GINGER JEANS: CORDUROY OVERALL HACK EDITION June 26, 2018

Seriously, though. Since about pair four, It's been - 'yeah, I probably don't need to make another pair of these for a while' - and yet they just keep falling off my machine. It's like whack-a-mole, they just keep popping up again. You can't really blame me though, not when the pattern's this good! This time, I took some more of my coveted corduroy from Draper's Fabrics (this and the maroon are the only two colors they have, although there are a few other options in velveteen that I may or may not be lusting after...) and turned my sights on a dungaree hack to mix things up a bit.v

You probably already know that Closet Case Patterns recently released a pretty jammin' overall pattern called  Jenny, which is altogether a really nice looking pattern, but not really what I was looking for in my overalls. I wanted a skinny, high waisted pant with belt loops, a fitted waistband, and a cute shaped bib and a little curvy back bit. I was scrolling through Pinterest thinking about this mythical pair of overalls when I realized that basically, what I really wanted was a pair of high waisted Ginger skinny jeans with the overall bits attached. A plan was hatched!

I went to buy the corduroy from Drapers, and stumbled upon a 1.2m remnant of the very fabric I was after. 1.2m was a bit of a squeeze, but there was more on the roll if I needed to go back. (I did.. but only for another .5m!) - I cut all my regular Ginger Jeans pieces per usual (Old adjustments carried through - the curved waistband, the swayback yoke, the lengthened leg pieces, and the adjusted grainlines) with one exception: I cut the waistband to have side seams instead of front and back, per my usual modification. - and saved the leftover fabric so I could worry about drafting and cutting the bib, back yoke, and straps for after the pants were assembled.

I interfaced the front fly pieces as normal, and sewed a fake fly down the front. I like that it breaks up the otherwise blank expanse of pelvis and also makes them look a bit more workwear-casual. (is it weird that we think about these things?) - I like the thickness of the interfacing here because it makes the fly look and act a bit more real - not flimsy, like it would if I'd just sewn topstitching down on one layer of fabric.

The next major change was the matching button closures at the hips. Obviously, with a fake fly I was going to need to get in and out of them somehow! Fortunately, the day I decided to make my overalls was the day Heather released the  side-button-fly tutorial for the Jenny Overalls, so I followed that. For the record, I only need to unbutton one side to get in and out of them. but I like the symmetry of having the buttons on both sides.

There is a bit of stress around the buttons, but I've kept an eye on it and nothing seems to be ripping or anything so hopefully everything works out as planned. the buttonholes are sewn through the pocket stay, but the back panel only has one layer of interfacing, hence the stretch.

Once the legs of the pants were complete (minus the waistband) I tried them on and used some paper to mess with the shape of the bib until I was happy. I added gently curved sides (folded twice and topstitched) and a facing along the top edge. Then I sandwiched the bib in the top edge of the waistband, topstitched, and sewed it to the legs.

To complete the back, I did a rough how-high-should-the-yoke-go measurement and eyeballed the rest of it. This bit's only functional purpose is to attach the straps to the back so it can be any shape you want. I wanted mine to be fairly substantial, so I mirrored the bib's curved edges and just made sure that the top bit had an angle similar (slightly more severe) to that of my shoulders, and was wide enough for my straps. I added a facing to hide and strengthen the strap connection, and at the last minute decided to cut two and seam/topstitch them up the middle, mostly just as an excuse to do more topstitching. 

My buckles, with their little heart shapes, were the only overall buckles I could find in ALL of Auckland. They didn't come with the traditional sliding adjustors either, so I've just whipstitched the straps down on the inside until I can get some. I kind of figured I might replace the buckles as well, but they're kind of growing on me. The buttons came from Miss Maude's, and I had some matching rivets leftover from a previous project that I was intending to use, but I think I like them without too much extra bling. I may also change my mind on this point...

PS- Double pockets on the bib! I mirrored my pocket topstitching on front and back, and incedentally it's the same topstitching pattern I've used on the last three pairs. Why mess with a good thing?

So - overall - what do we think? (heh, I was never going to be able to resist that pun!) I had put off making these for ages because there were too many options - wide leg, skinny leg, traditional denim or something more unusual - and I didn't really know what look I wanted to go for. I think I've managed to settle on something that fits my style* as well as my wardrobe pretty seamlessly, and at two weeks since completion I've worn them three times. I do like that they're something 'a bit different' from the 'jeans and a t shirt' uniform I talked about in my Me Made May post this year, but on the other hand, this is hilarious to me because this outfit is literally another pair of Ginger Jeans... and a T shirt. I don't have a lot of this grey in my wardrobe either, but somehow it seems to match my teals, purples, and deep reds so I have several options to wear it with. I think they exactly satisfy my quest to steer my wardrobe in a direction just a few steps left of 'average' and I'm excited to see how that unfolds!

*my style - recently described (by me) as 'grandma chic' - I have a section of my fabric stash out in the open that's reserved for things I want to make immediately (in addition to the in-progress pile) and I kept staring at that pile trying to figure out what was so odd about it. The colors and textures of those fabrics combined with what I'm planning to make with them kiiiiind of bring to mind elements of grandma's house. A nubby wool for a cropped cardigan that looks a bit like carpeting, a floral woven thing that looks like it could've been a couch in the 1970's for a blazer, some wool checked suiting for pants...Apparently this is the rabbithole we're going down, guys. I'm not sad about it. I guess it's a bit like these overalls - old favorites, with a twist.

Before I go - some quick housekeeping. I have a LOT of wedding dress progress to catch you up on but Jon's on school holidays and I can't exactly film while he's home - he'd find out all my plans! Working on that. Also, the radio silence and irregular posting are directly correlated with the rain rather than any kind of lack of sewjo. I have no less than six (!) finished objects ( 21 if you count individual baby clothes) that need photographing so they can be blogged, but my schedule and the rain's plans don't seem to be working out at the moment. This time last year, I was photographing bras inside which, looking back, was a very clever way to avoid the weather. Lastly, Frocktails Auckland is coming in August and I have some plans so big (and PINK!) I think they might need a few separate blog posts, so keep an eye out for that this month!