High Neck Low Back Nettie

I'd never thought I'd say this, but I'm the proud owner of a bodysuit!!!

Fabric: Hunter Green Solid Cotton Spandex Knit - Girl Charlee 
Pattern: Nettie Dress & Bodysuit - Closet Case Files

Life is funny sometimes. You get older, things change, people change, and sometimes at the age of 26 you find yourself wearing an adult sized onesie. It's like being a baby all over again except this time you remember it, not mention much more fashionable! Which is why we're calling it a bodysuit. That makes me think of something sleek, high fashion, and a little femme fatale. The designer of this bodysuit is none other than Heather Lou from Closet Case Files. Heather is the brainchild behind the Bombshell Swimsuit which I made previously this summer. Heather's also really nice and professional. I know this firsthand because I emailed her with some issues I was having and she got back to me ASAP, was helpful, and didn't make me feel like an amateur for having problems. It's scary when you first enter the sewing world and you see people pumping out amazing pieces of clothing with awesome technique. When you get treated like an equal it makes asking questions and chiming in a lot easier.

When this pattern was first released I actually wasn't that interested. But then I thought about things I complain about in my everyday wardrobe: bulky tucked in shirts and weird waist bulge when wearing a shirt tucked into a skirt. The Nettie really fixes all of those things because of how it's constructed and the body conforming nature of a stretchy knit fabric, not to mention the pattern includes variations on front and back neckline and arm lengths making it pretty versatile. If bodysuits still aren't your thing there's a variation for a dress included. This was my first time buying fabric from Girl Charlee and the only thing I didn't like was that you can only buy fabric in whole yards. I ended up getting 2 yards of this even though I only needed about 1 and a quarter, but that's okay because I had a gift card from my sister (thanks, Renee!).

Coco is side eyeing the crap out of my modeling skills

I chose to make the high neck and low back variation with 3/4 length sleeves because I have zero pieces of clothing like that in my closet currently. Overall this is super easy to make and the only time intensive part was sewing in the shelf bra and bra cups in order to have support and go sans bra due to the low back. When I was trying this on before sewing it all together I realized that for some reason the shoulder/armpit seam in the back was falling in front of my natural shoulder/armpit and causing there to be an excess of fabric underneath the armpit area. When I would put my arms down this extra fabric would get stretched to the back and pull around the front creating a bunch of armpit stretch ripples which you can see a little bit in the top picture. This is when I emailed Heather and asked her for tips/suggestions/and my ideas of what was happening. She gave me great advice and I ended up cutting the back piece armscye lower and re-cutting the sleeves to fit. It helped a little bit, but if you went up and looked in that top picture you can still see some stretching and ripples. I think this is mainly due to the low back cut, the breadth of my upper back, and the stretchy quality of the fabric. This fabric had over a 50% stretch and I think if it was a little less stretchy it might not have pulled as much, and the bodysuit would have fit more snug overall. I have plans to make a scoop neck, high back variation so I'm interested to see if that fits better or if these are adjustments I just need to make when working with this pattern. I sewed a size 8 through the bust and the waist and graded up to a 12 through the hips. I think next time, especially when working with fabric that has so much ease I'll grade down to a 6 in the waist because it was a little loose and I was getting some wrinkles when moving around. I like how this turned out and it feels really comfortable. I can see myself wearing this a ton this fall, especially layered with cardigans! I wore it to a bbq this weekend and got a bunch of compliments on the low back, and then a bunch more praise when I said that I made it. Always the best feeling.

I'd never thought I'd say this, but I'm the proud owner of a bodysuit!!!

Fabric: Hunter Green Solid Cotton Spandex Knit - Girl Charlee 
Pattern: Nettie Dress & Bodysuit - Closet Case Files

Life is funny sometimes. You get older, things change, people change, and sometimes at the age of 26 you find yourself wearing an adult sized onesie. It's like being a baby all over again except this time you remember it, not mention much more fashionable! Which is why we're calling it a bodysuit. That makes me think of something sleek, high fashion, and a little femme fatale. The designer of this bodysuit is none other than Heather Lou from Closet Case Files. Heather is the brainchild behind the Bombshell Swimsuit which I made previously this summer. Heather's also really nice and professional. I know this firsthand because I emailed her with some issues I was having and she got back to me ASAP, was helpful, and didn't make me feel like an amateur for having problems. It's scary when you first enter the sewing world and you see people pumping out amazing pieces of clothing with awesome technique. When you get treated like an equal it makes asking questions and chiming in a lot easier.

When this pattern was first released I actually wasn't that interested. But then I thought about things I complain about in my everyday wardrobe: bulky tucked in shirts and weird waist bulge when wearing a shirt tucked into a skirt. The Nettie really fixes all of those things because of how it's constructed and the body conforming nature of a stretchy knit fabric, not to mention the pattern includes variations on front and back neckline and arm lengths making it pretty versatile. If bodysuits still aren't your thing there's a variation for a dress included. This was my first time buying fabric from Girl Charlee and the only thing I didn't like was that you can only buy fabric in whole yards. I ended up getting 2 yards of this even though I only needed about 1 and a quarter, but that's okay because I had a gift card from my sister (thanks, Renee!).

Coco is side eyeing the crap out of my modeling skills

I chose to make the high neck and low back variation with 3/4 length sleeves because I have zero pieces of clothing like that in my closet currently. Overall this is super easy to make and the only time intensive part was sewing in the shelf bra and bra cups in order to have support and go sans bra due to the low back. When I was trying this on before sewing it all together I realized that for some reason the shoulder/armpit seam in the back was falling in front of my natural shoulder/armpit and causing there to be an excess of fabric underneath the armpit area. When I would put my arms down this extra fabric would get stretched to the back and pull around the front creating a bunch of armpit stretch ripples which you can see a little bit in the top picture. This is when I emailed Heather and asked her for tips/suggestions/and my ideas of what was happening. She gave me great advice and I ended up cutting the back piece armscye lower and re-cutting the sleeves to fit. It helped a little bit, but if you went up and looked in that top picture you can still see some stretching and ripples. I think this is mainly due to the low back cut, the breadth of my upper back, and the stretchy quality of the fabric. This fabric had over a 50% stretch and I think if it was a little less stretchy it might not have pulled as much, and the bodysuit would have fit more snug overall. I have plans to make a scoop neck, high back variation so I'm interested to see if that fits better or if these are adjustments I just need to make when working with this pattern. I sewed a size 8 through the bust and the waist and graded up to a 12 through the hips. I think next time, especially when working with fabric that has so much ease I'll grade down to a 6 in the waist because it was a little loose and I was getting some wrinkles when moving around. I like how this turned out and it feels really comfortable. I can see myself wearing this a ton this fall, especially layered with cardigans! I wore it to a bbq this weekend and got a bunch of compliments on the low back, and then a bunch more praise when I said that I made it. Always the best feeling.