A pink boilersuit is not something I can ever say I’ve truly needed but for some reason I decided I had to make one recntly! Boilersuits have been on trend for a while but it was only after I saw the Merchant & Mills Thelma pattern that I really fell for the style.. they look so comfortable and practical with plenty of useful pockets. Just before I made this boilersuit, I made a pair of Megan Nielsen Dawn Jeans which really helped me understand the process for making the button fly. She also has a number of useful sewalong posts which I referred to.
I knew I wanted pink and searched for a good pink twill that would work for this pattern. In the end I found 3 metres for sale on Ebay which looked like it would be the right colour. I really had to cut pieces carefully because I was slightly short of fabric. There are a few pieces which need to be cut using the pattern piece wrong side up, unfortunately I didn’t read the instructions well enough and ended up with both neck facings inside out! Luckily the fabric is similar enough on both sides for it not to be noticeable. I also didn’t realise until later but my fabric was a stretch twill, the small amount of stretch actually makes it more comfortable to wear. The fabric is quite thick so its a bit too warm for our current weather. I think I will wear it a lot more when it gets a bit cooler.
Before starting, I had to remove quite a lot of length from the pattern as it is drafted for someone four inches taller than me. I removed length from the legs, sleeves, bodice and crotch and any corresponding facings/fly pieces. This ended up being fairly time consuming. After that I had to cut out 23 pieces (or reversed pairs) and interfacing for several pieces as well! At that point it did feel like a bit of an overwhelming task but I set aside pieces I didn’t need for a while and worked on the sewing in stages.
The instructions were fairly straightforward to follow, even if at some stages some blind faith is required that it will all work out! I did the sewing in stages over 2 days, it was exciting to see it come together in all its pink glory!
I used a quilting cotton remnant for the lining which matched beautifully. It has a painterly abstract print in pink and orange on a cream background.
For the buttons, I used some pretty pink ones from Textile Garden. I already had six buttons but needed more. Fortunately they arrived very quickly by post and as a bonus I ordered some other ones I liked for other projects.
The finished boilersuit is a really comfortable fit when I’m wearing it but is a bit tricky to get on and off! This might be because I took a bit too much length out of the body/crotch. I would love to make another boilersuit in a practical colour such as navy/grey as well, so will see if I can fix this for next time. Other than that, I am really proud to have made this challenging but fun project!
