Talam Jumpsuit

 Hi Friends,

This is the Talam Jumpsuit by Sew Liberated. I am always, always, always lamenting the lack of drop-crotch representation in the sewing pattern world, so when I saw the Talam, it was like my face became that emoji with the stars… or maybe hearts for eyes. These 🤩😍. To be honest with this make the pattern came first and the fabric I picked to match. However, the fabric didn’t quite fit the stretch percentage recommendations, which were 50%/20% for cross and length for the pattern, vs 60%/10% which is what the fabric has per the fabric description, but I figured I could make it work, and I think I generally did.

The Pattern is marketed as loungewear, though they also have dressier versions in their product photos and I wanted to make something that was going to be suitable for wearing inside and going out. So I figured this grey knit with black sequins would fit the bill.

As with all of my fabric, I ran this through the ringer. Tossed it the washing machine and dryer on hot and high. I will say that since then, sequins have been falling off, so I don’t know if that was because of my harsh treatment or because sequins will always fall off a little, but I think probably if I had hand washed it on the delicate cycle and line dried it, there would have been a little less sequin loss… with that said… you can see there are still plenty o’ sequins, so I’m really not worried about it at all. Plus, let’s say, worst case scenario, they all fall off… then it would just be a grey knit jumpsuit and that’s totally fine in my book too.

Sewing-wise, I treated this like any other fabric that is not 100% natural fibers. I used a pressing cloth and I just plowed through it with my serger and sewing machine. It wasn’t hard to sew at all, neither of my sewing machines seemed to take any issue with it and there are a significant amount go layers and elastic at curtails points. However… I will also say that the sequins do fee a little scratchy at the seams, so maybe I should have tried to peel them off in the seam allowance, but honestly they are not too too bothersome. But just an FYI should you choose to make something with this fabric.

The pattern itself looks a bit complicated and there are a decent amount of pattern pieces, but with all knits I zipped just about everything through my serger and it came together pretty quickly. … I’d say the meat and bones of the sewing took about a day. One thing I would note though is that per the order of instructions you can’t really try it on until the whole thing is basically done, because you don’t sew the side seams until the second to last step (just before hemming)…. whiiiich to be honest is my favorite way to sew knits, but just giving you a heads up if you are the kind of person that likes ample opportunities to try on a garment for fit along the way. This either might feel like a more advanced sew to you, or you might want to change the order of operation. Up to you.

I sewed up the smallest size. Knowing that it was a knit and one with ample ease to boot, I figured there was no need to grade between sizes, which is generally something I have to do with wovens because I’m very much pear shaped. I did however decide to adjust the height for my own personal lack of height. I’m 5’2.5”, and the pattern is drafted for someone that is 5.5”, so I took 1.5” off the top and bottom of the knee line (just shy of the difference, because you can always take away more). This is not the lengthen shorted line, and I specifically decided to do it around the knee because I think my legs are likely shorter than average equally above and below the knee. Makes sense right? 

After having done that, the jumpsuit definitely does not go all the way down to my ankle, which could be in part due to the missing 10% stretch in the length of the fabric but could also be a design feature of the jumpsuit? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure, because the line drawings on the pattern cover show both cropped and not cropped legs though it doesn’t appear that there are separate views to achieve one or the other… so maybe they are just addressing the elephant in the room that people come in all different sizes and depending on how tall you are, this jumpsuit may be cropped on you or may not be? I dunno. Either way, I’m happy for it to be cropped. I probably would have been happy for it to be full length too, so I’m not really fussed one way or another.

One thing I would like to change for next time though is the size of the leg hem openings. I honestly did think the openings looked a little small, but for whatever reason decided to go full steam ahead, and low and behold, I knew my body well. The lower leg and hem is quite tight feeling on my calves, even though the fabric is able to stretch enough to accommodate. Next time, unless I’m using a really slinky knit, I’m going to increase the width of the leg below the knee.

So, that’s really it. I think hem and lower leg width aside, I’m pretty happy with the outcome of this. It’s a fairly simple make and design, but the style packs a punch and I think it is definitely something that can be worn as ‘real’ clothes (not just sleep/loungewear)… really in any fabric. I think a slinkier cream version would look super lux, and if I come across something that fits the bill, I will certainly snap it up for a second version of this… and then I’ll probably sit in some ice cream, but you know, that’s a problem for another day.

What's on your cutting table these days???

Kten