Love Notions just recently released their new pattern for the Summer. It’s a cute sundress called the Tempo Sundress.

It has straps thick enough to cover your bra and a shirred or elasticated panel on the back side of the bodice. This design is meant for woven fabrics and features a soft v-neckline, and two tiers of skirt. In-seam pockets are included and are anchored at the waistline to keep them securely in place. The dress can be made with one tier that hits just above the knee or add the second tier for a mid-calf length. Since I don’t wear sleeveless things, I knew I was going to have to hack it into some overalls. 

Early this year I made a super comfy pair of overalls called the Safiya Dungarees. It’s a fast and easy pattern from the book Make It Simple by Tilly and the Buttons. I posted about them on my minerva profile. I love overalls and jumpsuits and love trying all the different patterns that I come across. I used the Safiya Dungarees to help me hack the Tempo Sundress and the Allegro bottoms into some overalls. Here’s what I did.

I like the Safiya’s because they are pull-on’s with no buttons or closures. I compared the two bodices from both patterns so I would know what adjustments needed to be made.  Because of the shirred or elasticated panel on the back of the Tempo sundress I knew I would likely be able to pull it on over my hips like the Safiya’s. To make this work for me I went up two sizes to and XL for the front bodice width, but I used the size medium for the darts and height. For the back I used a size medium. 

In June I made a jumpsuit using the Allegro Bottoms and I really liked the fit. You can read about that one here. The Allegro’s are one of my go-to patterns for projects like this. I always know the fit is going to be great. Plus I still had the waistband piece attached to the pattern so adjusting it more would be easy.

I compared the bottoms of the Safiya’s to the Allegros. I matched up the crotch lines and found that I would need to add 5.5 inches to the waist rise so that they would be long enough to work as overalls. Pictured above is the waistband attached from my previous project so I just added another 3.5 inches on top to equal the 5.5 I needed to add

Next I needed to make sure the bodice and the pants were the same width so they would be able to attach. I compared both pieces where I would be attaching them and found that I needed to add a bit to the front bodice to make it fit with the Allegros and to be sure to fit over my hips.

To check the back bodice to the Allegro bottoms I needed to draw the seam allowance lines on the shirred panel and the back bodice piece. You can see those lines in orange in the above picture. It’s kind of light so it may be hard to see.   I matched those up and compared it to the bottoms to see what adjustments needed to be made.

Now for the pockets, because the Tempo and the Allegros both have pockets. I decided to go with the Tempo’s inseam pockets. I needed to fold down a small corner at the top of the pocket so it would match up better with the Allegro waistline.

However, if I could go back I would just draft totally different pockets altogether. Probably ones similar to what the Safiya Dungarees had. For these overalls the pockets should have been bigger and the opening should have been lower. They look fine, but I just would have preferred them better if they were more roomy and lower. 

I was able to cut all this out with two yards of fabric. I had enough to make a cute little tie for my waist too. This fabric had a slight bit of stretch and it was about 58 inches wide. 

I’m actually really happy with this little experiment. I think it looks super cute and I know I’m going to wear them a lot this Fall. I especially like the tie around my waist. I think it’s really flattering. I do feel like I need a bodysuit to wear with this as a t-shirt gets a bit “bunchy” and it’s hard to keep down. Although it does look cute without a t-shirt too. I would just never wear it that way. My permanent Arizona t-shirt tan lines are not a great look. 

 

I took a few pictures seated for those who need to see a seated picture. I’m trying to do that more lately. Hopefully it’s helpful to someone.

Well that’s really all there was to it! I don’t see myself not loving overalls and rompers andytime soon.

Happy Sewing my Friends!

Koe