Girl’s Red Corduroy Dungaree Dress

Hi, my name is Louise and I’m addicted to making dungarees.  Dungarees, pinafores, jumpers, overalls, bibbed trousers… call them what you will… they are just so nice to make and wear.  I made my first Tilly and the Buttons Cleo pinafore dress in January 2017, and since then I’ve been hooked on dungaree dresses and trousers.

My latest creation in my little production line is this McCall’s junior pattern M7459, for girls aged 7-14.  A few months ago I made some super cute Kitty Pinafore dresses using a Wild Things pattern free with Simply Sewing, as gifts for two sisters I know, and I would have liked to make one for my daughter too, except the pattern only went up to age 7, so it wasn’t really suitable.  That’s what prompted me to find a dungaree pattern for older girls, and this pattern has more variations than I realised at first, making it a worthwhile investment if you fancy making lots of different styles of dungarees!

With this pattern there are two ‘bib’ styles; the one I chose is the most typical dungaree style, the other is more like a vest or tabard top.  The pattern also lets you choose the options of a gathered skirt or a circle skirt, or trousers.  I went for the circle skirt as I recently completed a project which involved gathering extremely long lengths of fabric, so I had had enough of gathering for a while!

I chose red corduroy for the dress.  Originally it was supposed to be for Christmas, but other things got in the way and I had to postpone.  As far as I am concerned red is a neutral colour so it’s all good, this dress will go with everything!  Corduroy is probably not most people’s first choice for a circle skirt as it is heavyweight and doesn’t drape well, but it works ok in this context.  This one is a great ‘bottom-weight’ fabric and I’m tempted to order some more for myself.  I love the red but there are loads of other sumptuous colours.  It isn’t a stretch fabric, so I’d probably stick to making dresses with it rather than trousers.  I prefer to have stretch in my trousers to make the fitting easier and to make them more comfortable to wear.

The pattern was great, easy to sew and nothing too complicated.  I’d recommend it for adventurous beginners.  I cut the pattern and the fabric in one evening, and got the sewing done in the space of an afternoon and evening, and that was with a school run and dinner prep thrown in!

Thank you to Minerva for the pattern, the corduroy and the zip!  My daughter loves her new dress.