Overalls

I love overalls for toddlers.
They're practical, tough, and look cute as well.
They also solve 2 of the big clothing problems I have with Mitchell.
1. The gap between shirt and trousers. He's such an active wee man, that he seems to come untucked all the time. Not that that's a problem in itself; but when he's climbing he seems to manage to get a knee into the front of his shirt & pull himself over.
2. The nappy removal problem. Having figured out how nappies go on, he seems bound and determined to down trousers and take his off whenever possible - regardless of the impact on floors, bedding and anything else in the way of the natural consequences.

So, overalls: no gap at the waistline to come untucked; and (so far, at least), he hasn't worked out how to undo buttons or snaps at shoulder level.

Sadly, however, there is a dearth of overalls in the 2+ size bracket, and what is available is, shall we say, on the drab side. Fine, if you want denim, and....more denim.

Enter Ottobre magazine.

I first found this, when I was looking for good patterns for onesies, when Mitchell was a baby; and I've loved it ever since. It's just full of fabulous sewing patterns for children, in a slightly edgy Scandinavian style.

Tracking through the issues, I came up with this overalls pattern (Farmer overalls, #9 from Issue 3, 2008).; which seemed close to what I was looking for.
Naturally, I wanted to make a few changes!
I planned to make them out of patterned fabric, so decided to eliminate a lot of the detailing: pockets, (yes, thank you, I can imagine what Mitchell would put in them), belt-loops and the double stitching. I also decided to use buttons, rather than snaps at the shoulders and sides. I like the look of buttons, and they're also harder for small fingers to undo. Finally, I eliminated the snap fasteners at the crotch. I find that they pop undone too easily, in ordinary toddler active movement, as well as being an easy access route for nappy removal.
As, these are for summer, I made them about 3/4 length -- almost shortalls, rather than overalls.

I hunted through the fabric stash & found a cute cotton/lycra geometric print in shades of blue.
And here they are.

I think Mitchell looks very cute in them.
I'm not totally happy with the fit. They seem to be a bit large around the waist and chest, while fitting nicely in the nappy area (cloth nappies make him a bit more bulky). I think they could stand to lose around 3 cm at each side.
But the plus side of a lose fit, is that he has complete freedom of movement.
And, I made the straps plenty long enough, so that we might just get another summer out of them.