by Max Donos What do you wear on a long-haul flight to stay comfortable, but stylish? Naturally, you want soft and stretchy pants and a top you could wrap into. Add some other requirements, like warmth, resistance to wrinkles, versatility and presentability. My partner discovered she had no clothes that matched this demand, hence the project I present to you today. The travel-ready jersey pant suit.
The inspiration for design came from Elie Saab’s resort 2022 collection, a cropped double-breasted jacket and white leg high waist pant in black fabric with white trim and prominent metal buttons. To achieve the look, I used Burda Style 6573 pant pattern and adapted a peacoat pattern from Burda Style magazine of January 2009, model 109. A trip to Fabricville brought me joy with wonderful selection of fall/winter fabrics. After a long deliberation, we narrowed our choice down to black Mellisa heavy knit (MD3420) and ivory Ponti di Roma (YY761) for a cozy travel-ready jersey pant suit.
As for the suit pant, I did not make any changes to the pattern, but cinched the waist about 3 cm and shortened the leg after the try on. The jacket, on the other hand, required extensive adjustments. First, I made the front overlap wider (up to the front side seam line) and raised the lapel break line about 5 cm higher. Then, added a little curve to the lapel edge and spread the collar about 5 cm (the pattern half piece, for a total of 10 cm). I also decided to make the white trim 3 cm wide. After I drew all the style lines, I copied black and white pieces separately and made separate lining pattern pieces. To accommodate the thicker fabric, I added about 3 mm extra to top collar piece, top of facing pieces (in the lapel area) and bottom of front piece where it meets the facing pieces. This extra fabric ensured that pieces of different colour had enough fabric to wrap around the seams.
Sleeve pattern pieces seemed a little long after I copied them. So, before I decided where to place the white trim, I cut the sleeve in lining, basted it into the jacket shell and tried it on. Fair enough, I had to shorten the sleeve by 6 cm. Only after that I was able to fix the sleeve pattern pieces and nail the trim placement.
The fabrics were a joy to cut. They did not crease, and, in case they needed smoothing, a generous amount of steam did the job. There was no shrinkage, nor colour bleeding. I am in heaven!
Before I committed to the interfacing, I tested a few samples. In the picture, you will see a piece of cloth without fusible interfacing, and then 2 pieces with fusible applied. One piece has weft insertion fusible, and another has knit fusible. The weft insertion interfacing is a woven, has some body to it and, once applied to the knit, removes all stretching ability. The knit interfacing has stretch in one direction, is fairly thin and, once applied, maintained the elasticity of the fabric in one direction. I opted for the knit interfacing for this project.
Once I cut the pant pieces, I tested how my sewing machine will handle this spongy heavy knit Mellisa fabric. I tried it on the industrial straight stitch, and it had trouble with skipped stitches. Then, I tried it on a vintage Pfaff domestic machine, and it did not like the fabric as well. I had no choice, but work with the overlock machine, which did a good job up until the thickness of several layers chocked it. Maybe I need a machine upgrade?
I also tried stitching interfaced pieces, and had much more luck, as my straight stitch machine handled them very well.
To stabilize the front of the jacket, I used organza as interlining. It is thin, does not stretch, and once I completed the pad stitching, it gave the lapel a lovely roll. It also helped the lapels from curling up.
The jacket did not give me much trouble. Of course, I had to sew very precisely in the corners where black and white fabrics met. I had to pay attention to all the markings and match them carefully. Indeed, in some places the fabric stretched and I had a few millimetres extra, but I figured those were not crucial and I could hide my dodgy stitching with heavy pressing.
making up of jacket collar
However, when the time came to insert the sleeves, I was in a pickle. The sleeves themselves were not fused and they required easing in. The body of the jacket was fused in the front, but no in the back. I could not use my straight stitch machine. I inserted the sleeves on the overlock machine and only had one go at it. And, I am sorry to admit, the sleeves did not turn out perfect, there were a few tucks. In retrospect, I should have struggled with the straight stitch machine, but should have avoided those tucks. Or, I could have inserted them by hand!
After attaching the collar and installing the facings and lining, the time came for buttons and buttonholes. I opted to make the buttonholes by hand. It was a challenge due to the thickness of the front panels and the mere size of the buttonholes. Thank God I only had 3 to make for this travel-ready jersey pant suit.
The suit looked very good at the final fitting. My partner was happy with the feel of the fabric, how soft and warm it was and how the jacket did not feel stiff. She was glad with the versatility of the pant. However, when the time came to decided how we will style it for the photoshoot, the jacket was covering the top of the pant completely. We needed a top to go with the pant and showcase it. Good thing I picked up 2 meters of off-white polka dot fabric on my last trip to Fabricville. From the previous summer collection, it was a steal, but felt oh so luxurious and draped like real silk. I used pattern 103 from Burda Style magazine from August 2009 to whip up this fabulous pussy bow blouse. All for your viewing pleasure. You are welcome.
