Earlier in the year I made a cute retro playsuit for a trip to the Maldives and it sparked a desire to make a few more playsuits. I’ve always been a little weary about playsuits, as I don’t always get the fit along my torso right as I’m quite long yet always make the back too long somehow. Although I love sewing patterns from the 50’s, I’ve recently gone through my sewing patterns to find some gems from the 1960s and 70s. It wasn’t until my eyes fell upon Vintage Simplicity 8254 from 1969 that I instantly knew what I wanted to make. Pinup is cute, but let’s make something for days we just want to look like a giant toddler.
Vintage Simplicity 8254 is an empire waist playsuit pattern that features an elasticated undercut gathering channel, puffed sleeves, long wide shorts and a back centre zipper. As this is a vintage pattern, it’s not overly easy to find and you’re better off finding someone who sells copies of this dress such as this seller I found. A vintage pattern also means you might struggle to find your size as patterns didn’t have multiple sizes for just one envelope like they do today. My version of Simplicity 8254 was a size 12 which included a size 34 inch bust which is supposed to be a little too small but I know that most patterns run large so we will see how we go. For my first attempt at this pattern I will be making style 3 which includes puffed sleeves and the shorter pants option.
As for fabric, whilst shopping my stash I came across a stunning Malaysian batik inspired cotton which I picked up from Nagoya Fabrics in KL whilst fabric shopping. It was my dad who found this fabric in the store and I instantly thought about making some fun palazzo style pants but when I saw this pattern, I knew they would work really well together. I had about 4 meters of this Japanese cotton blend and it was more than enough for my pattern. The pattern doesn’t have a full lining and opts for facing instead. The main part of this pattern that had me worried was the elastic casing as I’m not overly confident with my straight sewing and know that visible seams can often spell disaster for me but I am trying new challenging sews and techniques. Looking at this pattern, it gives me big toddler vibes and I just wanted to make something fun, cute and comfy. I do have a second fabric ready for this pattern and it gives even more toddler vibes so hopefully I’ll get that one done before the year is out. For now, let’s just make the first version.
The pattern starts with bodice construction which was simple enough to follow. I did have an issue with the facing – I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if there was a fault with the pattern but I found that the facing was about 1/2″ too short to reach the ends, so keep this in mind if you plan on making it too. It wasn’t a big issue to fix and it just meant I folded over the zip seam differently at the end of the make. Sewing in the elastic channel, I used some boning casing which is glorified bias tape. I wish I had a thread colour to match the fabric but I only really had black so I knew some stitching would be visible. It wasn’t until I went to thread the undercuts elastic that I realised I had a very small amount of elastic in my stash so I was a little frugal. I also had to add elastic to the puffed sleeves, so I got a bit creative with my elastic saving.
The puff sleeves were a really nice touch to this garment and the playsuit didn’t look complete until I attached them. Due to my lack of elastic, I did see what the playsuit looked like with flutter sleeves, but the puff sleeves were just perfect and I had to make do. I think my sleeves came out ok but I’ll forever know that one has just a little less elastic in it and that the other was sewn in weirdly and uneven. Don’t look too close. Looking back now, I wish I had made the matching tie belt for this garment as she does need it in some outfits, but that’s something I’ll make for my second attempt.
The shorts of the playsuit were really straightforward to make and I’m glad that they were wide enough to fit on my booty and over my hips. I loved the wide leg but I do wonder if making them a few inches shorter would be cute for next time. I have had people say that making the shorts longer would be better and other telling me to make it shorter, this will be fun to remember during my next sewing attempt. To finish up the garment, I added in a true vintage Lightning zip which was dark green and 22″ long. This was my first time using a vintage zip and it was a lovely experience. It also means that I need to stock up on some colours for my zip stash. With my zip installed it was time to hem my shorts and my new playsuit was done.
This was a really fun pattern to make and it’s inspired me to branch out and try to sew more from different decades. I love how cute and fun this playsuit came out and most of all, how comfortable it was. I found it helpful making the back zip quite low so I could properly wiggle my booty and hips into the garment and will keep that in mind for my next make. Next time I also want to add pockets as I now know exactly where they should go.
Outfit details:
Hair bow from South Korea
Earrings were gifted to me several years ago and I have no idea where they are from originally.
Shoes from Honiara Vintage
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