pattern review: the burnside bibs by sew house seven

I had quite a week, and it cheered me immensely to sew up the Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs. I think of these as “Rosie the Riveter”-style overalls, and as far as I know mine are the first pair in existence to be made out of a knit fabric. This involves the extremely judicious use of interfacings (I used two different types), and in this case – a lot of stripe matching and fussy-cutting.

The pattern features two versions. Version one – the version I made – features a slightly curved front bib, and a slimmer-fit trouser with deep back darts and an invisible zipper at the side. Version two features the standard straight bib, and full back legs. Both versions feature an option for a cropped or full-length leg, and long ties that can be worn a variety of ways, to pass through belt carriers in the back. You can see several versions on the site’s pattern page.

I may or may not have gone mad with stripe-matching power. If there are stripes, I have to make them match perfectly. I also used the lengthwise, crosswise, and bias grain in ways that were not indicated by this pattern, nor are typical for knit garments.

At the pant leg: a deep blind hem. This gives the pantleg a wonderful weight. I find sewing a blind hem very satisfying!

Shown below: the center-back seam and the back pockets (cut on bias, and fuse-lined). The pockets on the pattern are too low for my body, so next make I will shift them up.

The front pockets are also fuse-lined, and finished with a knit strip rather than the shaped facing in the pattern:

The side invisible zipper, perfect and bump-free as you see here. Version two of the pattern has a looser pants back, and can be pulled over the hips. The back will have a fuller gather at the waist.

I pieced the front bodice on the bias, and used the crosswise grain for not only the pant leg, but also the front waistband and the straps. I think I only used the knit grain “correctly” twice – the bib facing/lining, and the front pockets.

The back of the pant has an internal facing, and six tie carriers. I cut everything out fussy af so my carriers would all be identical, and placed in identical locations on either side of the center back:

Belt carriers, with the chambray tie passing through. These long ties were barely able to be pulled through using the tube method, and I used pretty lightweight fabrics. Save yourself some trouble and either cut a wider tie, sew a narrow seam allowance, or do a test run of loop turning.

I like a lot about Sew House Seven, including the geometric but feminine shapes within the patterns, and the simple fabrics often used to showcase the garment lines. But I recommend them for their instructions, especially. There is a really great methodology to the patterns, and it is a bit different than other indie designers. The methods are very persnickety and precise in a way that I absolutely love, and allow for a really gorgeous clean-finish on the inside of the garment. I think the patterns are miniature tailoring tutorials in and of themselves, and I recommend them to any committed beginner, or intermediate stitcher who wants to up their game.

This pattern comes in bust/hip measurement 31″ / 34″, to bust/hip 47″ / 50″.