Dungarees – Hopefully Creative

Cat Suit – Sorta

Cat printed dungarees for the summer.

I made another iteration of the Ophelia Overalls from Decades of Style (previous versions here and here). This time, I used a ‘fine rib cord with cat print’ from a shop called babystofjes.nl (baby fabrics). I am not a baby, but I thought it was cute so I decided to go for it.

I made some changes to the pattern; I eliminated the buttons and flaps along the side, added an extra d-ring to the front pocket and the side, fully lined the front bib and made some adjustments to the facings of the back, and I cut it a little longer. Then I started thinking about wearing it with the straps down and what to do with them. The ochre version has shown me that it’s a little tight if I keep them attached to the bib. So, I improvised some ‘stap holders’ that attach with snaps at the pockets. This seems to work quite well.

The one down side I’ve experienced so far is that the side straps are a bit slippy, so I tends to loosen a bit over time. If it turns out to be a massive problem, I’ll figure out a solution in due course. Probably more snaps..

I do think these are adorable though. The fabric is quite soft, doesn’t fray and is very light weight. Other people also seem to like them, so that’s fun. They are mostly for the hotter months though, I think a breeze would blow straight through.

Ochre Ophelia Overalls

Giant pockets on a strappy ochre overall.

I saw the pattern ages ago somewhere on a blog probably and sort of secretly fell in love with it. The Ophelia Overalls from Decades of Style have been hanging out in my mind for a while now. There’s an ochre/white version on the pattern envelope and their sew-along version is ochre. When I found some ochre diagonal corduroy on the fabric market for a very reasonable price, I needed it. So I bought some amount of fabric and that then languished in the hoard for a lot longer still.

But I finally convinced myself to purchase the pattern and I got to work. I tried to follow the instructions but I did end up deviating here and there. For example, they want you to topstitch the big pockets on, but it’s just as easy to sew them on flat and fold them back up and then topstitch. My topstitching is also a different width than indicated, the straps are lined, there’s some extra d-rings on loops added to the side and the front pocket and I put snaps in the side seam and on the straps.

The are some interesting choices made in the instructions, such as indicating that certain parts don’t need to be serged, when they will be serged half-way through. Also, for my size, it’s absolutely not necessary to have both side seams open up. There’s plenty of space to wiggle myself in without even opening any of those snaps. They also wanted to me to just fold over the edges of the straps. Luckily, I’d read a review and followed their hints to line the straps and attachment point. It makes me feel a lot better.

Ochre overalls inside view with white overlocking.

Detail view of ochre overalls with ochre/white gingham lining.

The length of these is also weird. I’m not sure if my fabric just shrunk, but it’s single fold hemmed at 1.5 cm and it fits. I’ve never been able to use a full length pants pattern without shortening it. Now, the straps are a bit too long, so maybe my waist is in the wrong place or something? Nobody knows. However, since I’ve finished it, I’ve worn it plenty, even if it’s probably a little hot for summer. It’s extremely comfortable and I really like the colour and the feel of it. So I’m strongly considering making this in pants without bib and no (or maybe one) side opening too!

Striped Overalls

Silver snap detailed mash-up overalls with grey stripes

I got some interesting grey striped stretchy fabric from one of the fabric markets this summer. It seemed really fun to make overalls/dungarees with it. I’ve been dreaming of having some overalls that have the same top details as the Cat Dungaree Dress. Since that dress was supposed to be dungaree pants before I made terrible fabric choices…

Striped overalls with silver snap details, front

Striped overalls with silver snap details, side view

I tweaked the pants pattern I used for the previous corduroy dungarees and pants to make this thing. The main changes were to add some length to the bottom again, and to eliminate the dart in the front. So I redrew the pocket pieces to take those in by a few centimeters. I added pockets to the back, and made the back darts work, in contrast to the Dark pants. I grabbed the cat dress pattern and just directly copied the top onto the fabric.

Striped overalls with silver snap details, close up of side and pockets

I made some stupid mistakes that meant that a waistband wouldn’t work, so I just slapped the front and back bib straight on. I don’t trust zippers 100%, so I added an additional closure with a snap to the side seams. It also looks fun, so I’m happy with this choice. With the cat dress, I’ve found that the top strap is helpful to hang things on, like a bag with my yarn if I’m knitting. So it’s both another design detail and useful. I still have some of the fabric remaining and the plan is to make a blouse, similar to some I purchased eons ago from H&M.

Ps. if your screen does weird things with the stripes, The whole thing looks like the side detail image, there are no psychedelic blobs.

Dark Dungarees

Cosy dungarees, just finished in time for winter to end.

I bought some corduroy on a market a year or so ago and was like: pants for me! But then I brought it home and washed it and discovered that I hadn’t bought enough because corduroy has a nap and it looked silly to put things on sideways *insert sad trumpet noises*. Some time later, I went back to the fabric market and found a different dark corduroy (it’s not black, but it’s not .. not?). I didn’t take any chances and bought more than enough for dungarees so I could make those, and more!

The dungarees are based mostly on the Burda Style 12/2022 model 1 pants pattern (from these plaid pants) and on this shorts dungaree flap. I made some changes to the pattern that I don’t particularly recall, although I remember changing it to a side opening. I included jeans style back pockets and the same pocket shape on the front of the bib-flap. This corduroy is very stretchy so I was afraid to use a woven fabric for the lining pieces and grabbed a knit in the end. The bib, pockets, waistband and straps are lined with this stripy knit fabric.

There were two problems with getting this thing done: making choices & executing them and getting the buttonholer to work . I hemmed and hawed over the bib shape, the pocket shape and placement, how to put it on the fabric, everything. This makes a project take so much longer than expected, also when it takes you a week or so between the major steps to actually finish it. Throw it in the corner when you haven’t exactly figured out how to get that pesky waistband attached, how to hem it, stuff like that.

The other major thing was that I wanted to add the straps using buttons and I wanted my imported Greist buttonholer to do the work for me. Those templates would make it so easy to make a pretty (keyhole) buttonhole, I thought. It took trying it out on three machines, a lot of cursing and finally taking it apart and cleaning the sticky grease out to get it to function. I’m so very proud that I managed though (this was my third try). It’s now stored next to the one machine that could make it work, a 1901 Singer 28, hand-crank vibrating shuttle sewing machine. Check out how it makes buttonholes!

All in all, I really like these pants. The corduroy is comfortable, the straps are nice, dungarees are generally great. The only downside is what to wear underneath, so I’m now knitting a ‘shorter’ sweater that can go under the dungarees. Got to keep busy after all!

Replacement Red Dungarees

Sometimes letting go of something old is only possible when you already have the perfect replacement. Hence these improved dungarees!

I absolutely loved these red dungarees that I made in 2014. Sadly, they haven’t seen a ton of wair, mainly because the fit was just that little bit off. However, because I was so fond of them, I decided that I NEEDED another pair (or a replacement pair, really). Off to the second-hand shop I went, where I managed to find a piece of red fabric by pure coincidence. I’m not sure how or why, but it worked out perfectly!

This time around, I chose a different pattern, now from a Knipmode magazine (Knipmode 7/2009 pattern 113, shorts). The original was shorts with turned hems, so I added the bib-front and the straps to make them similar to the original red item. Next to that, I made sure to create a space for buttons to close the sides. The zipper on the original just wasn’t very nice. I also changed the front pocket a little – I had some scraps leftover so I pieced the pocket together. I think it looks nice and more fun.

Once I had the pants nearly all the way finished, I needed to decide on some buttons for the sides. In the end, I chickened out and chose to go with my all-time favourite, black snaps. Easy, breezy, beautiful snaps. For the straps, I bought some black clip on things, I wanted them to be black and these were the ones I found. Then I needed to attach those things and didn’t really know how. So back to the trusty favourite I went, snap-time!

I have worn it during the hot summer and I enjoy it very much. So much, that I wanted to make another item to wear with it, but that’s for another day. By now, I’ve relegated the original to the ‘bag-that-needs-to-go-to-the-second-hand-shop’, and am happily trying to find occasions to wear these replacements. The one small issue I have with the pattern is that I think that the back pockets are a little too high. But if that’s the most pressing problem, then I can definitely live with that.

Cat Dungaree Dress

After finishing the blue plaid shirt, I set off to use the brown fabric bought in the same haul for some harem dungarees. So I set up to draft a set of dungarees based on pins like this, this and this. I sewed it all up and… I looked like a Teletubby.

It was very bad. So I cut off the bottom and decided it was going to be a dungaree dress. It’s still got the details from the harem jumpsuit from pinterest, with a large pocket on the front and a strap across the top. The pockets in the sides were drafted before construction. The shoulder straps, front strap and sides all close with snaps.

After effectively finishing the dress, I wanted to add a little more. So I decided to also add some pockets to the back. I got the pattern from the internet somewhere (cannot remember where) and embroidered some cats on the back, heavily inspired by this pin.

So now I have a cat dungaree dress that I’ve been living in for several weekends. I say it is a success!

Moving Fabric

I’ve wanted to make something the Dutch call a ‘tuinbroek’ for a long time now. A tuinbroek, from the Dutch word for garden, is called dungarees in English. Pants with flaps at the front and back and straps over the shoulder.

For my plan to work I first needed to find a pants pattern that would fit, such that I could add the front, back and straps. I eventually settled on the pattern I used for my green and grey pants. I tried to remove the pleats in the front because I didn’t like them for my dungarees and shortened it to knee level. Found my fabric, a bright red linen type stuffy that I’ve also made this bag from, and cut it out. That was 2 to 3 months ago. Guess what has been wadded up inside a bag for quite a while…

Now, it is presently extremely hot in the Netherlands, so hot that I needed something short to be able to survive the heat. So I continued on with my dungarees. Also because I felt a bit guilty that it had been left in the plastic bag for so long already. I first made the pants bit, where I found out that I hadn’t removed enough of the pleats so I still had to make some anyway, otherwise it would just fall straight off my bum.

You can see the pleat next to the zipper, it’s on an angle because I liked the look of that better. I also made belt loops in case I want to wear a sash or belt. This is the only side that opens, the other is completely closed. It opens by means of a zipper and two sets of hooks & eyes.

When I had finished it all, including the top pocket, back pockets, belt loops and serged all the insides, I had to decide on the length. It was really hot so I decided to chop it all off. It’s pants, so basically still having a bit of inseam would be decent enough. I was wondering if I wanted to have turn ups, so I made those first, the plan being to allow me to turn those turn ups in or out depending on my mood. I didn’t like them out so I decided to stitch them down. This made the inseam the perfect length of 11 cm.

All in all, I like them. I might possibly need a little bit more room in the butt area, but I’ll see if I can change that in the next iteration of this pattern. I really like this pattern so I’m guessing there might be more in the future. This is how they look on me, completely finished.

I have already started a new project involving some stuff that feels like a wet-suit. I just hope that project will not take as long as this did.

Tag: Dungarees