Today I’ve got a hack on the Blanca Flight Suit by Closet Core Patterns to share with you guys.

And, damn, am I in love with this one!!

I’ve previously sewn the Blanca Flight Suit as designed, as well as mashed it up with the Amy Jumpsuit.

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For this one, I was entering into the winter zone, wanting a long-sleeved version.

So, let’s get started.

Fabric dreams

This Blanca Flight Suit is made out of a Mind the Maker organic corduroy in the indigo night colour. It’s mostly organic cotton but with added 2% elastane. I would definitely emphasise that the eslatene doesn’t actually make it feel like a stretch fabric it all – the impact on the overall feel of the fabric is pretty minimal.

I’ve sewn with quite a bit of corduroy in my time and this is definitely the most pleasant I’ve ever used. It has a really soft feel to it, while being warm at the same time, so it’s great to wear.

In terms of sewing, I definitely found that it didn’t challenge my machine as much as some other corduroys I’ve sewn with. I also found that sometimes I’ve found topstitching in corduroy to look a bit unsightly but I didn’t find that the case with this one. The stitching really disappeared nicely into the fabric.

But my favourite thing of all is that this corduroy has a really velvety look and feel to it. This was actually what attracted me too it in the first place. I had actually started with the idea of a velour Blanca Flight Suit but this corduroy seemed like a way to try to capture this idea in a bit of a ‘safer’ way.

The corduroy definitely had a nap to it, so make sure to cut all your pieces out in the same direction!

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Hacking the Blanca Flight Suit

The Blanca Flight Suit is available in sizing to cater for a maximum waist size of 134cm (53″) and hip size of 160cm (63″).

My starting point for this Blanca Flight Suit was the pattern I had previously printed. So the bodice is based on a size 14, but the waist has been raised an inch from the original design (that inch is put back into the crotch rise) and the back bodice is slightly narrowed towards the waist band.

But that’s pretty much where the similarities with my previous versions end.

This time I decided to be brave and sew the zippered breast pockets, which had previously intimidated me. The reality is that these pockets were nothing at all to be scared of. The construction of the zipper is basically the same as installing the large centre zip on the Blanca Flight Suit just on a smaller scale.

Easy!

So let’s get to the hacks.

I wanted a wider leg for my Blanca Flight Suit so I hacked the Blanca Flight Suit using the leg shape from The Assembly Line Wide Leg Jumpsuit. I am over the moon with how this leg looks with the Blanca Flight Suit, this is just the kind of breezy wide legged goodness I was dreaming of!

Then, I wanted to play around with the sleeves.

The Blanca Flight Suit includes a long-sleeve version which consists of a two piece sleeve. But I was a little worried about how comfortable corduroy would be in a long-sleeve.

So I decided to be a bit revolutionary. You know, cup-of-tea-and-sewing-needle-level revolutionary.

Instead of sewing the sleeves with my corduroy, I decided to sew it with a ribbed knit fabric instead, combine with a little cuff.

As my base, I used the short sleeve of the Blanca Flight Suit, with my own previous hack, where I have done a full bicep adjustment of a couple of centimetres. Then I extended the length of the sleeve to full length, without any tapering to make a roomy wide sleeve. This is all gathered into a nice fitted cuff.

I love the way it ends up looking and the comfort factor is out of this world.

I had actually hoped that by using a ribbed knit, the stripes, from a distance if you squint on a foggy day, might kind of look like the corduroy. It doesn’t. But I still don’t mind at all and I think that the clearly distinct fabric on the sleeves adds visual interest.

I love the bomber jacket vibe the sleeve creates, especially in combination with the gorgeous pin tucks along the back bodice of the Blanca Flight Suit.

There is no more satisfying feeling in sewing than when a pattern mash-up just works?

In the words of this Kylie and the Machine label: it’s pretty FABULOUS!

What’s your favourite pattern mash up?

If you want to see more of my sewing adventures, you can find me on Instagram here.