Girls' Linen Traveling Suit

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hogaboom, member

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The challenge: a summer-weight suit in linen for my daughter for her travels.  The suit should be casual but have structure; cool and breathable.  Above all the garment must be sturdy to endure her active lifestyle.

The jacket is a more formal garment than the pants; in order not to disrupt the lines of the garment, I attached the pockets with a fell stitch.

The pants and jacket are 100% linen, and both are underlined in a cotton batiste, which lends a very subtle warmth to the garment color.

A fair amount of handstitching went into this garment: from handbasting the underlining, to applying the pockets, attaching the hem to lining, the belt carriers to the waistband, closing the waistband at the placket, and backstitching the collars at the seam.

The jacket is lined with a Bemberg rayon, smooth and light. Altogether the garment weighs only a few ounces and slides on smoothly.

I used my Singer Centennial 201-2 to apply machine buttonholes.

I use Sandra Betzina's tutorial on an easy fly zipper when I make pants; I've never been led astray!

The challenge: a summer-weight suit in linen for my daughter for her travels.  The suit should be casual but have structure; cool and breathable.  Above all the garment must be sturdy to endure her active lifestyle.

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My seven year old daughter loves taking the train; she is an adventurer at heart. The weather has warmed up, but already fall approaches. I wanted to make her a suit that could travel in the summer heat, but be ready for layering in autumn.  I found a 100% yarn-dyed linen with a subtle stripe and fell in love.  The linen was too lightweight for a suit, so I chose a red cotton batiste to underline and the same color Bemberg rayon for the jacket lining.

The batiste, which I handbasted to each pattern piece, gave the garment just enough structure; it wears well with a minimal amount of wrinkling.  The patch pockets were underlined in a fine grey cotton so no red would show.  Each seam was double-stitched to make sure the rayon would not ravel.  The end result is just as I'd envisioned, although I must confess keeping the grain straight in such a fine, loosely-woven linen was a bit of a headache!

My daughter loves the suit and wore it today to fetch her uncle for a birthday party.  I will definitely be using this pattern again, it lends itself to a unisex structure that looks classic on any child.

I blogged the project here:  http://kelly.hogaboom.org/?tag=linen-traveling-costume

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Comments (3)

trishapat writes: This is so charming and heartwarming! ( as well as beautifully made of course)This should be an heirloom garment in your family for sure.
How wonderful to please your little daughter with a lovingly made suit and to grant her request for a polar bear hat. The whole thing brings a smile to my face.
Posted: 7:57 am on August 19th

Couturegirl writes: What a darling suit! Your workmanship is of the highest quality. Wonderful job.
Posted: 10:28 pm on August 18th

2LooseThreads writes: This 'travelling suit' is BEAUTIFULLY done!
Your handsewing and technique are flawless, I love the fact that you included photos of the INSIDE.... when a garment is finished as nicely on the wrong side as the right side, I think it says alot about your work.

I'm sure this will be a favorite garment of your daughter.
(and I LOVE the first photo with the bunnyeared cap!!!!)
Posted: 5:36 pm on August 16th

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