Playproof Dungarees

From Serger Pepper as featured in One Thimble Issue 10 which you can find here.

So walking around town as you do over the school holidays and shopping with the youngest miss whilst others were in an Escape Room which was rated above her age, we browsed some stores whilst helping the DD2 BF find some work pants. 

Little miss stumbled across overalls, dungarees, whatever you want to call them.   Oh I like these, can you make some for me - I don't like this fabric, but you have some right?

Ummmm fabric, hmmm, just a bit I think (and laughed and laughed and laughed).

I am trying very hard to not buy new fabric …. shhhh I might have come home with some Stenzo from Zebra Fabrics over the holidays, but other than that I have been very frugal in my purchasing - aka - none unless absolutely necessary for an order as I try and downsize my somewhat considerable stash. 

I have also been doing some thinking on needs v wants and then that started me thinking I had an opshop purchase from 3 years ago that would make these perfectly.

Fast forward to after I traced the pattern and then realised I didn't have enough of the op shop skirt to make the size I needed. 

So raided stash as you do and found a piece of denim that is dark purple/blue on one side and pink on the other, but its like shot silk really - that's the only way I can explain it.   Dug through the stash some more found a small piece of unicorn fabric for linings etc.   How to spice it up a little.  Add in an embroidery I have from Embroidery Library .  I really do love this one and have used it more than once.   This time I crossed my fingers that my gold and silver thread made the distance.  Thankfully it did.

So you can make things work if you think outside the box - that plain and boring fabric can be brought to life with embroidery, appliqué or embellishment.   That small piece of fabric that's now not big enough for a pair of shorts, make a perfect choice for lining.   Use what you have, as nice as it is to have a large stash, start using it - you never know what is around the corner.   Enjoy what you do -embrace that you can make do and make things special for those that you love in life.

Now onto the pattern. 

The sizing was great - I made the straight 10 no adjustments.  K measured spot on the hip of 30 inches.  I did as instructed and checked the back yoke piece and knew from earlier measuring it would fit.   The pattern does go from a 2 - 16 and there are different front bib/pocket options as well.  Two different lengths of the pants, but you can easily adjust this to suit.  These ones have a roll up hem, but again you could easily adapt this to suit.   I went with buttons and buttonholes, but I think some pull through tied straps would look great too but I'd probably add length to the straps if I did this.

The instructions were good, I had no issues - there are notches and how to's throughout the pattern.  I did topstitch more than was stipulated, but that's a way to bring your own to a garment, just changing a few details. 

We went with the straight pattern, with no elastic at the waist, as we wanted a more unstructured outfit.  I used the denim for the waistband and pockets, but inverted so it was pink.  I changed up the straps by lining them and stitching around and turning versus the instructions per the magazine.   The pockets are a good size. 

What would I change - nothing really - I will next time and I'm sure I'll make another pair, do the Hong Kong seams on the inside and outside leg as currently the raw overlocking is bugging me a bit, but that's my fault for not forward thinking and being a bit lazy.

Why did I go the short legs - well I think we are missing winter altogether in Brisbane and I thought she'd hardly get any wear from the long leg version. 

Pattern was provided to me by One Thimble, but all comments and thoughts are my own and were in no way influenced by being provided the pattern.