Olive Yantas
Pattern: Yanta Overalls by Helen’s Closet
Fabric: Brussels Washer (55% linen, 45% rayon) from Stitch Sew Shop
Sewn up: Summer 2019
Ah, I made overalls! This was another Helen’s Closet pattern that jumped to the top of my queue on release day. How could I resist “artist-style overalls”? I sewed these up at the Stitch workspace in two five-hour sessions, so when someone asks, how long did that take you to make, I actually have an answer this time: 10 hours! :) (Note – I am still pretty new to sewing so I doubt it would take most other people this long!)
Here are some lessons I learned with this make:
Use an edge-stitching foot! Patch pockets = lots of top-stitching, and left to my own devices (/ the regular presser foot) I ended up sewing a line almost a quarter of an inch in from the pocket edge. I used an edge-stitching foot to sew a second line closer to the edges and secure them down. Ultimately this reads as an on-purpose design detail (faux twin needle effect!) but started as a rookie mistake.
Practice sitting down in your muslin! I mostly make tops so this was not on my radar as tops fit the same sitting and standing. Not so much bottoms, and especially, I think, overalls. The rise on these is still just slightly too short for me even though I lengthened by an inch based on my muslin that I walked around my apartment in but never thought to take on a sitting test drive.
Do not sew your finger! This seems like an obvious one but this is the project that sealed this lesson for me. The shop was about to close and I was one leg hem away from being to wear these out into the world. I hadn’t worn overalls since the fifth grade (when my signature look was black velvet overalls and a purple mock turtleneck) and I was so very excited to put these on! I was racing the clock and chatting with my friend and suddenly there was a loud noise and my reflexes kicked in. The yield was one bent needle and one dent in the center of my left pointer fingernail where I had apparently made brief contact with said needle. Thankfully it didn’t go beyond that, so I just got a good scare and a (hopefully lifelong) lesson to take my time and keep my fingers out of the needle’s path. I hope no one reading this also has to learn this the hard way!
This was a fun, more technical sew than my usual simply-cut tops and dresses, and feels like a festive thing to change into – while most of my me-mades blend easily between home and my quite-casual office, these do not. When I put these on, I know that I am intentionally pursuing some sort of leisure! I wore these on a walk to witness the transformation of the Washington Monument into a rocket, on a visit to the Building Museum with friends and their little daughter where all of us (adults too) built towers out of blocks, on several different summer evening strolls to get ice cream.
PS – When watching the new Netflix original Falling Inn Love (which was tailor-made for rom-com-loving suckers like me) I was charmed to see nearly these same overalls in pants form on the leading lady! She was wearing them to restore an old inn with the help a serendipitously handy and handsome neighbor. (Spoiler alert – they fell inn love!) So, if I ever accidentally win an inn in disrepair, I am all ready to go, outfitwise!
~ Photos by Lizzie Epstein - thanks sis!
Drawing process reel: closet floor photo, pencil sketch, digital drawing.
