Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Things I've Sewn Lately: Sewaholic Thurlow Shorts

Generally, I neither wear nor sew pants. Being a pear, I have a difficult finding pants that fit and are comfortable. Plus, I have this weird thing where pants give me stomach aches if I wear them for long periods of time. My mama says I'm special. 

But, since I love Sewaholic patterns, I decided to give the Thurlow trousers a go. 


I have a difficult time articulating how much I love these shorts. Hint: It's a lot. 

I was so darn proud of myself after I made these, you guys have no idea. 


I was more apprehensive with this pattern than with most, but the envelope measurements, which haven't failed me yet with Sewaholic, put me at a near-perfect size 8 for these so I traced out the pattern. I'd never traced a pattern before, but it made me a little more confident not to have to cut into my $18 pattern for an experiment. 


The fabric I used for these is actually a cotton-poly bedsheet from the thrift store. (Cheaper than muslin!)

I made a few mistakes -- in the picture above you can see the waistband got a little wonky -- but overall, these turned out very wearable. So wearable, in fact, that I wish I'd done a classier seam finish than pinking, but oh well. 

These were also my very first welt pockets and I think they came out passable. They're much better on my second pair, though. I think welt pockets are probably one of those things that get easier with practice. 


I didn't realize this until after I made my second pair, but I think I did the waistband and fly backward. I kind of like it the way it is -- all of my jeans have the fly on that same side -- but I will need to take a closer look at the pattern when I make my third pair and, if nothing else, lengthen one waistband piece and shorten the other.

Other than that unintentional bit of alteration, these fit really well straight out the envelope. I made no fit alterations.


I didn't have any fancy hooks and eyes for this pair, so I just used two buttons from my button collection. Fun fact: As a child, I collected buttons and I still have my collection, which mostly consists of single buttons. Perfect for pants, but not for much else.


These shorts are great for hanging out with the dog in the backyard and teaching her about the deer she needs to keep away from my garden. 


They're also perfect for things like the Grand Prix of Baltimore, which is where I wore these. They're so light and lovely for hot days. And, bonus, they don't give me stomach aches!

I highly recommend this pattern to all my pear-shaped ladies out there. I'm not afraid of pants anymore!

8 comments:

  1. They look great! I have the opposite body shape, so finding pants that fit is just as bad for me. AND I also get stomach-aches from certain pairs of pants! I think it is because when they are too big I unconsciously puff out my stomach or stick out my (lack thereof) butt to try and hold them up and after awhile that's pretty uncomfortable.

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    1. Pants, man... hard to find something that's right for anyone! I can't believe I'm not alone on the stomach-ache thing. Every time I tell someone about it, they're all, "Really? Weird..."

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  2. Hey, I get stomach-aches from pants sometimes too! Maybe it's a sewing-person-specialness thing? But your shorts are so cute! Almost too cute to be relegated to backyard-only status, even if they are from bedsheets -- no one else need know that's where the fabric came from, haha. (Also, your dog looks like such a sweetie!)

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    1. Sewing-person specialness! I love it! (Well as much as you can love communal stomach aches, lol.) Thanks!

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  3. Nice! I love ALL your recent makes from over the summer-- so productive! I get stomachaches from some pants too, and some even make me constipated. Very special. This pattern seems to be a winner, though, and I don't know why I keep putting off making it.

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    1. Thanks, Lee, that's really nice of you to say! You should definitely make these pants -- I'd love to see your take! :)

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  4. Love the shorts, they look so great! My summer is coming up and I hope to make some shorts, perhaps I'll purchase the thurlow pattern.

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    1. Thanks! I highly suggest Thurlow, especially if you are pear-shaped. Even if you aren't, the instructions and online support are superb! Sewaholic ftw! :D

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