my yoke with some leftover cotton stretch sateen from my scraps box. There are some sewing techniques I do on instinct now, regardless if they are included in the instructions, and a burrito yoke is one that I love the most (even though I would much rather just eat a burrito). I just think the finishing touches on the inside of handmade garments are really what elevates them from what you can buy on the high street.
I struggled to find a closed-end 55cm zip in the right colourway; I ordered a couple that looked like the right shades of green online, but when they arrived, they were both a muddy khaki shade. Grrr. In the end, I think I found this one on eBay and it is… very bright green. I am pretty ambivalent about it.
I am really happy with the fit, although I think I really should have made a muslin of the trousers, as the rise is quite low on me, although not enough to really bother me. This boilersuit is really comfy and I still have a full range of motion, but I need to challenge myself and start making fitting adjustments to trousers! The pockets at the hip are a great size for stashing essentials, like a phone, a debit card and a Twix, although I kind of wish there were some welt pockets at the back too. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, especially for setting in the zip, but I do think this is a more intermediate project for a sewist; there is a lot of topstitching and you need to sew through multiple thick layers at points. I would recommend using a similar substrate as mine, as the stretch fibres woven into this cotton twill make this extra comfortable to wear and move in. I wore this boilersuit to see Dessa at her most recent gig in London (fun fact: she was also wearing a boilersuit and she was incredible) and could jump and dance to my heart’s content.
Fibre Mood Leah Boilersuit
Size 32 – 58
Full Bust: 29.9″- 55.1″
Waist: 26″- 50″
Hips: 33.9″- 55.1″
