Five reasons to love the Zadie Jumpsuit

I’m always bowled over by patterns that are deceptive in their simplicity. The sort of thing you think (once you’ve a few years of sewing experience under your belt): nah, I could probably draft that myself. But while you might save pennies on the pattern, you are going to lose plenty more trying to snare the elusive beauty of a good design.

A latecomer to the wondrous Zadie Jumpsuit pattern from Paper Theory, I’ve fallen hard. By now the Zadie needs little introduction. It’s a well-established favourite and has its own abundantly-populated Instagram hashtag to boot (thank you to my chief Zadie enablers @mirry_maker, @lostmythread and @kimberleymakes for leading me to its righteous path). Yet sometimes if a thing is worth saying, it’s worth saying a million times: this pattern is a good’un, and I’ll tell you for why.

One

First up, it’s VERY easy to sew. By VERY (caps-on) I mean seriously very. There are no fastenings to fuss with, no awkward bits to interrupt the satisfying hum of the machine.

Two

This brings me to point two: it’s VERY easy to fit (see VERY explainer in point one). The fact there are no fastenings means you don’t have to worry too much about sizing. The ties are forgiving; I could probably have gone up or down a size and it still would have worked, more or less cinched in.

Three

It offers a bite-size challenge for a newbie sewist and a bit of tooth for an old hack in the form of bias binding skills. You can learn how to make your own bias binding and enjoy the thrill of it curving without fuss around necklines and the like. Once emboldened, go off-piste and fix the binding in different ways.

The ‘official’ instructions are to sandwich the bias around the edge and sew through all layers. My preferred technique is to sew the bias on one edge right sides together, press, fold all the way under so wrong sides are together, and then top stitch the other side down with a nice neat seam allowance.

Four

It’s a jumpsuit, you cry. How many jumpsuits does one person need? Well, the real answer to this is most likely none, but to skip ahead to the fun bit, how many do you want?

The Zadie is a chameleon: it looks completely different depending on fabric choice. Here I used a lightweight viscose: it’s floaty, drapey and figure-hugging. But check out those linen Zadies! They have a completely different look and feel – very cool, contemporary, minimalist. And what about denim? Plus you can taper the legs, fiddle with the arms, all the usual hacks that keep us guessing and sewing.

Five

Finally, it’s versatile. It lends itself perfectly to a really good-looking wrap dress. You can go for gathered, flared, straight – whatever your heart desires – and, again, switch up the fabric for different looks. So, if one jumpsuit is enough for you, hop on to the Zadie jumpsuit hack hashtag and get dreaming. There are multiple options for tops too – cropped, peplum, reverse…

I could go on, but I think you’ve got the point (or five of them). Take a punt with Zadie and you won’t be disappointed.

So, are you a Zadie aficionado, or yet to jump on the bandwagon? Let me know in the comments and if you have any other top tips or hacks to share!