Sewn With Hart: Lander Overalls
This post is my honest opinion using fabric I received free of charge from Harts Fabric.
It’s my stop on the Sewn With Hart blog tour and I get to show you the other half to my butterfly pussy bow blouse, these gold…Lander…overalls…with detachable bib…For real! Gold Lander overalls with detachable bib! Read on to see why they’re special to me and how I made ‘em.
You might already know I’ve been sewing for a long time, and when I was younger I loved making my clothes out of novelty prints. I had snowman dresses for Christmas, pumpkin skirts for Halloween, and big floral dresses with tulle underskirts for the coming of Spring. Basically if I liked it, I made a dress out of it. But I eventually began to realize that the clothes I saw at the store didn’t really look like what I was making, and I got it in my head that if I wanted my clothes to look less homemade and more like ready-to-wear, then I needed to move away from eccentric novelty prints or bold colors.
This had been my mindset until a few months ago, when I finally realized that fun or eccentric or bold don’t necessarily mean homemade or immature (look no further than people like Tabitha Sewer or Katie Kortman, who is a bold buzz word in and of herself right now!). Still, while I appreciated this in other makers’ wardrobes, I wasn’t sure how to introduce it into my own without questioning what I was doing.
So how does this relate to Sewn With Hart and self care sewing? There are rather obvious benefits to one’s mental and emotional health by having a hobby or interest. Sewing got me through bed rest and a high risk pregnancy with my daughter, and has been an essential part of surviving perinatal anxiety and postpartum depression for the last year. In short, personal interests provide respite, identity, and community. But beyond the emotional and mental benefits that the physical act of sewing can bring, I think self care sewing is also about making things that you want to make, regardless of what others might think (or you think they’ll think) about your fabulous handmades.
Should a thirty year old woman be wearing gold overalls with a pink butterfly shirt? Is this the most “flattering” ensemble for my body? I don’t know. But I’m doing it! Because it was something fun for me, something that I wanted to make just for myself. And when 90% of my time revolves around the whims of three tiny humans, it is serious self care to make something that’s not only for myself but true to myself.
Now I won’t make you wait any longer—here are my gold Lander overalls!
I had this idea for gold button front overalls with a pussy bow blouse and thanks to these inspiration photos (click through for links), I had a feeling I could make it work and decided to go for it!
I made the Lander pants out of black stretch twill in December and I absolutely loved them. I decided to revisit that idea but with the addition of an overalls bib, and I knew I would want the option to wear the pants alone, so the bib became detachable. I made the Landers just like last time (sizing down for stretch, shortening by 2”, doing a round pubis adjustment), except before I finished the waistband I added buttons to the inside of the waistband to attach the bib.
For the bib, I used the free pattern bonus from Closet Case Patterns for doing a button front on the Jenny Overalls (you can access this pattern bonus in the Closet Case resource library by signing up for their newsletter). I really like the shape of the Jenny Overalls bib and since the Landers already have a button fly, it worked out great to use this option instead of drafting my own. I sewed up the bib as instructed, adding buttonholes along the bottom of the bib and the straps to attach them to the pants.
I used the Jetsetter Stretch Twill in Mustard from Harts Fabric for my overalls and its really something special. It feels great and has a pretty, subtle sheen; it really does look gold in person! This fabric has a little less stretch than my black pair so they are a tad more snug right now, but I think they’ll start to fit to my body after a couple wears just like a good pair of jeans. Even though they’re on the tighter side, they are still quite comfortable!
This outfit is very much a departure from my usual jeans and t-shirt, but it makes me so happy. Not only did it bring me joy to sew quality handmade clothes, it nurtured my sense of self to create an outfit that was 100% something I liked, unaffected by the styles or opinions of anyone else. And that’s pretty cool.
I hope you find an opportunity to show yourself some love and do some self care sewing this month, whatever that looks like for you! Here are some ideas for self care sewing:
If you keep a list of sewing ideas, make up one of the items that keeps getting pushed back for more practical items.
Sew something in a color you love but have been hesitant to try.
Try sewing some lingerie—its easier than you think and might put some pep in your step.
Make the garment you’ve been wanting but have been waiting to sew until your body looks a certain way. You deserve to wear beautiful things now!
Make a plan to sew a certain amount of time per week. If making time for your hobby is a challenge, moving it to the top of your priorities prioritizes you.
Work on a project you’ve been scared to tackle. Show yourself that you can do hard things!
Check out the other Sewn With Hart posts this month, and if you do some self care sewing in February, make sure to tag your makes on Instagram with #SewnWithHart because I would just love to see what’s making you feel good this month!
