This pattern has been in my stash for a few months. I also had a couple yards of striped stretch denim that I bought at JoAnn’s last year, so M7547 + stretch denim = Overalls! I’d been working towards getting around to making up this pattern, and I finally did in the past month. I’m planning on wearing them to work during the summer. I made view C, the overall shorts, and I left out the belt loops.
Sizing, Adjustments and Critiques
I cut an 18 for the bib, and went with 22 for the waist and pants, the reason being that the overalls are close fitted, an important fact that’s stated on the pattern envelope. When determining what size to cut, I always take the design goal into consideration. I do think I could’ve cut a 16 for the front bib, because I think it may be a bit large and slightly baggy, but it’s not that bad. I didn’t have any trouble with size blending, which is nice. Usually pants will need to have line adjustments made for the difference in sizes from waist to hips, but I think that because they’re overalls they didn’t need it. I also think the waist is a bit baggy. I thought about cutting a 20 but I didn’t want it to be too tight so I played it safe. I might just need to tighten the strap to improve the look.
I found the gathering of the waistline a bit difficult and definitely tedious, however it is necessary in order to match the pants to the the waistband correctly. It’s part of the design and can’t be worked around. It takes a lot of patience though with heavier fabric such as the denim I used. Adjusting the gathers with denim isn’t easy, and making sure they stay in place while stitching to achieve a decent finished look is also a challenge.
I lowered the crotch depth by a 1/2″ using the pattern’s own lengthen/shorten line. That’s the only adjustment I made. I wish that I’d added more length to the shorts themselves, because I wanted more of a 3/4 length shorts/pants, but I’m pleased with them anyway. If I make them again I’ll remember to do that.
As far as aesthetics go I opted to leave out the stitching on the top of the front bib. Instead I just tacked the facing in place at the corner sides. I thought it looked better without it. I also didn’t stitch the strap to itself in the buckle area. I like a more carefree assembly in case I ever want to re-adjust the strap.
Pattern Errors
I did have some trouble with the placement of the left pocket. This is due to the zipper placket sharing some of the pocket’s space. I had to rip stitches over this and move the pocket in a bit to accommodate the placket. The placement line for the pocket wasn’t true in this area, and needs an edit. Either that or the zipper should be installed first. The instructions prioritize the pocket placement first, and then the zipper placket, but I think that the zipper placket should be made first and then the left pocket placement.
I thought that the back bib construction could be improved somehow in regard to the top hem, and that the straps could’ve been made double rather than hemming them. Other than that I found the pattern to be well written with no errors detected.
Alright, time for the finished garment, I have many pics to show!
And now, 2 close ups of the stripe matching I did on the front pockets:
And finally, a word of advice: Remember to place something underneath your jeans button to protect it while hammering it into place on an outdoor patio floor:
Take care and thanks for reading 🙂
Sewcoordinated 