As I age into the Eileen Fisher years, the preppiness of  J. Crew just doesn’t have the appeal it used to. The cool-girl neutral vibe at Madewell is closer to what I like right now, but it’s still a J. Crew-owned company with ridiculous prices and questionable labor practices. This is why I sew.

I really loved two things from Madewell’s fall collection: An $80 shirt and a $150 jumpsuit. I saw the plaid for the shirt and thought, “There’s a Mammoth Plaid just like that!” and there was. (I’m working on this right now, using the Archer shirt pattern.)

 

For the jumpsuit, I couldn’t find that classic “mechanics coverall” style of pattern–until I thought, “I wonder what 80s jumpsuit patterns are on Etsy?” There was a very similar one, it turns out. I think some Art Gallery Smooth Denim would work really well for this.

The jumpsuit probably won’t happen until spring, but rest assured that I will try to recreate both model poses when I have these done.