NewLook Ruffle Jumpsuit
I recently made a ruffle jumpsuit for my daughter using the NewLook 6444 pattern. I usually prefer to use PDF patterns and a projector - if I think I’ll make the item several times, I project onto plastic tablecloth sheets and use these as my pattern pieces. This is particularly helpful if you need to make adjustments to the pattern. I have a massive roll of plastic tablecloth from Amazon, and because it’s quite translucent in this case it was perfect for tracing the correct size off the pattern.
I was a little bit intimidated by the pattern at first because some of the steps looked a bit faffy, but it turned out to be a relatively quick sew. I made a few modifications, such as not using binding to make the elastic channel at the neck/shoulder. I found that this left a weird bit of ruffle at the top, so instead I overlocked the top edge and then folded over to make a hem and inserted the elastic there instead.
I also wasn't sure about the armhole binding, as it seemed bulky and distorted slightly. Next time I make this jumpsuit, I'm not sure I'll do the armhole binding in the way they recommended.
Overall, I'm really happy with how the jumpsuit turned out. It fits well, with a sensible amount of growing room. My daughter loves it too, and I'm sure I'll be making another one soon! Maybe in a shorts/playsuit style.
Notes on sewing:
Use a lightweight cotton fabric so that there is enough drape and the ruffle isn’t bulky.
The pattern suggested a very narrow hem at the bottom of the bodice ruffle, but that seemed a hassle and would have reduced the drape - instead I used my overlocker to do a rolled hem.
As noted above, I pinned the ruffle to the bodice (right side of bodice pinned to wrong side of ruffle) and then overlocked around the entire top edge. Then I folded over a 1/2” hem and used that as the channel for the elastic.
I used a piece of 1” wide bias binding (on the inside) to make a channel for the waist elastic, because I wanted to use a wider piece of elastic than suggested.
