Farmer Chic? | Named Ronja Dungarees & McCall's 7543

Hello beautiful people! I'm back and I'm going to get straight into it :-D

Early this year I connected with a photographer in Chicago over social media that admired my makes and expressed his desire to shoot together one day and luck would have it that I had plans to be in Chicago some point in the summer! I decided to make something that would be unique and offer some cool shots for him. In walks in the Named Ronja Dungarees. I admired this pattern right away when the collection dropped because of it's interesting back strap detail and the cropped length. I decided to make an off-the-shoulder top to go under it because that's the style I saw trending all over the web. And I think it made a great complement. 

I'm always scared to choose a size in Indie Patterns. Each company is so different, and then this pattern had PANTS as well and I'm already skeptical about sewing and fitting pants anyway. I ended up printing off both 40 and 42 layers of the pattern but I traced the 42 only. I picked the 42 because that was the size I cut for my Kielo. As I'm writing this, I just checked back at the Ronja instructions to look at the sizing, and I'm realizing I should have really cut the 38.... but we'll get back to that in a minute lol. I cut the medium in McCall's 7543, which is my usual McCall's size.

The fabric for the off-the-shoulder top is a remnant from JoAnn's that I got quite some time ago. Probably about 2 years ago at this point. (yay for stash-busting!). I didn't have enough fabric to really lay out the pattern pieces correctly so I just cut as much of the sleeve length that I could and kept it moving. I also left all of the hems undone because of lack of fabric as well. I cut 2 back pieces and did a 1" swayback adjustment (my usual). Check out my stripe-matching on the back!

The denim from the dungarees came from a purchase in Panama back in 2014. It was just on a roll with no identifiers lol. What I can tell you is that it is quite stretchy. SO stretchy, in fact, that it was hard for me to get even topstitching because the fabric was moving around so much. I also was cutting it close with this denim and the fabric requirements. I knew that I wanted the straps of the dungarees to be denim as well so I had to make provision for that. To make it work, I ended up cutting the front bib in 2 pieces to have a seam (which I like the look of better anyway) and I cut the bib lining (on the fold) out of a remnant of black cotton from Joann's that was in the stash (#stashbustingftw). I cut the pocket bags out of the black cotton as well.

Let me get back to the fit now. So, like I said, I cut out a size 42 but after I sewed it up, I realized that the pants were HUGE. I ended up sewing most of my seams between 5/8" and 1" SA (for perspective, Named uses 3/8" SA). Even after I did that, and added in the panels for the sides to be fastened, it was still too big for my liking so I took in the side seams as much as I could without ruining the integrity of the grain of the fabric because the inseam was already flat-felled. That's how i came to roll up the hems, because they were too wide to just leave hanging.

I completely missed the finished garment measurements for this pattern smh. I definitely should have cut no bigger than the 38. But I'm conflicted... because on the back of the pants, the facing keeps trying to come out (even though I understitched) and I feel like that's because something is too small/tight with the fit there? Or maybe there isn't a long enough seam in the back to accomodate my butt?? I don't know. Someone with knowledge about fitting pants, PLEASE comment below with some advice. I feel like if I would have cut the 38, the pants would definitely not have been big enough in the back. Would that require a "full butt adjustment"? Please chime in with your resources folks!

Moving on, to close the sides, I decided to use snaps instead of buttons and button holes for two reasons. The first reason was lack of time.. I was working on these dungarees until the night before I left for Chicago lol. The second reason was because my buttonholes keep unraveling?? They didn't used to do that before so I'm not quite sure what's going on. Anybody ever experience that, where the thread isn't "knotting" so it just pulls right out and starts unraveling the buttonhole? Fixes? Talk to me.

I used the snaps from the Kelly Anorak hardware kit from Closet Case Patterns. I'd already used them before and knew exactly how to install them. I tried to install some snaps that I had gotten from Amazon but they were complete trash.. I literally threw them away. A complete waste of money. If anybody any recommendations of snap kits and installers that they love, leave them below!

Also, you can see that the edges don't completely line up on the sides which could be because I was rushing with the snaps, seeing as they were my last step and I needed to go to sleep.  One side is definitely better than the other but I know I can do a better job if I slow down.

The D-rings are just Dritz that I got from JoAnn's and were in my stash.

Modifications! I did not add the pockets on the back of the pants because I wasn't a fan and it looked to small to hold anything anyway. For the future though, I am going to make one of the pockets and put it on the FRONT which I think would make this look more RTW. Also I plan on adding the double topstiching to the back of the pants on the edge that has the facing. One, to keep the facing down, and two, to make it feel even more RTW.

As far as the pattern and instructions go. Named always has great and concise instructions. Very easy to put these together, even with all of the intricate details.

My final thoughts?? I do like both the Dungarees and off-the-shoulder top. Even though the dungarees are technically too big, I like the aesthetic that they're giving. They are extremely comfortable and roomy and sometimes I just like baggy pants. Not sure if that's weird or not lol Also, the pockets were nice and DEEP so that's a plus as well.

Would I make these again. Strong MAYBE. I will DEFINITELY make the bodice again but will attach a skirt. I know it will be SO CUTE! It was just a rough time for me going to the restroom with these. Especially with the cross back, having to literally untie and re-tie and unsnap and hold all of that making sure a strap doesn't fall in the toilet was a lot for me lol. I am going to keep wearing this pair though, just don't know if I'll make a replica lol.

What do YOU think? Also, I asked quite a few questions up above so hope to hear from you guys with some more experience than me. I'm always looking to learn and don't take criticism too personal. Talk to back to me!

Oh! and to see a couple more shots that @Kingzson took of me, check out his Instagram!

xoxo,

Tasha

Oh (again lol), a couple months ago, I found out I was named as one of the Top 100 Dressmaking Blogs on the web. This was definitely a shock to me because of MULTIPLE reasons and I can think of 100 blogs better than mine lol. But I am very grateful for that acknowledgement and still surprised that people know I exist in this small corner of the interwebs lol. If you want to see the amazing people that were named, you can find the list here.