DIY Dancewear – Jalie 2803 stretch pants and Jalie 2802 stretch bodyshirt

So…if you follow me on Insta you’ll have seen me sewing up dancewear for my wee fella!

He’s recently partnered up with the lovely Lola (whom you may recognise from Baby Ballroom) and they meet up twice a week for practice sessions, and will be hitting the competition floor very soon.

We’re so happy for them. Within minutes of meeting they were firm friends, and they both bring something special to the partnership that gives them a sparkle thats magical to watch.

Whilst Lola is always immaculate at practice as well as on the dance floor, Dylan was a bit of a scruff-bag in sweats and a tee. That needed to change. These two are so determined, and work so hard, it’s the least I could do.

Practice wear is pretty much as expensive as competition wear, (upwards of £80 for trousers and the same for a shirt) but I knew I had some dance fabrics in deep stash. So I pulled them out, bought Jalie 2803 (2802 was already in my pattern stash), and got on with it.

I have to tell you that I love Jalie patterns. They are beautifully drafted and fit my little man really well, straight out of the packet. The only adjustment I needed to make to the bodysuit was to reshape the neck a little.

It was super snug on him and whilst he could get it on and off, his ears are still extremely sore from his last surgery, with nasty scars. So I took the neckband off, opened out the neck a smidge (not measured but probably only about 1/2 cm all around) and popped a new neckband on. Sorted in minutes.

The trousers I had to redo a size bigger, but that’s purely because the fabric I used had less stretch than recommended and didn’t give him enough movement. And he definitely needs movement for ballroom!

I cut the pattern up the centre line, added 1/2cm to each piece and an 1″ to the length. Around the waist and hips he fits around the age 7/8 mark, but that extra inch on the leg will give him some growing room.

The fit is comfortable but slim enough that his teacher can see what’s going on as he works.

He was so happy with these when he came home from his lesson today. Weekend lessons involve a 360 mile round trip in the car, and 2 & 1/4 hours of dance. He needs to look smart, but he needs to be comfortable as well.

I’m reliably informed these meet the brief, and would really recommend these two patterns if your small boy needs dancewear. Or a bigger boy….the size range on Jalie patterns is insane. I could make this for Dave, too, if I wanted to. Which I don’t…but that’s not the point! The trousers are designed to be for skating but they transfer really well to the latin and ballroom world too!

I’d also say that I’m the worlds slowest sewist, but even I pulled these together in no time – they are very quick sews.

And now I’ve enough brownie points scored to have some sewing time for me. But in the meantime, cute outtake photo….