Happy Heydays

I don’t know about you, but I am heartily sick of wearing jeans. I have a wardrobe full of interesting clothes, but somehow the constant juggle of wfh and childcare leaves me unable to think of what to wear and so I’ve been reaching for jeans more than I should.

In response to this, I’ve been trying to make some different options that are easy to wear but feel like I’ve made a bit more of an effort. These dungarees are part of that process.

The pattern is the Made By Jack’s Mum Heyday Dungarees. These have been on my radar for a while, with the pattern in my stash for quite some time whilst I dithered over fabric choice. I absolutely love the chunky cord pair Vicky has, but didn’t feel it was entirely suitable for summer, even in this country!

Then I saw some beautifully bright linen viscose mix fabrics on B&M Fabrics’ Facebook page and ordered almost instantly! This was mid lockdown and I was amazed to have a bag of fabric hand delivered by car the next day!

Selecting fabrics for bottoms is something I find tricky. Denim’s obvious when making jeans: viscose of rayon if heavy enough can be great for summer trousers, but then I get confused very easily! But I previously made a pair of cropped Jenny overalls in red linen viscose and they are amazing so I knew I was into a winner!

Size wise, my hips are 1” over the recommended measurement for size M so I decided to risk going for that size. The only alteration I made was to add my usual 1.5cm additional length to the back rise to give my bum some extra space!

I did find the fabric requirements pretty spot on (unusual for me as I’m quite a thrifty cutter) and even had to wiggle things around a little to get everything on after cutting the first bits out over confidently! But one of the nice things then is that there are no fastenings to cope with: grab thread and machine and you’re good to go.

I was a bit daft when it came to the straps: I didn’t really think about the fact that you tie these straps rather than threading them through a buckle of some description and so used a mid weight interfacing. I think that makes the resulting knots look less attractive than they should so would select a different weight in future.

Other than that, I am totally in love with these! The pattern was great to sew up and the fit is spot on. I’ve included a full length photo to show the leg length, which is pretty great for 5’7” tall me, but I generally wear them turned up a couple of times for a cropped feel.

(But please forgive me for looking a little ropey in these photos: I’m yet again fighting a migraine and make up was beyond me! Just ignore my face and check out my awesome dungarees!)

All in all, I highly recommend this pattern and I have some viscose twill on its way to me as we speak to make a second pair!

So, what’s your go to alternative to jeans for our current weird lifestyles? And what fabric do you reach for?

Becca x

Details

Pattern: “Heyday dungarees” by Made By Jack’s Mum

Fabric Purple linen viscose mix from B&M Fabrics in Leeds market

My measurements

Bust: 36″

Waist: 32″

Hips: 42″

Size cut M

Adjustments made added 1.5cm to the back rise as usual for me

Future adjustments? Nope, spot on as they are!

Make again? Definitely!