Wearing or sewing a bodysuit – in this case, the Fibre Mood Cheryl (affiliate link) – wasn’t ever really on my list. I’ve never worn one (ready-to-wear ones never fit) and the snap closures remind me of the baby onesies that my kids had. So I didn’t make this because I really wanted to – I made it because I’m doing a sewalong for Fibre Mood to make the Fibre Mood Cheryl and wanted to run through the construction. It is a happy accident that now I’m a total bodysuit convert!
Fibre Mood Cheryl pattern
As someone who often layers with turtlenecks under button-down shirts, I’m delighted to have another alternative! I read before that long sleeve tees are a great layering tool generally but I never really got on with them, they just felt like pyjamas. Turns out, I was just waiting for a formfitting bodysuit that doesn’t come untucked and adds no bulk under anything. (For the sake of showing the fit I took these photos without any extra layers). Ps. the stars in the line drawing represent the difficulty level of the pattern in this case 2 out of 5.
Fit and modifications
This green version is my second attempt and I made quite some modifications to make it fit. My first attempt was size S since I’m always somewhere between S and XS in Fibre Mood. This was the wrong choice for a fitted garment – it turned out too big around the shoulders. But happily I found several other things I wanted to change from making the first one. So here’s what I did for attempt number 2 and I’m super happy with the fit now.
- Sized down to XS
- Took 1cm off the shoulder seam both front and back
- Added 1cm on both sides to make the neckline less wide, blend into the V point in the front and U shape at the back. Measure the neckline and shorten the neckband piece accordingly
- Flattened out the sleeve head a bit because the armhole became 2cm shorter.
- Shorten the sleeve by 2cm
- Lengthened the body by 1.5 cm (XS is drafted for 160 cm height, S is for 164cm).
- Redrew the leg holes completely to be hipster cut since the original was reeeeeally high cut which doesn’t work at all for me (personal preference). Nothing scientific, just put it on and then followed the underwear line as best as I could.
Whew!!! The main pattern pieces looked quite different at the end as you can see.
Fabric choice for Fibre Mood Cheryl
Rib knit works really well, I imagine anything with a good amount of recovery (ie bounces back from being stretched out) and is fairly firm will work. The green one came in 140cm wide in the jersey section. But I made my first attempt from what looked like cuffing and it was only about 80cm wide. It didn’t have a lot of vertical stretch (also supporting my need to add a bit of length to the XS version).
Construction notes
Neckband
The neckband is overlocked on one long edge. The unfinished edge is then sewn to the neckline with a sewing machine (no overlocker, nothing needs to stretch and you don’t need the extra bulk) and then folded over to the wrong side. Stitch in the ditch from the right side. The V is a little tricky so be sure to follow the instructions closely. I’d also suggest basting it into position before stitching in the ditch. Even then it shifted on me slightly so you can see my imperfect finish on the wrong side.
Leg holes
The raw edge is just folded over and stitched down with a coverstitch or a zigzag. Of course, it gets a bit stretched out with wear, but it bounced back after being in the wash. I saw Netta adding picot elastic to the legholes to prevent this problem and I think I will go back and adopt it!
Bodysuit closures
Whilst I don’t have any baby rompers in my house to check bodysuit construction, I do recall they used snaps. The instructions call for 20mm twill tape and snaps which is what I did on the purple version. For the green one I bought ready-made tape with snaps already in them. I think it might be called popper tape? That did not work out well. The spacing of the snaps didn’t match the width of the crotch, I needed a zip foot to sew it on. Then it was too bulky to fold over so I “finished” the edge with fray check … As for the colours, it was just what my local shop had so there was no matching going on!
Modern Sewing Co Worker Trousers
This version is my second take, see my Minvera post for the first one where I also cover the flat butt adjustment I did. This lilac fabric is stretch denim and I absolutely love how it has some extra give. I particularly like that the trouser pattern isn’t super high waist and has a curved waistband. By the time I took these photos it’s been worn and washed quite a few times already and I can confirm that it all feels very comfortable!
Till next time
Kate x