I made a romper, the Sanibel Romper from Hey June, and there is so much to discuss. First things first, yay for me… knocking an item off my handmade summer wardrobe list and accomplishing my July goal for Project Sew it. Wahoo me. Another win for making plans and following through. Now, the romper conversation.
I have been fascinated by the whole romper phenomenon. Do you know it as a onesie? I can’t call it that, I can’t refer to my own clothing with the same word I used alongside disgusting baby disasters for years…as in, “I am gonna need serious ninja skills to get that onesie off without getting fecal matter all over his whole face. I am not even gonna wash that thing.” Nope. Not happening. Romper it is.
What I love about a romper is the ease of having to wear only one item, like a dress, but with the wearability of shorts. I can hunt around under the couch for Legos without worrying about flashing my undies at the kids. I can hop on a bike. There is a versatility to rompers. Plus, they usually look pretty cute. What I don’t love is the whole bathroom situation. Getting completely undressed in the bathroom just feels weird. Especially since the kids still like to walk in on me with tidbits of news and then leave the door open. I guess the takeaway is rompers work for only some of what the kids put me through. What else is new. Le sigh.
All that aside, I’m pretty into the cuteness of my Sanibel. I decided to make it in a lightweight denim after seeing the version Erin from Sewbon made, it’s on the cover of the pattern. I don’t think I’ve ever copied someone exactly before but I just loved it so much, plus Erin has such great taste. I got my fabric at Rock Paper Scissors, I believe it is Robert Kaufman and it’s the perfect fabric. It is light and stiff but still comfortable, which made it easy to work with and great to wear.
I made a few adaptations to the original pattern. For starters, my whole romper has french seams. Part of making handmade clothes that I wear in real life is avoiding having raw fabric edges that fray in the wash. Sometimes it’s unavoidable but when I can, going forward, I’m going to try to stitch french seams so all raw edges are contained. (I say this now with conviction but, I am prone to laziness so let’s hope this declaration holds me to it.)
Secondly, I cut the sleeves to short sleeves, this isn’t an adaptation included in the pattern but it is easy enough to accomplish.
As for sizing, I made the top in a Medium that scaled to Large at the hips and the shorts are a Large. I generally am a size difference between the top and bottom but in this case, I think the shorts are a little too big. I wish I had kept the top a Medium and just scaled the shorts to a Large at the hips. Think the fit might work out better. Those are my body issues, not anything to do with the pattern. This pattern, though! It’s not a secret that I love Hey June patterns and this one is just as high-quality as all of Adrianna’s. It’s complicated, right? Buttons, collars, pockets…all of it. And, every bit of it is explained clearly, laid out logically. Plus, there are options for a dress and short, cap sleeves. Ah! I love working with Hey June patterns.
I’m a little divided about how it looks. I think I like it. In fact, I think I like it a lot. The excess bagginess give it a bit of a Communist Russia worker uniform look to it that I’m actually really digging. Reminds me of the uber-cool Rational Dress Society people. I’m just not entirely convinced I will feel confident pulling off this look. It’s all in how you wear it, right? Just got to wear it and own it, I think.
I don’t think this is my last Sanibel romper. I know it isn’t, I am already strategizing. It’s always worth making a complicated garment twice because the second time is so much faster. With that little pearl of wisdom, I leave you with the bloggiest of blogger photos!
I’m headed out the door for a weekend at the beach with my sweetie, without the kids! My sister and her fiancé are watching them all weekend. It’s almost unreal. Wishing you a fantastic weekend, too. xoxo
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Amanda says
It’s really cute. Looks great on you! I’ve been eyeing the pattern and now that I’ve seen yours, I might just go ahead and make one.
Melissa Q. says
I hope you show it off if you do make it! Good luck.
Lynsey Jane says
I think it looks great on you, it looks a fab pattern and I think I could do with this as flashing your knickers is never a good look.
Melissa Q. says
Yes! Flashing my knickers problem…solved!