Whenever I go to a thrift store, I always take a look at their sewing patterns (if they have them). Oddly enough, I don’t find a lot of sewing patterns at thrift stores and most of the ones I do find are from the 80’s which isn’t always my style (who can pull of shoulder pads and drop waists like that?!). In saying this, every now and then, the thrift gods bless you with a wonderful find and back in June, I found Butterick 6789 from 1993. Instantly, I knew this pattern would be something special, so I took it home and decided to make myself a jumpsuit.
A jumpsuit hasn’t been made on this blog before which makes this a really exciting sewing adventure. Taking a closer look at Butterick 6789, originally released in 1993, this Misses’/Misses’ Petite pattern includes a Jacket & Jumpsuit. The jacket is fitted, lined and waist-length with shoulder pads and long sleeves. The jumpsuit, which comes in two variations, features a close-fitting, flared jumpsuit, above ankle or evening length, with shoulder straps, front and back pleats and back zipper. When I saw this pattern, I knew it could be made into something that can really become a staple in the wardrobe. Seeing it on the pattern envelope cover, the white and black iterations of the pattern already gave a sophisticated look and making this jumpsuit look even more vintage with styling would be easy to do.
The pattern I purchased was the smaller sizing (6, 8, 10, 12) which meant that my usual size choice of 12 was the best option as anything else would have been too small. The sizing chart on the envelope tells me that the size 12 waist would be 26 1/2″ with the hips at 36. My normal waist is around 27″ and my hips are around 39″ which means this pattern may be too small but I know that sizing down really helps whenever I’ve made a commercial pattern especially Butterick. This is my first 90’s pattern so I have no way of knowing how the fit will go but I will keep an eye on my waist, hips and leg length as these are my areas of concern. As the pattern has two length options, I’m going for style B which adds a little length to the pants hems. This may be a good time to point out that once I opned up my pattern envelope I realised it had already been cut to a size 12 so I guess, all we can do now is choose our fabric.
The pattern pieces for Butterick 6789 are quite long; I didn’t realise that there was no waist seam meaning that the jumpsuit pieces are going to need a long piece of fabric. To be honest, i was nervous about the fit and I didn’t want to use some of my better fabric stash options which is how I decided on my chosen fabric. Back in May of 2022, I bought some autumnal vibing fabrics from fabric.com (rip) and amongst that order, was a woodland inspired ditzy print cotton featuring leaf and cute critter motifs all over. Designed by Dear Stella Designs, this pattern known as Country Mouse Carbon Woodland Frolic Floral and I found it still available from this German quilting website. The pattern is really concentrated so from afar might not be legible. As I am worried this jumsuit might make me look strange, pattern and fabric choice is paramount. This woodland inspired cotton, would be easy to tone down and won’t look crazy on it’s own. However, I don’t know if cotton itself is the best fabric choice due to wrinkles when wearing (especially awkward crotch and leg wrinkles from sitting). Keeping these factors in mind, I did have about 4 yards of this fabric and the pattern pieces fit which was enough of a green light to just continue with the project. At this point, I saw this garment a little like making a wearable muslin.
Sew, let’s get started! There are two main pattern pieces for this jumpsuit: front and back. Two of each were cut out, and I added an extra 1 1/2″ to the lower pant hem because ya girl has long stems. The pattern also has facing pieces and shoulder straps, which were also cut out. Although not a part of the pattern, I did cut out some pocket pieces using the pockets from Vogue 9100. With what might be the easiest pattern to cut out and place, it was time to sew.
The pattern begins by telling you to add interfacing to your facing pieces. We were off to a good start as I had completely run out and kept forgetting to repurchase so we just omitted step one. For the jumpsuit itself, the front and back pieces have a great little pleat that just pulls in the jumpsuit to give the bodice a fitted shape. The pleate was really fun and easy to do and just required a side stitch, some ironing and then tacking down the pleat. This gave such a stunning effect to the way the jumsuit legs sat that I have become obsessed with this pattern and already want to sew more but I’m getting too ahead of the story here. The the pleats complete, sewing the jumpsuit together took no time at all and I was surprised at how quick this pattern was done.
To finish off the jumpsuit, I made some shoulder straps, attached them to my jumpsuit before adding on the facing to finish her up nicely. Adding in the back zip probably took me longer than any other step in this jumpsuit construction. It’s worth noting that I ended up omitting adding the pockets; I was worried about the fit and if the jumpsuit would still sit on the body right if there was added bulk to the sides. With the jumpsuit done, a quick hem around the legs was done and before I knew it, I had made myself a jumpsuit.
As soon as I tried on this jumpsuit I fell instantly in love. The fit was so close to perfect that I laughed thinking “it’s like it was made for me”. She fit well all across the bust, bodice, waist and hips albeit I wouldn’t want to get any bigger and wear her (we will get back to this later). The length of the jumpsuit was great with the added inch and a half and the way the pleat sat perfectly made me love this pattern even more. Seeing the jumpsuit on, this can easily be worn all summer as well as be made in warmer fabrics and layered for cooler weather. She was flouncy, fun, soft, fitted and honestly a delight to wear.
She was mainly worn whilst I was away on a trip with my parents and although I have no photos of her, just know she is super comfy in warm and humid weather. The width of the pants allowed for air flow but also protection from sun. There were times I wished I added pockets as I struggle to carry things sometimes, but a future iteration of Butterick 6789 will include pockets. I already have plans to remake this jumpsuit and quickly. My original worry about using cotton for this jumpsuit were mildly valid as I really struggled keeping her wrinkle free whilst on holiday. She didn’t look chewed up, but once a wrinkle was present, it wasn’t easy to iron in a tiny hotel room.
As for the fit, I am going to be super ruthless here because I want to go back and perfect her. The bust is a little tight but not by much, I’m tempted to try and alter the front seams and curve them a little but this is a minor adjustment (even letting the side out by 1/2″ would be great. The other slight adjustment I would do is let the hips have a little more room, maybe an extra inch. Although the jumpsuit fit well at the waist, I am worried that when I have an Endo flare up, it won’t look flattering. A little extra space can really make a difference. Adding the extra inch and a half at the bottom was a genius call as it was such a great length.
This jumpsuit has been worn a lot since it’s inception. It has been overseas, on a down south holiday and worn about town. She is comfortable, fun and I actually love her and enjoy wearing her. For this blog, these photos were taken whilst I was down south on a little sewing getaway where I wore her constantly. She’s not very styled in these photos, but I just wanted to show her in her natural glory living a simple life. We took these photos during one particularly rainy afternoon (that hair frizz from the humidity!) as we made ourselves a blueberry and lemon ricotta cake and some delicious afternoon tea.
Oh, there will definitely be future versions of this jumpsuit coming up. The main snag I’ve hit is finding the perfect fabric for her; although I’ve gone through my stash, not much feels like it would work but there’s a huge chance that I’m just overthinking this. If you have a suggestion; be it colour, print or fabric that you think would work, please feel free to comment below as I definitely need the help.
Sewing Butterick 6789 really gave me a good boost to try something a little different. The idea of fitting a jumpsuit to my body using a vintage pattern that was already cut out felt super daunting but somehow, it all worked out. Butterick 6789 is a pattern I’d recommend to beginners as it’s so simple to make without anything difficult or confusing in it’s construction. At the time of writing this, I can’t find any copies of this pattern for sale online, but it’s one that you should keep an eye out for. This jumpsuit will be a staple for the summer and warmer weather to come and I’m so looking forward to wearing her to many events. Other versions will be made, but I will have to find the perfect fabric.
Until then, happy sewing!
Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.