Recently, I decide to bring together my Early Spring Know Me pattern with my first ever Indie pattern, creating the perfect pattern marriage for a cute summer romper. It was pretty easy to do with out needing any extra drafting or intense alteration of either pattern. So if you want to give it a go yourself keep reading.
Of coarse, you're gonna need both patterns. We will be taking the bodice of the Sia Pattern and merging it with the pants of the ME2027. I used a medium weight canvas like fabric for this romper similar to the weight of denim.
Gather all your pattern pieces. For this mash-up you will only need the bodice pieces 1, 2, 3, 4 from the Sia Pattern and the belt pattern piece 10. Cut the bodice main pieces, lining and for all the pieces. Don't forget to mark your notches.
You can carry on the bodice construction as you would from the Sia Pattern constructions. Be sure to create the lining in the same way as you create the main fabric.
For this romper I created the boning so that it is exposed on the front of the bodice which is a little different from the original Sia pattern directions. To cover the boning I used the same silk lining I used for the bodice. I created 1" strips and cut each strip the length of the each bodice seam.
The boning was cut about 1" inch shorter than the silk casing.
The sides are pressed over the boning with the iron. You can clip it in place before stitching it under the machine.
Stitch the folded fabric onto the boning close to the boning edge. Press the other side over and stitch in the same manner to cover the boning completely.
Line the covered boning pieces over the seam of the bodice. Stitch the covered boning over the previous stitches .
Finish all bodice seams with covered boning.
I also added a fold over flap to the top of this bodice at the last minute. I measured a piece of scrap fabric the length I wanted it, cut four pieces so that I could turn each flaps right side out. The raw edge was basted to the front of the main bodice, which will later be sandwich between the lining and main bodice before stitching lining to bodice.
The flap was a last minute addition for this piece but I love the way it turned out.
So now your bodice is complete you can set it aside and let's move on to the bottom.
Now it's time to pull out the pant panels to KnowMe pattern ME2027 . You will only need
pieces 11, 14, 15, 17 for the bottom of the romper. You will be leaving out the trim from the original pattern.
Before you begin don't forget to cut the fly flap off for piece 11. We will not need that as our fly will not have a covered zipper.
After the pant panels are cut and prepared they can be assembled according to the original KnowMe Pattern directions, omitting the contrast trim and omitting the contrast for the fly. Topstitch the front and back seams and don't forget to install your pockets. I did end up adding a couple darts in the back of my pants to adjust for fit. If you find the pants need to come in to match up to the bodice you can always add darts in front, back or both. Once the bottom are done match the seams up with the bodice boning and stitch the bodice to the bottoms. Now you can install your zipper down the front. I used a 16 inch closed zipper for this romper and it worked perfectly. however if you decide to add any length to the bodice or pants at the waist to adjust for longer torso you may need a longer zipper.
Once the zipper is in you can lay the lining onto of the bodice right sides together sandwiching the flap and finnish lining according to the Sia Pattern instructions. Don't forget to make your belt.
Voila You are done! 💋
