Simplicity 8641: Sew House Seven Bib Jumper

I’ll be honest, I’ve been in a bit of a sewing rut. And I believe I could pull myself out of it if I bought myself some new, fresh fabric to reignite some inspiration, but with some uncertainty on the horizon, I haven’t been in the mood or mindset to spend a bunch of money on fabric. The stuff in my stash hasn’t exactly been calling me, but actually, I’ve found that that’s a pretty good recipe for using it up. It doesn’t typically translate to being the most innovative or creative project, but it is often how I end up with necessary basics.

Anyway, that’s where I am now. And that’s partly what inspired me to finally get around to trying out this pattern.

As far as clothes go, it sits squarely in the “basic but reliable” category. It might just have been a closet staple for a few years (even though we know it’s only been a handful of weeks). It’s trusty.

The pattern is Simplicity 8641, which is one of the patterns Simplicity did in conjunction with an independent pattern designer, in this case Sew House Seven. To be transparent, I never quite know what to call this style. Overall dress, jumper, pinafore…they all seem like appropriate enough labels, though I can’t be sure they quite hit the nail on the head. But the pattern itself calls the style “bib jumper with suspenders and back drawstring” which sounds good enough for me.

The style, or I guess even just bibs in general, is something I’ve wanted to try for a long time and this seemed an easy way to dip my toe in the water, especially as I had everything I needed on hand.

One of the biggest struggles in making the pattern happened before I even opened the envelope, and that was trying to determine the difference between the four included views. I mean, look at that envelope! What differences are you seeing? Maybe I wasn’t looking closely enough but beyond the side slit, I could hardly make out any differences at all. Thankfully, the pattern itself makes apparent the changes. First, the bib can be straight across or curved on the top edge. There are variations on the pockets. And the skirt can either be a roomy A-line, or a narrower straight skirt. So, no, nothing terribly eye-catching, but as the variations require different pattern pieces-and not just cut here for longer/shorter lines-I do want to applaud them.

I chose view C which features the A-line skirt, straight bib, and exterior pockets.

The construction of the dress was just complicated enough that I had to pay attention instead of going into auto-pilot mode. There wasn’t anything too complicated but there were small things that took attention.

One feature I really like on the dress are the pockets! And I don’t just mean that I’m pumped there are pockets, because that should go without saying. What I mean is that I love the style of these pockets. Rather than your run-of-the-mill side seam pockets, these are exterior pockets with topstitching and I think they are a really fun and interesting feature. They definitely add to the design.

Another favorite feature is the back. The bib has these long ties that cross in the back and then are threaded through the belt loops and can be tied in the front or back of the dress. I’m a fan of the paper-bag waist look and I like how it’s featured, though subtly, here. I also will never say no to something that can be adjusted and readjusted as necessary.

Thankfully the sewing process went pretty well with few hiccups. I didn’t cut my belt loops accurately enough and so I had to be okay with 5 loops instead of the intended 6, but I don’t think anyone’ll be counting.

I did want to briefly shine a light on the technique highlighted for the pockets. Because the pockets are curved, it can be difficult to create smooth lines with ironing alone. Here, the pattern recommends sewing a basting stitch along the press line. The basting thread can be gently pulled to have the seam pull to the inside. It’s a trick I’ve used before but not enough to have it handy in my brain for when I need it, so I was glad for the refresher!

The fabric I used is a mystery fabric I’ve had in my stash for long enough that I can’t remember where it’s from or for what it was originally intended. It’s some sort of linen, but when I pulled it out to press, I was surprised to find that it also has some stretch to it. So I suspect it has linen in it but probably also another fiber (maybe rayon?) plus spandex. It was an easy fabric to work with.

So that’s the bib jumper dress thing! I like it! The bib needs some tweaking. It has the gaping that seems to be a pretty common problem in bibs, but I imagine I’ll be able to find some sort of fix if I end up making this again.

Pattern: Simplicity/Sew House Seven 8641
Size: 14
Adjustments: None
Fabric: mystery fabric; probably a linen/spandex blend
Cost: pattern $2; fabric unknown; notions from stash
Would I make this pattern again?: I would!