My three piece suit

Ta-da! During the week I finished making my three piece tracksuit; t-shirt, jogging bottoms and hoodie. All three are from Simplicity pattern 5353, I've had it in my stash for some while, and I understand it is now out of print.

Having agonised over whether or not I should make this project, it seemed a bit crazy somehow to be making a tracksuit, I really enjoyed making this project. There are details here on making the t-shirt, and having practised sewing with jersey on the t-shirt, I fairly flew through the rest of the project.

I didn't make any changes to the jogging bottoms, except adding some of the pink and yellow spotted trim to the pockets. I also used pink for the drawstrings and buttonholes. I think I might end up adding some elastic to the waist, as I think this would be more comfortable and reliable than the drawstring alone. I did consider writing something across the back of the tracksuits bottoms, a la Juicy Couture. The best I could come up with was the surrealist statement 'Ceci n'est pas un derriere' (after Rene Magriette) but I wasn't sure my embroidery skills were up to such a long statement.

I added some length to the hoodie jacket as it, and the t-shirt, seem quite short. I used the remnants of the pink to line the pockets and the hood, which required a few alterations to the constructions, and used some more of the trim to edge the zipper on the inside of the jacket. I had a really difficult time getting the zipper in place, and making sure the pockets matched across the zip. It took fours attempts to get it, if not quite right, at least fairly close. Which probably explains the rather smug look on my face in this picture!

Project Round Up

Pattern:          Simplicity 5353

Fabric:           Grey wool jersey (Murphy Sheehy & Co) and pink jersey (charity shop)

Notions:         20" black zip, pink and yellow ribbon (The Cloth Shop)
Soundtrack:   The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (I love my books on tape)

Does it look like the picture on the pattern?     Yes
Was it worth making?    Yes, although I almost certainly could have bought a cheaper one, I enjoyed making it a lot and I'll get even more satisfaction out of wearing it.
Would I make it again?     Yes, if I need another pair of jogging bottoms, and I'll certainly make the top again, its a useful little hooded top. I might also use the t-shirt pattern for other tops, although I would add more length as it is quite short.