Marigold/Bettine Romper (+ tutorial!)

I\’ve never been a huge fan of rompers, but a few things converged recently and I decided to try my hand and wearing and making one! First, I saw my friend Jennie wearing a super cute oversized black romper with kimono type sleeves and looking great in it. I also wanted a new coverup (with shoulder-protecting sleeves) for a recent beach trip. Then, when Tilly and the Buttons very nicely sent me the Marigold jumpsuit pattern, I knew that the bottom half would be a perfect romper bottom. Having recently tried on one of my mom\’s Bettine dresses, I knew I liked the fit and decided to do a little Tilly mashup, combining the top of the Bettine and the bottom of the Marigold, cropped to shorts length. Like two days after I made it, Tilly\’s squad posted a Marigold \”hack\” post with a Bettine/Marigold romper idea! Personally, I think mine is a bit more streamlined and RTW without that bulky casing… but I would think that, I suppose!

I\’ve worn this several times already–once to the beach and once with a skirt layered over it, which makes it look like a regular blousy top (but makes it pretty tricky to use the restroom…), and also a lot around the house and as pajamas. The cool rayon and loose silhouette have been irrisistable in this hot, muggy weather we\’ve been having.

This is a definite stashbusting project, especially if you make short shorts and leave off the pockets like I did (I just forgot to cut them out and fudged it with my front pants pieces, but what you should do is layer the pocket over the pants piece aligning the side and waist seam allowances and then cut it as one piece): I squeezed this size 4 out of 1 1/2 yards of a pretty rayon from Gertie\’s Joann line.

I was really making this up as I went along, so I\’m not sure if I would suggest you do this exactly as I did… You should do it better 😉 I\’ve simplified my method here, good luck!

Pattern pieces:
Marigold: the front and back pants and the pocket. (If you want shorts for a romper rather than a full-length jumpsuit, chop the legs of the Marigold off, front and back, at your desired inseam length. I think for a loose-fitting romper, the shorter the better!)
Bettine: the front and back of the top and the neck facing (Cut the back neck facing and the back top piece with a 5/8\” SA at CB, not on the fold.)

Instructions:
1. Assemble your Marigold pants/shorts as instructed, but leave off the darts.
2. Assemble and interface the neck facing, leaving the back seam open.
3. Attach the front and back Bettine pieces at the shoulder and side seams, leaving center back seam open, attach neckline facing.
4. Either insert an invisible zipper in the CB seam or sew partially up the back seam, leaving enough space to get your butt though the neckline! (If you do the latter, you\’ll want to attach some pieces of ribbon or self-fabric tubes to tie the top together at the neckline–this would be really cute in the front too!!)
5. With the wrong sides together, pin waist of the Marigold bottoms to waist of the Bettine top, matching up side seams and back seam. Ease or lightly gather the two so they are the same circumference, and sew them together! This doesn\’t need to be perfect since the whole thing will get gathered in the next step.
6. Cut a piece of 1/2\” elastic to fit around your waist comfortably, and pin to the waist seam allowance. Stretch as you sew to gather the waistband to to the elastic.
7. Finish sleeves and hems.
8. Done!

Let me know if you decide to make a Bettine/Marigold romper with this tutorial (and tag me on instagram @helloalliej)!! I think this would be extra cute with exaggerated kimono sleeves like Amelia\’s dress version…