I basically stalked Hannah at Paddleboat Studio as she posted sneak peeks of the Mitchell pattern on Instagram, biding my time until I could jump on the opportunity to test it or buy it or do basically whatever necessary to get the pattern into my hot little hands as soon as possible!
In the end I was able to test the Mitchell pattern for Hannah. The version I am sharing with you today is not my tester version, though, because I used an old bedsheet as my muslin fabric for a test version of the jumpsuit and it turned out pretty crazy looking, as you can imagine.
The Mitchell pattern includes a jumpsuit and a dress with cut-on sleeves, a v-neck with wide facings, and a wrap-style waist feature. Here's the description from Paddleboat Patterns:
"The Mitchell Dress and Jumpsuit bring easy wrap style to any sewist's wardrobe. Both the dress and jumpsuit utilize innovative design and simple shapes to create a silhouette that is flattering on any body type while remaining easy and fun to sew. The jumpsuit version of the Mitchell requires an invisible zipper, instructions for installing this type of zipper are included."
While testing, we determined that the sleeves in my size were a bit snug for me, causing the bodice to also feel snug because it is all one piece. Snug sleeves are not unusual for me; I often have to do full bicep adjustments. So for this version, I ended up going up a size, which worked out better. I think because the bodice and sleeves are all one piece, it was affecting the bust fit, too.
I think I need darts or something in the back, as it's quite bunchy there when I wrap the ties around. My Kielo wrap dress (which is a similar style to the Mitchell, in some ways) has fisheye darts in the back to help with that excess fabric. I may copy those darts onto this Mitchell...
I was thinking of using a floral rayon challis for my Mitchell dress, but then I remembered that the wrong side of the fabric shows at the edges of the skirt wrap, so I changed things up to a super soft chambray fabric that I bought at an awesome Japanese denim store here in Bangkok.
The edges of my skirt got stretched out when hemming, so they're a bit wavy. I wonder how much of a difference it would make if I sewed the skirt wraps together, rather than hemming separately?
I'm still not decided on how I feel about this Mitchell dress. While I love the concept - the wrap around/tie waist, cut-on sleeves and v-neck are obviously features I gravitate towards (see Kielo, Adeline, Sointu, and so on)- there is something a bit eeeeeeehhhhhhhhh about this dress that I can't put my finger on.
I dunno. What say you, sewing friends? Fabric choice? Fit?
Have you made a Mitchell dress or jumpsuit? Thoughts?
