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Fun fact: I’m an avid container gardener (apartment living can’t stop this greenish thumb of mine), but one thing I dislike about digging in my little garden is finding the right thing to wear while working so that a. I do not die of heat stroke in the Southern summertime, b. I am not eaten alive by mosquitos, and c. I am not showing my entire backside to the neighbors while I’m hunched over pulling the weeds spreading like wildfire around my dianthus. I’m sorry to tell you all that these are all problems I still have because the solution I worked out – upcycled linen overalls from a tablecloth I thrifted – has proven far too adorable to be dirtied with potting soil, in my humble opinion. The neighbors will just have to feast their eyes on my rear end clad in some old yoga pants for a while longer, and the mosquitoes can feast away on my exposed ankles.

Now, enough about my patootie. Let’s talk about McCall’s 7547. I love this pattern for misses’ flared jeans, overalls, and shortalls, and I’ve actually made all but the flared version. You can hop over to my profile on Pattern Review to see my first go at it in the form of the tapered-leg pants in a green linen (another upcycled tablecloth!), and soon I will be posting a little info about how I used the pant pattern to create a dressier look with front slash pockets and back welt pockets.

All views of this pattern feature adorable patch pockets and a lapped side zipper, which I was initially a little apprehensive about, having never sewn one. I was so pleased to learn how easy it was to pull off! One Pattern Reviewer said she used an invisible zipper instead, which would totally work and would actually probably be even easier with the correct foot, but there’s just something I fancy about the lapped zipper, so that’s what I’ve been using.

I also ordered this set of overall buckles from Amazon to make these and a charcoal-colored pair of shortalls. They’re plenty sturdy and come in finishes of bronze, silver, and a kind of gunmetal color, so you can get all kinds of bang for your buck with one set. Bang reminds me— I got a little hammer-happy with the no-sew buttons at first and actually managed to put the nail through the button facing. Whoops! Just remember with hammering buttons: a firm but gentle tap will do the trick.

Another lesson I learned between making the shortalls and this set of overalls was that I personally needed a wee bit of a crotch extension (about 1/2″) in any version of -alls in this pattern. As pants, the pattern as-is works just fine for me, but the variations with bibs and shoulder straps have a tendency to, ahem, ride upwardly just enough that sitting is not at all comfortable in them, so my shortalls are going to be relegated to standing events, like all of Nashville’s fabulous outdoor concerts this summer. (This is the blog post where I share way too much about myself in the hopes that someone out there can learn from my mistakes. Love, light and liberated crotches to us all. Namaste.)

Can I go on another mini tangent? Great. I heckin’ love trains, y’all. I don’t know what it is about them. One of my favorite family photos is of my mom and dad holding a little baby Megan on the Chattanooga Choo Choo, and my dad and I unsuccessfully tried to build a toy train table when I was 10 or so. It’s just a fascination my family has apparently always had. Anyway, I love that I live near a park, aptly named Red Caboose, where I can photograph my caboose in new me-mades, on an actual caboose. And my husband loves living near said park because it’s a Pokéstop. Go figure. Speaking of the hubs, props to Zach for taking like 100+ pics of me in 92 degree heat today.

Overall I guess you could say I’m extremely pleased with the way this project turned out. (Please don’t unfollow me because of my horrible puns.)

What’s your favorite me-made look for summer? Let me know in the comments!