This post was originally written for the Minerva Crafts blog in November, 2019. Additional edits have been made after real-life wear of the garment.

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Hi, this is Cristy Stuhldreher from Love You Sew with my very first #MinervaMake as a blog contributor!!!  I was SO excited to be invited to be part of such an extensive team of bloggers here and equally excited to play with so much beautiful fabric.  My first find was this gorgeous Lady McElroy Luxury Plain Scuba Jersey Knit Fabric in Bottle Green.  With autumn (my favorite season!) quickly coming to the States, I knew I would need to get ahead and make some transitional garments with the switch of temperatures that are bound to come.  So, after I saw this scuba fabric I immediately thought of the Deer and Doe Sirocco Jumpsuit (like many other contributors already have!)

This Lady McElroy Luxury Plain Scuba Jersey Knit Fabric was such a great find!  I’m a big fan of Ponte de Roma fabrics and knew I would love Scuba just the same since they are both heavy double-knits.  They feel and act very similarly, but are made of different fibers.  Scuba is generally poly and elastane whereas Ponte is generally viscose and elastane.  This soft and smooth Scuba Jersey did not disappoint with its great stretch and nice body which is perfect for a jumpsuit when you don’t want every bodily imperfection to show through.  It is also works SO well for a knit jumpsuit with amazing stretch and recovery.  The last thing I would want after all of this hard work would be a saggy stretched out butt!

It’s always hard to tell how color will come out in person versus on a computer, so I was a bit nervous to see how the Bottle Green would be.  It looked slightly more muted, like a deeper sage green on my screen.  But I was actually delighted  to see that the fabric was more of a deep rich gem tone – a solid “Hunter” green, in my opinion.  With my olive skin and dark hair, I love a gem tone- especially for the colder months ahead!  After a few washes, the color has stayed true to the first day it arrived on my doorstep – love that!

With this fabric being a double-knit, I would recommend using a ball-point needle and your stretchiest stitch found on your machine (zig-zag, triple-zig-zag, lightning bolt, etc.)  I used a combination of my overlocker and coverstitch to allow my jumpsuit the greatest amount of stretch to fit larger hips.

Jumpsuits still look to be on trend a little while longer, so I thought it was safe to make the Sirocco Jumpsuit for the fall.  With the short-sleeves and full pant legs (on View A) I figured this was a great garment to wear on the cooler nights downtown with or without needing a jacket.

The Sirocco is a unique pattern in that there are no ties or other fasteners used to get in and out of the garment.  You slip in and out of it all through the faux wrap V-neckline.  This might not pose a huge deal for most, but I have hips which are two sizes larger than my waist –which means I REALLY will need to stretch out the waist to maneuver around.  This is the main reason I chose the heavy Scuba fabric to handle the severe stretching over my hips.  As I was fitting the garment, I honestly thought I would have to put in a side zipper for my hips, but the Lady McElroy Luxury Plain Scuba Jersey Knit Fabric proved to have such amazing stretch and recovery that I didn’t need it!  Honestly, I feel like I could wear this all day long…even after multiple bathroom breaks!

I made a few modifications for my SHORT 5’3″ frame with those aforementioned HIPS:

• Made a 40 bodice and graded to a 42 in the hips and back to a 40 for the rest of the leg
• Shortened bodice by 1/2″ and used a chainstitch (from my coverstitch) to secure the seam allowance down since the fabric is so lofty – This allows the lapped bodice to stay secure over your chest.
• Shortened pant legs by 4″ initially (by just tissue fitting) and then took an additional 3 3/4″ when it was time to hem so that it would hit right above the ankle bone – Next time, I will shorten at the thigh and also from the ankle to get a better fit around the knee.
• Extended the crotch length 3/4″ on both the front and back pant
• Deepened the seat on the back pant by 3/8″
• I wish I took out an 1″ out of the rise before cutting, but was able to take 1/2″ out of the overall inseam to narrow the legs and decrease the rise.
• Took an additional 1″ out of the ankle and blended up to the knee for a slimmer leg

After these changes, I can’t tell you how incredibly pleased I am with my Sirocco Jumpsuit.  The Lady McElroy Luxury Plain Scuba Jersey Knit Fabricis so chic and the deep green really does make the Sirocco Jumpsuit so “EXTRA!”  Love it!!!