Hiya every buddy.

It feels as though I’ve been yearning for vintage overalls for evah. I’ve found a few pairs while out thrift shopping…but they didn’t fit well and overalls are not a garment that is easily altered.

Hankering in mind, I squeaked out loud when a photo of this 10oz railroad striped denim showed up in an email from Blackbird Fabrics. Even though I had sworn off sewing denim ever again…my machine does not love sewing heavy fabrics and I’m actually pretty lucky at finding jeans at my local thrift stores…I fell hard for this fabric. But overalls…finding overalls that fit is like finding a unicorn,  so I put aside my fears and hit buy. 

My project started over on Pinterest. I saved as many photos of vintage overalls as I could and spent a lot of time looking at various brands and silhouettes. Next up, choosing the pattern. At first I dismissed the Jenny Overalls pattern….I thought that the fitted high waistline would be too far off of the look I was going for.  I took a close look at the Yanta Overall by Helen’s Closet, but they were looking a little too relaxed for my vision. Gosh, I sound a bit like Goldilocks. I ended up coming back to the Jenny Overalls {you can see my first pair here}. And…I made surprisingly few changes to the original pattern.

Can you spot what’s missing?

Yep….I had a basic Closet Case Patterns Overalls Hardware Kit in my stash, but I still need 4 extra buttons. The minute CCP is open for shipping again, I’ll be ordering those babies. In the interim, I’ve not opened the four buttonholes….and…I’m living dangerously. Seriously, there’s very little gaping so s’all good.

I find one of the biggest factors in making a pattern look similar to a favourite ready-to-wear garment is observation.  Look and then look even closer. Observe how a shape relates to the shapes around it. I made three different size pockets before settling on this size and shape. It’s actually the pocket for the Morgan Jeans {also CCP} but with added height at the top.

Oh…almost forgot the legs! Jenny Overalls have a very wide leg….I narrowed them a lot…2 1/4″ on each side, front leg and back leg. Closet Case Patterns has a post on this hack if you’re interested.

Vintage Levi Overalls do not have a separate waistband so I combined the Jenny waistband and the bib pattern piece to be a single piece. I removed 1/2″ from the top of the pants front pattern piece so that the waist sits slightly lower than original. The bib pocket is divided. I really had fun with the top stitching on this make. The pants front pockets are tweaked ever so slightly. They’re a wee bit more curved than the original pattern.

Above is a close up of the back. Jenny Overalls have back waist darts. I ignored them…I did not rotate them out. In doing so, I achieved a looser fit in comparison to the more closely fitting waist of the Jenny Pattern. I love, love, love how the diamond shape turned out. It’s not true to Levi’s…my stripes are vertical; Levi’s are on the diagonal…and I love my version even better.

I did a small misstep when drafting the curved back of the overalls. I allowed for a 5/8″ SA, which wasn’t enough for turning the denim under and sewing two rows of top stitching. I ended up adding a facing and the end result is totally fine. Sure, you wouldn’t typically find a facing like this in a pair of jeans/overalls, but I’m happy with my method. It actually made sewing the back easier and for a very tidy strap insertion. You can see that I opted to line the straps with a lighter weight fabric.

I had the same issue with the front bib…full facing to the rescue. The next time I will make the buttonhole facing and the bib facing as a single piece. Oh yes…I would love to make another pair in a bright blue denim. In this photo you can see both the front pocket facings and how I lined the….hmmmmm….non-waistband? I’m not sure what you would call that.

Okay to wrap up…I’m wearing my fab overalls with a t-shirt made from 100% organic cotton jersey knit also from Blackbird Fabrics. I used my trusty Jeanne t-shirt pattern from Ready To Sew. I will be once again joining Sea Of Teal for #sewyourwardrobebasics. The theme for April is tops. 

That’s all for now. I hope you are in good health and feeling safe.

Wearing ::

Jenny Overalls : : Closet Case Patterns, also seen here

Jeanne T-Shirt : : Ready To Sew, also seen here