The lovely Shelley is back! She always has something special, and this time I’m especially grateful to her for sewing this because I absolutely haven’t had time. Remember when I told you that the Tomigaya Shirt Dress and Northbridge Jumpsuit can be interchanged? Well, she’s put them together and has a few things to say about it.
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Sometimes you sew something that just turns out to be incredibly wearable, and suddenly that’s your outfit for the season. All you can do is hope not to see the same friends too often in case they realise you’re not taking it off.
That’s been the case this summer for me and my Tomigaya Shirt Dress + Northbridge Jumpsuit combination. Pattern testing for Liesl + Co when I’m in the “wrong” hemisphere gives me a great head start on how the garment will wear in its intended season. If you haven’t already realized you need a linen jumpsuit for your northern hemisphere summer, I’m hopeful I can convince you.
I’d already sewn the Tomigaya Dress in a cotton linen blend and found it worked really well for me. I mostly dressed it down and wore it with the sleeves rolled up and it became a favourite very quickly.
When the pattern test came up for the Northbridge Jumpsuit I couldn’t decide between a printed rayon and a windowpane check linen blend. The rayon won for the Northbridge pattern test and this super swishy, easy to wear, but more dressy garment became the new favourite.
I’d been promising a good friend of mine a pair of wide legged pants for so long. I stashed the perfect fabric and then could never decide on a pattern that would be easy to fit to her shape without having to get together for lots of fittings. The moment I finished my Northbridge Jumpsuit I cut straight into that fabric and made her one, just one size smaller. We have completely opposite body shapes when you measure waist and hips but this pattern just seems to magically suit everyone. You’ll have to take my word for that as even though she put it on the moment it was gifted and we holidayed together in cutesy matching jumpsuits I never did get a picture.
So of course, when Liesl said the Northbridge was designed to mix and match with the Tomigaya I was immediately onto that idea. I cut straight into that windowpane linen and the newest new favourite garment was created. This one takes a little bit more dexterity to get in and out of compared to the Northbridge. With the surplice bodice of the Northbridge jumpsuit I can drop it off both shoulders and then just pull it down like any pair of trousers. The Tomigaya top half requires a little bit more arm flexibility and I have to bend one arm through the sleeve first before it comes off my shoulders.
Both patterns sew up so easily and there was no head scratching or thinking at all required to combine the two. Having sewn the waistband four times now, just don’t ask me how much I like feeding elastic though channels, ok?
Seriously though, I think I’ve got a fifth in me because obviously the Northbridge top half will look fantastic with that Tomigaya skirt, right?
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Thanks, Shelley! And we hope you don’t run into the same friends too often!
You can pick up your own copy of the Tomigaya Dress sewing pattern in paper or in digital format, and the new Northbridge Jumpsuit is also available in both paper and digital formats. Do you have a pattern combination and fabric in mind for your? Keep our online fabric store resource list in mind, too!
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