Muna and Broad Sculthorpe Pants with Bonus Yanta Overalls

Hello everyone! It’s been a minute. I’ve gotten some really wonderful messages from people asking if I am okay. I’m okay. It’s been a tough month and a bit for me with spiking health issues. This time of the year is bad for me in terms of allergies and migraines. My top two allergens are dust and mold so when the snow melts and before things start growing, there is a bunch of dust and mold in the air causing so many issues for me. On top of that, the temp and weather tend to be all over the place causing my migraines to get really bad. Temp and weather issues also lead to more inflammation and pain. I can’t abide cold so when the temp dips, I do too; but swift changes to higher temps cause some issues for me as well. Other than that, my mental health hasn’t been great. Along with the stress of living in a time of a pandemic, the grocery situation has been completely inaccessible for us. We don’t have a car nor other means to get huge amounts of groceries in one load and I have relied on grocery delivery services for years now to conserve energy. Right now, the abled-bodied people who can go out are choosing grocery delivery services and making it tough for disabled and elderly to get a delivery slot. Many grocery services are scrambling to make that better. Not having access to food makes me pretty anxious but we are managing and thankfully have friends that are checking in to see if we are okay in that area.

I find it difficult to deal with all these changes because many of them are changes that we in the disabled community have asked for for years. I deliberately sought out an accommodation in my old job to work from home as needed and was denied and only given 1 day a week. I then sought out a job specifically because it was a remote position. I asked for friends and family to video chat or chat online and they were often too busy or not willing to learn the medium to video chat. Now there are club parties and comedy shows on Zoom and other “accessible options.”

All of this is a reminder that while these all seem like accessible options, the abled-bodied people are the ones being catered to here. It’s not and never has been about the disabled, home-bound person and their needs. When the lockdown is lifted, everything that was once more accessible: more home delivery options, more online events, working from home, etc; all of this will return to what it was before. That is… unless we remember the disabled and elderly community and include them in the future. After all, is that not why we all went into lockdown in the first place? To protect the most vulnerable in our communities?

I haven’t seen that here yet. I hope many of you have, but the most vulnerable here are not being thought of. Homeless populations are worse off without the small income they saw from asking for money on the streets; shelters are overcrowded and they are getting exposed to COVID-19. Indigenous communities are in lockdown in communities still without clean water. Incidents of racism are up for Asian communities and BIPOC communities in general.

Needless to say, all of this occupies my mind and has made sewing difficult if not impossible. Blogging, too.

I’ve also been tagged in so many calls for sewing masks. Please do not tag me in those posts. I barely have the energy for my own sewing let alone free sewing for the community. More love to you if you are able and doing it, but I am not able and not willing. I will likely be making some just for my partner and I for the brief moments we leave the house. I definitely don’t have enough material in my stash for a bunch of masks either.

In terms of the sewing I have done, I have mostly done pattern tests and projects with my Minerva Makers fabric allowance. I made some Seamwork Mel Joggers for my husband since mine fit him well. I’m probably not going to share them here, though; mostly because he is wearing them all the time. Other than that, I made another pair of Muna and Broad Sculthorpe pants and also a pair of Helen’s Closet Yanta Overalls with some modifications.

Muna and Broad Sculthorpe Pants

Since I used the final pattern here and only used the tester before, I thought I would do a full review.

I used size 1 again for this version. My hips fluctuate from 53″ to 57″ depending on inflammation. Size 1 is 57″ for the finished measurements, but since days where my hips are really bad often mean I can only manage leggings I didn’t see that as an issue. I used a mint cotton canvas for the fabric and topstitched all the seams with an aqua thread colour. I did a pretty good job there. Although there is one area where I twitched and sent the topstitching off and got too lazy to rip it out. LOL.

The only modifications I did was to take 2 inches off the length and also use 1 inch elastic for the waistband instead of 1.5 inch elastic. I find 1 inch is more comfortable for me due to my issues with compression.

 

I think the fit is pretty good overall. There are some issues for me in terms of comfort, especially for the front rise, which is slightly too short. I am going to raise the rise of the pants probably a couple of inches so it hits just above where my belly juts out rather than on it.

I think the length is perfect. I can also see how lovely these would be with the hems rolled up for a more cropped look.

 

TL:DR Review

• Pattern: Muna and Broad Sculthorpe pants
• Pros: Love those big pockets and I cannot lie! They fit great without a bunch of modifications. The style of them makes fit modifications quite easy for that side panel. Size range is excellent and they will grade the pattern up for you if you are outside their range.
• Cons: I can’t think of any!
• Make again?: For sure! I would love several more versions.
• Rating:  5/5 stars

 

Helen’s Closet Yanta Overalls

Here is my previous pair made last summer. For this pair, I wanted to make them with a light blue corduroy material I got from the local thrift store. I also made the straps longer like in my previous version to add in actual hardware. I should have made them a bit shorter, though, since I have to move the sliders all the way back to get them to fit.

I also added in side pockets and buttons on the side.

I’m a bit mad at myself since the button panel should be higher. There is about a two inch gap at the top that needs either a sewn in hook and eye or something else to hold it. I am not sure what yet. When I drafted the pockets originally, they were too small to fit anything in so I ripped them out. This gives you an idea of my mental state. I make so many more mistakes when I am physically and mentally drained. All in all, these took me about a month to finish and they still aren’t quite what I wanted.

I’ll probably just add in a hook and eye for the top and then for future versions with this modification I will place the button panel higher.

You live, you learn. I am definitely not going to stay angry at myself for this one since they do look cute. While I didn’t enjoy making them, I will enjoy wearing them and soon forget all the trouble from making them.

I hope everyone is well and safe. My constant self-talk these days is that I am safe, home, employed, and with the best partner I could ask for. This is huge. In the meantime, I am doing what I can for the less fortunate and helping out friends as much as I can. It’s a tough time out there but there is a lot of love and compassion going around.

Stay safe, my friends.

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