Not Such A Great Romper
The South Shore Romper from Ellie & Mac has been on to make soon for quite a while. I have been hesitant about rompers because I am an adult human who has to use the bathroom during the day. The desire to get almost completely undressed in a public restroom to use the facilities is not anything I aspire to. I saw a hack video of someone who made the romper into 2 pieces. This gave me the idea to try this as an option.
I was on a little bit of a tight schedule since I wanted to wear the romper for an event. I had 2 yards of 4x2 rib from Olga's closet that I thought would be perfect romper material. The pattern called for 3 yards - oops. I had to make some adjustments with sleeve length and pant length.
It started out well with the cross over front bodice. It went South rapidly after this win. The fabric was super stretchy and I am sure I could have gone down at least 1 if not even 2 sizes from the size I cut.
The shirt was not too much of an issue, but the pants were another story. When I got them sewn up my crotch was hanging 4 inches down from my actual crotch line - this is not good. The pant legs were also very wide. Super wide legs is not usually a great style for petite women. I was able to take out some of the inseam to get the crotch about where it needed to be.
The waist band was then the issue. I put a yoga waistband on the pants and it was too stretchy - they were very droopy. To try to tighten the band up I inserted some elastic which helped but they really gathered too much. I put in pockets, but did not top stitch them to help them keep in place where they belong. This hint was included in another pattern but not on this pattern. The directions on the romper did not include this hint and I totally forgot about it - it might have helped.
The pants now stay up but I am not comfortable with the crotch area. Once I saw pictures of me in the pants I saw how they just do not hang right and look horrible. The shirt was much better on, but I could have made the bottom band just a tad longer. This was not really a possibility due to the shortage of fabric.
I had to piece the band for the pants from a couple of different cuts. I am putting this in the fail department. It is comfortable to wear if sitting down due to the softness of the fabric.
If I try another pair I will try to have the correct yardage and also try another fabric base. The rib knit is just too stretchy for this outfit. A smaller size for the bottoms is an absolute must. I might even make them as an actual romper. I believe the waistband I added caused the unattractiveness in the crotch area of the pants.