Has anyone gotten their hands on the latest Tilly and the Buttons pattern yet?

I pattern tested the Mila dungarees for Tilly late last year and can tell that this’ll be another hit for the indie pattern company!

I think they planned this to be the natural follow on from their ever popular Cleo pinafore dress. It uses a lot of the same skills and techniques except with trousers instead of a skirt!

Now the finalised pattern does look a little different from the one I’m wearing here – on the released pattern the back bib has been widened a bit at the base and the front bib has been lowered slightly but the fit is the same.

I made my test version out of a stretch denim I bought on a whim in Paris a couple of years ago. It’s patterned with a metallic overlay… Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. It’s so not what I would normally pick up. I genuinely don’t remember why I bought it! But I did think it would be a fun choice for these dungarees!

The upper half of the dungarees is pretty much the same as the Cleo. It then goes into a waistband and slim leg trousers which close with a neat button placket on each hip. I find I only ever undo one side when I put them on so you could feasibly just sew up one side instead of having the placket on both.

I’ve made a size 4 down to the hip where I’ve graded out to a size 5. I didn’t take anything off the length but just made a deeper hem to compensate for my short legs!

So that metallic fabric was perhaps not the best choice. (Though I do think it looks better in real life…). It does seem to show off every lump and bump! It was really easy to fit though because it has a fair bit of stretch in it which is always helpful when making a slim fitting trouser.

I miss not having pockets on the front of these dungarees. If I made them again I would probably hack the front trouser to add in some pockets there. I’m just one of those people who always has a hand in their pocket so it feels really weird to not be able to do it!

I’m sure this’ll be another runaway success for Tilly and the Buttons. It’s the perfect step for sewists who’ve gotten comfortable sewing simple skirts and dresses and are looking for that next challenge!