#WolfSuit

 Hi Friends!

I made a wolf suit, for all my wolfing needs. Don’t worry I don’t know what that means either. Lol. I just really liked the print of this canvas and wanted to make something wearable out of it. Some might argue with me that this is not wearable, but those people would clearly be wrong. Hahah. Seriously though, it’s kind of fun to have garments that are a little outside of the norm, and I think if you make something with a solid fit, its fun and unique instead of fun and questionable, that’s how I see it anyways.

As I mentioned, this wolf fabric, is canvas, and it's medium/light weight made up of 100% cotton. The wolves are printed on one side and do show through a little bit to the other side, so if you were making something with a high low hem for example you might want a lining because of that. However, while, I have my sleeves and pants rolled up, lining was not something I particularly felt like I needed for this garment.

The fabric was super easy to work with. It didn’t wrinkle much in the washer/dryer and also didn’t fray easily even with lots of handling. It’s also just heavy enough to hold up to this semi structured jumpsuit look, though I did of course interface the collar, facings and waistband.

The pattern I self-drafted and I feel super proud about, though if you wanted something similar I would suggest you take a look at Closet Core Patterns’ Blanca Flight Suit (which I'll tag below for your convenience) or Alice and Co Patterns’ Intrepid Boiler suit. I haven’t made the Blanca Flight suit, though I’ve seen many awesome versions online, but I have made the Intrepid Boiler suit, and was very happy with it. That was actually my original plan for this fabric, but that particular jumpsuit is quite loose around the middle and I wanted something that was going to have a look more similar to Color Coded Jumpsuits. That’s an online Australian brand, that actually announced they were shutting down right as I was finishing up my jumpsuit, so go check out their website quickly to see what I‘m talking about before they sell out and all evidence of them is gone forever. Talk about good timing though eh?

In case their website has already shut down by the time you’re reading this, their jumpsuits, were/are basically collared button up jumpsuits with a fitted waist, slight drop crotch and short sleeves. Because I live where it gets cold, and I am always cold until it is at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit I decided mine should have long sleeves if it was going to have long legs. However, I will mention… as I was drafting, I did fall a bit in love with the jumpsuit sans sleeves, so I’ve saved myself a copy of that version of the pattern to maybe make a summer version one day? Other than having no sleeves, the armsyces are also 3/4” lower, and I guess I would attach shorts instead of full pants.

Draping and drafting the jumpsuit turned out to be a fun challenge and involved lots of taking off and putting back on a muslin that was pinned together and very scratchy but in the end I’m pretty happy with the fit. It’s super comfortable, and like I mentioned earlier I think very wearable. I gave myself nice deep slash pockets, and instead of buttons, an easier access zipper, with a large snap to keep the zipper flap closed. The sleeves and legs are full length, but I like how rolling them up gives the whole jumpsuit a very casual feel. Cause you know, wolf suits are generally very fancy. lol.

Unfortunately I didn’t order enough fabric to pattern match, and quite frankly it might have been very wasteful if I had because the print is on a quite large scale, but I did take the opportunity to do a little fussy cutting. I especially like the wolf that’s glaring from the waistband snap tab, and the two wolves on either lapel.

I absolutely love making other peoples/companies patterns, because A. It is a total learning experience whenever you use someone else’s work, and B, it forces you to see someone else’s design perspective, but I also felt like I really got a good brain workout drafting this puppy and then sewing it together via my own order of operations. So I think I’m going to try to mix in more self drafted items in-between projects using pre-existing patterns to exercise that part of my brain more. But also just to give a little context to anyone out there that is maybe comparing their own pattern making to mine, I went through certificate programs at FIT in NYC in pattern drafting and pattern draping respectively, so this is something I have professional training in. So if you are just getting started keep it up! I bet it’s already awesome and only going to get better!

So tell me… would you wear a wolf suit and do you ever get the inkling to draft your own patterns??

Inquiring minds would like to know!

Kten