Sequined Refashion
Pattern: None - Refashioned jumpsuit from Express
Fabric: Rainbow sequins with stretch poly lining
Sewn up: July 2019
It’s a heavy time right now, and my hope with this post is to take a break from reading the news to reflect on a lighter sewing/life experience from this past summer.
My sister Lizzie is four years older than I am, and growing up, I worshipped her and all of the physical things that made up her world – the Absolut ads covering her walls, the chest of tiny drawers that held objects ranging from modeling clay to fireball candies to tiny wax sculptures, and of course, her clothes. She started getting a $25 monthly clothing allowance when she was in seventh grade, and I loved seeing what she brought home from the step-above-a-thrift-store in our neighborhood: A silver track jacket, tan corduroy Levis, black and white wingtips. In the years that followed I gleefully accepted her hand-me-downs, often wearing things several sizes too large just so I could wear them at all.
Now that we are adults who live an 11-minute drive from each other, we have evolved out of this hero-worship dynamic into regular beloved friends. I no longer have to barter my way into her life (I used to clean her room as the price of admission to hang out in it!) and we do all kinds of things together: run, cook, internet yoga, take photos for this blog, and, one of my favorites that evokes earlier days, try on her clothes.
Lizzie still has amazing style, and I love hanging out in her closet as she shows me new acquisitions and encourages me try on things she’s considering parting with. This past summer, during one such session, I saw the most beautiful jumpsuit in all the land hanging on her door. It was my favorite sort of rainbow – all jewel tones against black – and made out of sequins. It was very flashy, but in a classy way, and made me believe I could be a jumpsuit person.
Lizzie found me a link to it on super sale at Express, and I ordered myself one as a birthday present. The plan was to wear them at the same time to the Kennedy Center later that month, where we had tickets to see a musical.
The jumpsuit arrived, and it was beautiful. So shiny! So many colors! But sadly after wearing it around the house briefly I learned an important lesson: I am not a jumpsuit person. Or at least not a this-jumpsuit person. The way this fit, I had to choose between two forms of discomfort: if I lengthened the adjustable straps to have the inner leg seam at a comfortable place for sitting, it was far too low-cut; if I shortened them, I could not sit down. I realized I would never wear it out of the house.
“Before” shot
I was pretty bummed that our rainbow sequin jumpsuit musical plans were at risk. But a quick google of “how to turn a jumpsuit into a dress” turned things around! The basic steps were:
Seam rip the entire leg seam.
Cut off length as desired (part of me was tempted at this stage to make a long evening gown but I resisted).
Pinch out excess volume from the skirt (effectively removing the fabric allowance for the leg seam of the jumpsuit) and sew up a center front and back seam instead, making sure the red stripes down the center met each other without any lining exposed.
Re-attach the bottom hem to keep the fun cross-directional detail from the pant hems (and to avoid the need to hem through sequins).
It was my first time sewing sequins, and there were many little loops of clear thread to unpick to get a fabric-edge to sew into! This was another clock race to the finish, but I got it done right before it was time to leave for the play.
Lizzie and I met up for pizza at a cafe near the theatre and we were by far the sparkliest patrons there. Both of us felt a bit bashful about that, which I took note of. Why shouldn’t it be more socially acceptable to wear matching rainbow sequins in public? Once we got closer to the theatre we blended in a little bit more, as the range of dress for the Kennedy Center spans jeans to ballgowns. We got some nice new friends to take our photo, and one grandfatherly gentleman stopped us and said, “You guys look amazing. I have to ask, how did you get the same…?” – somewhat in disbelief that we had found a store that carried both a jumpsuit and a dress in this particular color/texture combo!
We walked into the Hall of Nations abuzz with our synchronized sequin success, feeling appropriately suited up for the thrill of the theatre! But when I gave will-call my name, it turns out I had purchased tickets for the previous weekend, which we had, of course, missed. And the show was sold out! Somehow being dressed alike in these rainbow sequins a) made this mishap all the more crushing and b) caused the ticket agent to take pity on us. She found us two seats in a box for special guests and we sprinted in just in time. We joked that based on how we were dressed, we must have looked like this was our one big night out a year!
The play was beautiful and uplifting, and we got a lot of smiles walking around at intermission and afterward. The whole experience – inspiration, execution, scheduling mistakes and all – was funny and sweet and such a fond memory to share with Lizzie, the best sister / fashion influencer / volunteer blog photographer my younger self could have ever hoped to call a friend!
Kennedy Center bathroom selfie!
~ Photos by Lizzie Epstein - thanks sis!
Drawing process reel: Kitchen table photo, pencil sketch, digital drawing.
