Suits Me: The Refashioners 2017

Suits Me: The entire ensemble

Portia's #therefashioners2017 challenge of #suitsyou was right up my alley! My work wardrobe is based on business casual, with a strong bohemian influence and a little bit of chic mixed in. I felt that a suit refashion was the perfect opportunity to make some work attire while adding my own twist!

I used a 2-piece suit found on eBay for this refashion. It was a Haggar men's 2-piece gray pinstripe suit with a single-breasted 2-button 42 long jacket and a 36x34 trousers. (I found another pinstripe suit in a lighter gray with a vest that I will also be refashioning at some point.)

Before

I started by making a sleeveless suit dress from the jacket. Using the jacket sleeves and adding ProWeft Supreme Light interfacing, I was able to insert a wide waistband to make the dress a work-appropriate length while maintaining the original back vent. I used my dress form, Astrid, to pin fit the suit, generally along the original style lines. I was able to use the original lining, so this was almost a zero waste refashion! I didn't reuse the shoulder pads, instead pinning and repinning the armscye until I was happy with the style line. The only other supply I used (besides thread) were some buttons from Joann. The fiddliest bit was sewing the lining to the suit at the armscye. A lot of hand sewing went into this! My favorite thing about the make is the deep pockets. The back vent needs a bit of a rework to lie a bit more smoothly. 

Front

Side

Pockets!

I will probably layer it over a long sleeved shirt and tights for the winter. It also looks great over the skirt as a long waistcoat!

The back -- the vent is a bit wonky

The trousers were wide enough that I was able to squeeze my TNT pencil skirt pattern out of it by adding a center front seam, retaining the original front and back pockets (hooray for pockets!). The skirt is a bit more pegged in than previous makes due to fabric width. I used the skirt from Simplicity 2154 and added a lining using Bemberg rayon from fabric.com. The lining isn't in the original pattern, so I made my own pattern adding additional ease at the hips and a bit of extra length at the back vent so it doesn't pull. I also used pleats instead of darts at the waist. To sew in the lining at the vent, I used this nice tutorial from sew2pro. I used the original waistband and put in a center back zipper all the to the top, first interfacing the fabric, then adding a button and fabric loop inside à la Tany.

Front

Side

Back -- needs a pressing after being packed for a long car ride to Missouri!

I'm quite pleased with both pieces, which can be worn separately or together, making lots of different winter layering options! Taking an all-business suit and stamping it with my own personality was very satisfying. Thanks for the challenge, Portia! I'm looking forward to next year. In the meantime, I can refashion that other suit...