thurlow in denim

for months i've wanted to make some thurlow pants, and i finally got around to it! i went with a denim because i found some for a great price. basically (not including the pattern) these pants cost me less than $10. that's a definite win in my book!

i measure a straight size 6, but when i used this pattern before i went with a size 4. there is still plenty of room for these to be comfortable, in fact i've already spent two full days wearing them. i love this type of pant because i can look nice without being dressed up.

it does feel weird cropping out my head
so i can properly show you my bum and
then posting it on the internet... but whatevs.

any changes i made are subtle. i changed the order of construction slightly, using the method i learned from the jalie jeans pattern. it allows you to construct the fly without having the back of the pants attached yet. once the fly is constructed, and the back pieces are sewn together, you sew front to back by sewing the entire inseam and then the side seams. i really like this for a few reasons. first, you can topstitch the crotch flat, you can topstitch the inseam, and you can adjust the legs as needed to get the fit you want.

my denim is a little heavy and bulky so i needed my seam allowances to be controlled as much as possible, hence all the topstitching. i was concerned that my topstitching would detract from the look, but you can barely see it because my fabric is so dark. fine by me!

i decided to go with a single inset welt for the back pockets. i felt the double welts were a little oversized and perhaps a touch low. i made the single welt where the top of the double welt would be, if that makes any sense. i used poppykettle's fab tutorial to make my pockets and they turned out perfect. i also added a button hole just as extra insurance against unsightly back pocket gaping.

as i mentioned in my last post, i adjusted the fly extension piece so that my waistband would line up correctly and everything would be in it's proper place. i ended up trimming off the extra seam allowance in the back. as i said before, my denim is fairly heavy and it was just creating unnecessary bulk. i fit a straight size 4 so i think in the future i'll just trim the excess out to begin with.

hammered in a shank button. p.s. the dritz jeans buttons suck
big time. gonna have to find a different brand, these are
nearly impossible to get in!

i added 1" in length and they are just a touch long for wearing flats, but i figure they'll shrink up as they get washed. i can always adjust the length later as needed.

as i've said before, this is a GREAT pattern. other than tweaking maybe the front crotch depth, i really have a good fit. hopefully i can get around to making another pair (or two or three or ten) because i could really use more pants!

okay, if you don't hear from me for a while it's because i've been buried in snow. we have 18-30" (45-76 cm for you metric types) of the stuff coming our way tomorrow through saturday. blizzard! so, i'm off to stock the pantry...

—lisa g.

my first jean-like pants

i've made pants and shorts before, so i'm pretty comfortable with the whole process. still, i've put off making any actual jeans. but as with many of my sewing adventures, i try new stuff out on my kids first. i picked up this green stretch twill for pretty cheap and was dying to try out the famed jalie #2908. if you don't know jalie patterns, they specialize in all things stretchy and active, and each pattern comes in approximately 5,987,423 sizes. since i've been into tracing patterns lately, i was okay with this.

i set off tracing each piece suuuuuupeeeerrrrr carefully. the pattern has 3/8" SA, so there isn't much room for error. overall the directions are very good and i didn't need many changes. she wanted a skinny pant so i narrowed the legs in for a custom fit. hey, every kid needs custom fit pants, amiright? i started out by cutting a straight leg so i could taper as needed. i ended up taking in the seams by about 3/8" below the hip, and 5/8" from the knee down.

other changes were pretty minor. i added one of those little change pocket things, which i stitched onto the facing before assembling the front pockets. i made up a separate fly facing instead of the folded in variety, and cut a separate inner and outer waistband. i feel both of these are sturdier when cut separate instead of just folded. the pattern has a seam at the CB of the waistband, i'm not sure if this is just to save fabric or what. the waistband is a straight rectangle, so if/when i make her another pair i'll eliminate the back seam.

i topstitched throughout to mimic RTW and even added a regular jeans hammer it in shank button. i don't have pics of the shank button because initially i had sewn on a regular button because she was so eager to wear them and i hadn't bought a jeans button yet. the shank button makes all the difference in the world for that real look. plus you get to hammer stuff. which is fun. next time i think i'll try rivets too.

she wanted a lightning bolt design for the back pocket because she is a huge fan of the "percy jackson and the olympians" series (one is entitled: "the lightning thief"), not to mention harry potter.

i thought i would give you a comparison between these and a RTW pair. she usually wears an 8 slim, so i decided to make a size 7. in retrospect, i should have cut the waistband and length in size 8, then slimmed down to a 7. they're long enough for her, but an extra inch wouldn't have hurt!

so here they are next to a 7 slim skinny jean from old navy. it looks like the sizing would be very consistent with RTW, though the waist may be a tad snug by comparison.

the only thing that really bugs me is the giant back pocket. see how much larger it is than the ON jean? HUGE! i didn't even think about this before stitching it on. i will definitely make a smaller pocket next time.

after this i feel pretty confident to make some jean-like pants of my own. i'll want to alter some of the SA's for a proper flat fell in places, but overall this is a really nice pattern. call me crazy, but i've been oogling over all the floral/patterned skinny jeans for spring. it's hard to track down floral stretch twill in a pant weight, but i finally found some online at mood... if i feel daring enough, i'm tempted to make my own!

—lisa g.