DIY Crocodile Ankara Print Jumpsuit Pattern Mashup

A few years ago in a morning of self-reflection I wrote a question in a notebook: If I had all the money I could ever need, what would I do? With total economic freedom I would travel, share my experience with others, learn more skills, and share my time with someone special. These aims may be a bit common, but I wanted to develop very specific skills: photography, videography, sewing and farming. I found this notebook 4 years later and was filled with joy to see how the exercise of writing down these wants had helped me to manifest these goals. Of course, I don’t have all of the money I could ever need. Still, I didn’t wait to express my freedom through working to my dreams. 

Every time I cut a new piece of fabric I’m working toward my goals. And this particular piece of fabric is one that I had saved for a special purpose. This fantastic teal and pink crocodile ankara is printed on a high quality cotton suitable for bottoms, jackets, dresses, anything. Its potential made it more difficult to choose its purpose. I’ve gone back and forth on just what to do with it, but I always wanted to wear the print from shoulders to ankles as a set or suit.

This jumpsuit is a hack of two patterns from my stash. The top is made of McCall’s M7740 and the bottom is New Look 6509. Since the print is so strong, I wanted a simple silhouette. No skin shows for business in the front and the back is open for party in the back. Of course, as I develop more as a creative entrepreneur, I think of this outfit as all business. Another expression of freedom I’m developing is the ability to walk into any room wearing the fullest expression of my personal style. That is bright colors, striking prints, and the balance of cool and comfortable that I love. 

Let me know in the comments – if you had all the money you could ever need, what would you do? What would you wear?

Pattern

• Top – McCall’s M7740, view B 
• Bottom – New Look 6509, view C

Fabric

• Teal, pink and black abstract crocodile print ankara cotton by Hollantex
• I bought this fabric at a shop along the route of the 2018 Hackney Carnival parade in London
• Learn how to remove the sticky labels from ankara fabric here

Fit & Modifications

• Top – McCall’s M7740
  • I didn’t want to fully line the front of the bodice with my thick ankara fabric so I self-drafted a 2″ facing for the front collar and arm holes. I applied a lightweight fusible interfacing and finished the bottom edge with my serger. Then, I stitched it to the full back lining pieces as instructed. Since I did fully line the back, I folded and sewed those down to the side seams by stitching in the ditch.
  • I cut a size 16 ad narrowed to a size 14 at the waist.
  • To front and back pieces, I added 3/4″ in length just below the armscye. This lowered the bust darts to the right place and placed the back tie in the right spot to cover my bra.
  • I also added another 3/4″ to the front piece for a total 1 1/2″ length adjustment for #sewingtall.
  • Added another 3/4″ to the sides of the back piece tapering to 1/4″ in the middle to account for my sway back.
  • I forgot to take 1/2″ out of the front armscye as my normal D-cup adjustment. I have decided to live with the gaping there for now, but I might go back in and pull it in from the side seam.
• Bottom – New Look 6509
  • I followed the same fit modifications from my first New Look 6509 jumpsuit because the pants fit incredibly. 
  • Cut a size 14 at the waist and graded up for a size 16 at the hip and through the leg,
  • Added 2″ to the rise.
  • I didn’t shorten the front crotch curve by 1/4″ for a thin thighs adjustment like I did for my first make of this pattern. I think they fit fine without it in this stiffer fabric.
  • Lengthened the inseam to 29 1/4″ when cutting then stitched a 2″ hem.

Tips for pattern matching with vertical lines

• I lucked out that this fabric was designed to be symmetrical from selvage to selvage. You can create symmetry by folding your length of fabric to create a new center line. Press along your fold so your center line does not shift during cutting.
• The thinner line of the crocodile print pulls your eye in and creates a vertical line along the body. I lined that up with the waist dart on the pants pattern so it would run down the front of my leg and up to my collar
• Here’s how to match the thick vertical lines from the top to the bottom of the jumpsuit:
  • Wait to cut out the top until after bottom pants are assembled. 
  • From the center front of the pants, measure out the distance between the seam and the next vertical line in the pattern.
  • On the top pattern piece, measure that distance from the center fold and pencil in a dashed line on your pattern paper.
  • On my fabric, the difference in width between that measurement and the half-measure of the wider crocodile print pattern was negligible so I re-folded my fabric in half along the center of that print line to cut the front on the fold.
  • For the back pattern piece, again measure your pants back from the center seam line to the nearest vertical line of the print. Then, transfer that distance to your pattern piece using a dashed line. 
  • Line up your dashed line with the appropriate line of your fabric and pin before cutting.

Tutorials that were helpful

• The wonderful Marica Mitchell, AKA @overdriveafter30, has worked with this ankara print before. Check her out for a little more inspiration. 
• And don’t forget my tutorial. Learn how to remove the sticky labels from ankara fabric here.