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.

french seamed pocket bags

as promised, here is a simple step by step for making the pocket bags on your shorts or pants french seamed. while simply finishing the edges with the serger or zig zag stitch is perfectly acceptable, the french seams make it so neat and tidy. so i see no reason not to do it this way!

fair warning: i did this about a month ago so if something i say sounds like gobbledygook... sorry!

the front pockets are the easiest so i'll start with that. here i have the pocket bag attached, under-stitched and pressed to the inside. now instead of folding the pocket bag to the side seam as the directions state, fold it under to line up the bottom edge with the wrong sides together and stitch the bottom of the pocket together at about 1/4".

trim the seam allowance by half. now turn the pocket bag so the raw edge is now inside the pocket bag and press the bottom edge.

stitch 1/4" from the edge encasing the raw edge in your stitching. baste the side of the pocket bag to the side seam allowance as per the pattern directions.

the back pocket is slightly more difficult to explain, but not hard at all to execute. if you're having trouble visualizing how this works (even with pictures) it's probably something that makes the most sense when you're actually doing it yourself.

so we start off after the welts have been sewn on and the pocket bag has been stitched to the bottom welt and everything has been slashed and turned to the inside.  finish the side seams of the pocket bag, then press the pocket bag down.

now fold the pocket bag up to the waistband seam and put a pin to mark where the pocket bag edge was stitched onto the welt, as in the picture below.

 

now unfold the pocket bag and fold it under and line up the pin with the stitching line on the welt.

pin the lower half of the pocket bag at the side seams.

 

at this point the bottom of the pocket bag will be flipped up toward the waist. don't freak out, it's supposed to look that way.

now stitch the side seams at 1/4" stopping once you reach the point you originally marked with the pin.

now trim the raw edge down by half, stopping where you stopped sewing. see the pic below.

 now reach in and pull the pocket bag down so the raw edge is to the inside.

press the seams and turn the upper edge of the pocket bag in as you press so it looks like the picture below.

stitch the side seams, encasing the raw edge, at 1/4" and continue stitching all the way to the top of the pocket bag.

make sure you grab the ends of the welts as you stitch up the sides.

now, admire your handiwork!

—lisa g.