#simplicity9792

The Sixties Jumpsuit: Simplicity 9792

Jumpsuits seem to mesmerize women. So simple! So easy! And yet, so silly! You will, sooner or later, drop the top into a toilet, a fact I learned after making several shorts rompers in tropical rayon prints during my college years. Despite their silliness, there seems no getting around their appeal, so let's talk about this one.

This is an Easy-to-Sew from the 1960s, now re-issued in modern sizing. Even though it was easy to sew, made up of only 2 main pattern pieces, it does have a centered zipper running down the front which is not something we usually see in today's easy patterns. But for the 1960s, it was indeed simple as it is sleeveless and has patch pockets. Women's had worn various kind of jumpsuits for dirty work for decades, think gardening, factory work, painting, etc, and beach pajamas were sometimes one-piece garments with wide-legged pants which showed up on women in the 1930s. Pants became popular for all kinds of public wear during the late 1960s, partly to get away from the difficulty of moving without embarrassment that came with mini-skirts. This jumpsuit is clearly for play wear, or resort wear.

Notice, it is fitted, there is no blousing at the waistline, so you do need to check on whether you are long-waisted or short-waisted before you cut the pattern. There isn't any room for an error, as there is no waistline seam to allow for adjustments.

They recommend cottons, including heavy ones like canvas, denim. and corduroy, but also lightweights one like pique and poplin, plus double-knits, and linens. Which is a wide range of fabric. The problem is you have both a top and a bottom, and usually we wear different weights of fabric for each of those. Bottom weight fabric have to take the strain of your largest muscles in motion, while blouse-weight fabrics rarely have to deal with much strain. So I would recommend a mid-weight woven with some Lycra in it. This would split the difference in fabric weights, and give you a bit of easy movement as well.