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Esi's 240 Rosie the Riveter Overalls

February 19, 2026

African woman standing outside in the woods, wearing the 240 rosie the riveter overalls in a purple twill. Hand in pockets wearing a red floral bandanna on her head.

As I’ve been working at Folkwear, my sense of style — what I want to sew and the fabrics I choose — has evolved. A couple of years ago, I probably wouldn’t have worn overalls, especially purple ones. But now I wear them at least once a week, and I love them. I was so excited to make myself the 240 Rosie the Riveter overalls this month — such a unique pair, with front pleats that drape beautifully and adjustable back darts that let you tailor the fit to your body. In this post, I am going to share some changes I made to these overalls to make them suit me.

First, was picking the fabric. There are so many fun fabric choices you could use to make these overalls. Folkwear suggests making these overalls from medium-weight cottons, wool, blends, corduroy, and denim, and even velvet and velveteen. I chose a cotton twill to make my overalls. Cotton twills are one of my favorite fabrics, and we carry them in our fabric collection along with heavyweight linens and woven cottons. I purchased this purple twill fabric from a new fabric store in our town, called Sewing Studio Fabrics. This store has been online for several years, but in the last 12 months was bought and moved to Asheville where they also opened a physical location. Asheville hasn't had a good garment fabric shop in almost 10 years. Sewing Studio Fabrics has a lot of denim, twill, and corduroy options. I was definitely inspired by the sample that Folkwear has and wanted to make it in a color I never wear to try something new! I basically ended up making overalls that are nearly the same as our sample.

White woman standing on steps showing her muscles wearing a longsleeved buttoned shirt and purple overalls. She is doing a rosie the riveter pose.

purple fabric with yellow cover of the rosie the riveter pattern on a green cutting mat.

I cut a size medium for my pair of overalls and made some slight alterations throughout the sewing process. First, I knew I wanted a different shape for the top of the bodice, so I made it a straight cut across instead of using the sweetheart cut.

Bodice pattern piece on purple fabric on a green cutting mat.

I needed to do the same with my bodice facing piece as well.

Pinned bodice facing piece on a green cutting mat.

I dread zippers, and I still have not mastered a zipper. But, the method for installing zippers that works thebest for me is to mark the seam allowance from the top of the zipper pull. For this pattern, it is 1/2" (13mm). So, I marked 1/2" up from the top of the zipper pull.

marked zipper seam allowance on a black zipper.

marked zipper seam allowance on a black zipper.

I chose to do a centered zipper. Where the zipper is centered and lapped on both sides -- in otherwords, the seam meets in the center of the zipper. A lapped zipper is lapped on one side. I pressed under 3/4" (2cm) of my seam allowance and pinned it to the corresponding side of the zipper, centering the pressed edge over the center of the zipper teeth.

pinned pressed edge of back of purple overalls over the center of the zipper teeth.

Then, I basted the zipper by hand first to keep it in place. It's so frustrating when fabric doesn't line up where it should on the other side of the zipper.

When it came time to sew the side seams, I basted them instead to see how I liked the fit before the final sewing. If you do this, try the garment on with a shirt underneath to see how it fits, because that's how you will usually wear it.

Inside out purple overalls pinned at the side seams, on a table.

Inside out purple overalls pinned at the side seams, on a table.

I tried it on, deciding that I wanted it a little more snug at the upper torso, so I needed to take in a little more at the sides. I measured 1/2" (13mm) from the top of the side seam to the seam allowance where the bodice and waistband meet and drew a line, then stitched the new side seam.

A diagonal line drawn from the waist to 1/2 inch in from the top bodice.

I had to adjust my facing pieces as well to fit the bodice I adjusted.

line drawn 1/2" (13mm) from stitching line on bodice facing pieces on the side seam.

I suggest trying on the overalls again to see if you need adjusting. If you find that it is still gaping in the back you can add darts like I marked out below. I didn't need the darts, but I wanted to show you that this is a possibility for making the bodice more snug when everything else fits just right in your size.

Drawn darts on the back bodice of the purple overalls.