Growing up in my neck of the woods, senior overalls were not a thing. Now that our second-born has started her senior year, it apparently is a thing here. It originated in Texas, and somehow made its way here {Nashville} with all things traditions. Our oldest is a boy, and he did not {understandably} care to participate in crowns, little kid backpacks, and overalls. So these sweet little traditions are a little new on our radar, even though this isn’t our first rodeo. Emerson knew it was coming up, so we started planning over the summer. I wasn’t even sure I could handle this project, as seamstress, I am not. But I’m here to tell you that if I can do them, anyone can. I may not be able to feel my fingertips anymore, but we did it… high fives all around. Today, we’re sharing a few easy tips for senior overalls. 

I believe the cool kids are calling them “conductors”, but we’re thrilled the way these turned out! It’s honestly a huge project to get off my plate, since we move our oldest back into college this weekend, along with a few other looming work deadlines. The sweet patches combined with these fun free people knock-offs {actual link is below} were the perfect combo for the look she was after. It honestly took me back to her childhood, so it feels thematically appropriate. Anyway, without further ado…

1. Plan it out. 
Emerson is a planner and knew these were coming up. She also knew I needed plenty of time to make them with my crazy schedule. {As soon as I heard we had to make them, I was all, “What do you mean?!” a-la the Jennifer Lawrence video. So, at about mid-July, we knew it was time to plan out the look she wanted so that I could feel confident in this task. Apparently, the only rules are that you make them yours. So we started by perusing Etsy for things that we liked, along with the perfect pair of overalls. I sat down with her, my sketchbook and a Pinterest board in hand, where we had saved things she liked. Then we narrowed them down. I should have taken a photo of the back room while I was making these. There are a few shots below, but no one would have anticipated the sheer amount of space I would need to make this happen. I had the entire dining room table set up with my Cricut, sewing machine, threads, ironing gear, ruffles, patches, and more. It was mass chaos for about a week, as I could get to them in between parental duties and work. But in the end, we are so glad we tackled these! 
{Overalls: From here.  She chose a size medium for more room.}

2. Supplies – we sourced ours from Etsy, Amazon, and more. I ventured to Hobby Lobby, but was a bit scandalized by their limited trim options. So, we turned to the internet for all our sources. I will say, though, they do have some cute patches. I will fully admit that we went overboard here, but we had a lot of fun together with this process, and in a way, it was like therapy for me. Here are a few of the specifics. 

Patches, materials + ruffles: 
• Ruffles {dainty} here. 
• Large ruffles around the cuffs of the legs layered with dainty – here. 
• Big sparkle stars here
• Little sparkle stars here
• Eagle patches here
• Rhinestone star patches here
• Name tag patch here {I love the mechanic look}
• Letter patches here
• Number patches here
• Liberty of London star patches + heart patch
• Extra fabrics so I could make my own patches
• Jean patches here 
• Little eagle patches {ended up not using these, but I’m sure we will somewhere else} 

Other materials: 
• Thread options : here + here 
• Embroidery needles here
• Fusible interfacing {I’ll cover more on this below}
• Heat n Bond adhesive value pack {turns everything into iron on + also reinforces it} 
• Fabric hot glue {will save you hours} + glue gun {similar}
• A good pair of scissors
• Tracing paper – if you wish to add patterns on top of the pockets. 
• Sewing needles to help hold your work in place. 

Optional helping tools: {but not necessary because you can still hand cut + hand iron + hand sew – fun fact: I actually fought with my old sewing machine so much, I ended up giving up and going the hand route toward the end. I spent just as much time rethreading and troubleshooting, so it just wasn’t worth it. But if these things work, they help.} 

• Cricut {I have an older version and am using it more + more- especially with my middle – monogram ALL The things!} 
• Heat Press – honestly, very handy to have if multitasting since it covers more surface area and comes with a timer, but an iron works just fine. 
• Sewing machine
• Cutting mat {I prefer a strong grip for delicate fabrics, even though they have a fabric version} 
• Bonded fabric blade 

• And because I have zero faith in my sewing skills, I purchased this gigantic delicates bag, which I am already using for other items, as well.
{I’ll be washing these on delicate and hang drying, but I did want something to secure them all just in case it’s needed.}  

3.  Cut your own shapes
Though the design started out simple, the ideas kept growing. If I kept buying patches, she wouldn’t be going to college next year. So, a Cricut can help with this, or you can trace and cut your own with a good pair of scissors and a simple shape to follow. You can definitely do your own lettering this way. The extra fabrics came in handy here, as they allowed us to cover the pockets and add shapes, layering them with sequinned and denim patches for a more polished look. Cutting out shapes from a pre-determined font as your template is a fun way to do it, too. Decide what you want based on your design, and back them all with fusible interfacing. I’ve laid out the basic instructions below, and they’re the same steps regardless of the shape you’re using. 

4. Make your own patches: 
Unless you have an embroidery machine, it’s not possible to make them look like the letter patches we have on these overalls. It’s probably for the best that I don’t, because that could get pretty addictive, and I really don’t need another hobby/obsession. But I knew I wanted to supplement with the stars + layer up the others I’d purchased. Here’s how I did them. 

• Use iron-on fusible interfacing to help bond to your fabric. This helps sturdy it up. Basically, {and I have better photos in the pockets section below} cut pieces to size, and place the back of your fabric on the bumpy side up. Iron for about thirty seconds. When it’s ready, the iron-on fusing will be stuck to the back. This helps give it some body, and makes it easier to use. 

Once that was ready, I laid it on my Cricut mat and cut a star. From here, if you don’t have a Cricut, you can just cut out a star using any template. 

From there, I decided to add a small border around the edges with my sewing machine, but you can hand-stitch here. Again, I was fighting for my life, re-threading every ten seconds. This thing needs to be serviced or thrown away – I can’t decide which. 

Next, I added HeatnBond to the back to make it a patch. Once ironed on, I was able to remove the backing. Although I didn’t use the iron to add these, I found glue to be a faster approach. While it does make them sturdy, I don’t trust it as the sole adhesive. I believe it helped it stick better to the denim. 

Hand sttich whatever additional patch you’d like to add on top, {or bottom} and secure with the hot glue. 

I worked on these while I waited for the main patches to arrive, so I was ready to go. I recommend putting them all into position and play around until you’re happy with the arrangement. I then hot-glued each one, THOROUGHLY. I THEN went back and hand-sewed each one to the piece. Nothing irks me more than seeing the designs fall off, so I even double-checked myself and all the edges with more glue after. I’ll probably be doing this each time she wears them.

Once all the patches arrived, I was able to commit and add them all.

• Cover the Pockets: 
Just view these as larger patches. To make these, I loosely followed the tutorial above, but with closer attention to detail and some hand cutting. Remember, trim is a forgiving medium here and can cover all your sins. 

Grab your tracing paper and go over the desired pocket. Cut the shape. This will be your initial template. 

First things first, grab some fabric and some fusible interfacing {bumpy side up to the back of your fabric of choice} + iron on. It makes things much more sturdy in the long run. 

Now, cut your fabric out using your initial template. Leave a nice border around whichever shape, so you have room to sew it. For the record, you could also hot glue here. 

Using your iron, {or heat press} slowly iron each edge down, and prep with a pin for sewing {or gluing.} I went back and forth to the actual pockets, adjusting as I went to make sure it all works. 

When my shape was ready to go, I sewed {or you can glue!} the edges. 

If you look closely, you can see that is where my sewing machine started to malfunction. So the threading is awful. No fear, because this is where your trim can come in handy, if you wish. Add the HeatnBond to the back by ironing it on, and removing the paper. 

I then hand-tacked the eagle patch + star patch on top, with thread and needle. I secured it first with fabric hot glue in the very center, then tacked. I went around any loose edges when finished, with more glue. 

I glued down the pocket, and hand-tacked that as well. 

For the trim on the rest of the overalls, these are the one thing I did not hand-sew. I was so burned out by the time we got to that part, the glue was really a lifesaver. Add that trim around the edges, and you’re good to go. 

It was a giant learning curve by the time I got to the second one, but she loves the way these turned out!

I did the same exact thing with the front pockets. Minus the extra patches. Just added trim. They were easier to use since they tucked into the actual pockets. 

To add the trim, I just used hot glue as mentioned above. I added it on the edges, around pockets, around the straps, and at the bottom of her legs, too. 

I waited for over a month for these custom patches to arrive in the mail, as they were pre-orders. When they did arrive, it was worth every minute of waiting, and I was able to get to work with all things positioning. I decided on placement, then tacked each piece on with some hot glue. Then I went around the edges as thoroughly as possible with the glue to make them super secure. On top of that, I hand-tacked each one. Tada! I can’t feel my fingers. 

7. Final step
Tack the fabric down with hot glue on the other side, that way this stuff isn’t going anywhere. That denim is thick, and reaching through to tie knots alone wasn’t giving me faith that these would hold without this additional step. 

When I was finished sewing each one {and knotting them to keep them secure}, I then went the extra step one more time, and turned the overalls inside out. I found each knot where I’d secured each patch and added a tiny dab of hot glue, flattening it out so they’re not uncomfortable for her to wear, but the thread isn’t going anywhere. 

We love the way these turned out and hope these little tips help save you some drama and time. It was addictive, I regret nothing, and I’d do it again. Happy creating!