Gimlet Boilersuit by Our Lady of Leisure

The Gimlet Boilersuit by Our Lady of Leisure has been on my to-sew list for a while and I’m “sew” glad I finally made it, it’s the boilersuit of dreams. It’s a pdf pattern and I bought mine from Fabric Godmother to take advantage of their A0 printing service - it’s so much more pleasant than printing a sewing pattern onto A4 paper and then having to cut and paste all of those tiny pieces together. This super lush Moss Green stretch Cotton Needlecord came from Sew Mew Sunshine. The pattern doesn’t actually require stretch fabric and this could easily be made from a rigid denim, but the stretch needlecord works well (and makes the boilersuit ideal for working from home).

I made the size C (UK 10), but it was hard to pick my size. Our Lady of Leisure sewing patterns allow for a bigger hip to waist ratio than most high street brands, which should be a good thing for me but then I started to wonder if I really did need to sew a 10 or could actually make an 8 instead. One thing to note is that the waist measurement on this pattern is almost irrelevant as the waist is essentially a sack that is cinched in with the belt, so if this is what’s likely to push you a size up, ignore your waist measurement and go with your hips. The shoulders on this pattern are also relatively roomy and in hindsight, I could have gone down a size on the top half but I don’t mind the loose look.

I didn’t need to make many adjustments at all. I slimmed down the inside leg seam from the crotch all the way to the ankle by about 1cm, which gives the legs a nice slender look. I also had to take in the centre back seam of the trousers to take away some of the slack at the back of my waist. The pattern instructions involve constructing all of the small pieces on the top of the jumpsuit first (the collar, the button placket and the faux front pockets. I would recommend leaving the faux front pockets until the end. I sewed mine on using the pattern guide and they ended up being far too close to the buttons, so I decided to unpick and re-sew them.

There is one mistake on the pattern - it says to only cut one piece for the collar, which confused me for quite a while until I found an Instagram post from someone else who had made them and discovered this is incorrect. I did accidentally make the mistake of not cutting the belt piece on the fold and ended up with a very short belt, but I think this was my error for not tracing all of the instructions properly.

I think this pattern is really cute and would also make a nice cropped shirt to wear with jeans. This photo was taken during construction but I could almost see myself walking out the house like this (minus the slippers).