I’ve been wearing a lot of my older dungaree makes – namely Roberts and Ronja – during these stay-home times: I love just throwing on one waistband-less garment and being comfy yet presentable. So I decided to add a heavyweight winter-white version to the canon.
This is an old pattern, the Pauline Alice Turia. I made it back in 2014 for my sister, but bought the PDF afresh for these as I was cutting a different size and I’ve heard the pattern has been updated recently to address some feedback on errors in it.
I would say that some of the feedback on the pattern still holds true e.g. all the curved edges are finished with a basic single-turn hem – but, while this may not be the most elegant finish, I think it worked out fine for me here as my fabric is so rigid. In a lighter fabric you may get rippling or stretching that you’d probably want to stabilise somehow. There are also a few other lacking details that would make it work harder, like properly trueing up seam allowances and giving the straps an angle where they join the back so they fall over the shoulders better – both adjustments I made myself but would agree the pattern should have included.
I made a few other changes for aesthetics:
- Changed up the pocket designs, making the back pockets larger and squared-off and adding an asymmetric chest pocket. Moved the front pockets towards the side seams; I wish I’d made these a bit deeper too.
- Added a carpenter-pant style hammer loop. I’ve been wanting to try this for ages and it’s obviously really easy – just a tube of fabric wedged between the back pocket and side seam stitching.
- Narrowed the straps at the front to account for the width of my buckles (a kit from Stoff & Stil)
I cut a straight size 40 and really like the fit. It’s loose on the waist, but I didn’t want to over-fit. The rise is perhaps a tiny bit short making the waistline sit lower than my natural waist, I would prefer the whole thing hiked upwards a bit but then I’d get a wedgie so I would consider raising this if I make them again. I like the straight leg fit a lot and the length is unchanged apart from a generous outside-cuffed hem. I’m not sure exactly what defines the term ‘boot length’ but I find this ankle-grazing length works well with my staple winter boots.
I used Merchant & Mills 11.5oz ecru denim. Oddly, although this denim is only a tiny bit weightier than the 11.2oz denim I used for my recent Landers, this one feels much tougher, more structured and was trickier to sew with. I made liberal use of the hand-crank when I went over areas of multiple seam intersections to avoid cracking the needle. I absolutely couldn’t turn the straps right side out first try due to the stiffness and bulk, so had to sew them from the right side with the seam allowances turned in instead.
9 Comments