Completed Thurlows and some Ponderings

My Thurlow shorts are finished!  I had an uninterrupted chunk of time today where I just sewed and sewed.

They are finished.  They fit, they don't ride up and they don't fall down.  I don't need to wear a belt (yay!).   My welt pockets came out well.  Yay!  But are they the most amazing looking things?  Nah.  Are there some weird wrinkles?  Yup.  Did I try and try and TRY to fix them?  Yup.  Did I finally give up?  Yup.

Here they are:

Front View:  Not bad.  

Side View:  Not terrible.  The side seam swings to the front.  My butt looks a little more pointy than it should

Back view: Legs apart and legs together.  Very odd V shaped wrinkle at CB...gack!  

Other wrinkles point to outer thigh/full hip

Am I being too critical?  Are we as sewists overly critical with the things we make?  Do we accept less that perfect fit with RTW, but not with our own creations?  I remember making my first Renfrew top and being annoyed at the armpit wrinkles I had.  Yet when I tried on every one of my RTW tees, there were armpit wrinkles there too.  Shouldn't we as sewists give ourselves a break?  Don't we deserve it?  I should really take a few photos of the back view of my RTW shorts that I wear all the time, then I might be happier with the look of these.  

I made a size 12 in these shorts and took in the side seams about 1/2" at the waist tapering to nothing 4" down.  I took a small wedge out of the waistband pieces to accommodate this and it work perfectly! Once I had the shorts assembled enough to try on, I needed to let them out at the low hip (darn summer indulging).  

I am very grateful for LLadybird's tutorials, particularly the ones for the welt pockets and for the fly front. The instructions were clear but it was nice to have photos to follow as well.  I think my welt pockets came out very well, and there's no reason to panic about them in the future.  I did baste the welts together before sewing the sides of the welts, which held them centered in the openings.

The fabric was from an early purchase in India.  It was a slightly stiff "trouser fabric" (that's as specific as the Indian shopkeepers ever got).  Once I laid the fabric on my cutting table, I noticed this:

Yes, I bought some "Tessuti 2-ply Premium" fabric in some filthy alleyway in India for a steal.  I couldn't possibly have spent more than $5/yard for this!  Otherwise I would have balked and bargained for it.  I don't know what the fabric content is but it is machine washable.   The right side is a bit shiny and the wrong side has a twill weave.  I used the wrong side of the fabric for these shorts.  

Would I make these again?  Sure.  Next time I will use a less stiff fabric.

Here's a view of the insides:

Woo Hoo Fly Front!

I used a paisley cotton print (also purchased in India) for the lining.  It peeks out just a tiny bit on the front waistband at the trouser hook.  No matter, it's not often I tuck my shirts in.  :)

The final question regarding these shorts:  Will I wear them?  Yup.  I'm giving myself a break.  :)

Edited July 23:  I've decided that just because I got frustrated with the fit doesn't mean I should be finished.  I'm going to let the CB and side seams out a bit and give my bottom more room.  Then we'll see if some of the wrinkles diminish.  So...more to come!

Super Easy New Look 6936

I have been in need of a new swimsuit coverup for a few weeks now.  I have made the Hot Patterns Peachy Beachy Pool-Side Coverup before and I do like it (with some modifications).  You can download the pattern free here.  I decided that I wanted to have a crossover front on my next coverup and had initially thought to redraft the front of the HP pattern.  Then I got lazy.  Then I found myself at Joann (thinking that Simplicity patterns were on sale--I was a day early, oops) and picked out New Look 6936 instead.

What is with the weird pose?

I made view A as shown on the oddly-posing model.

Yup, it looks weird when I do it too!  Here is a normal view:

I used an ITY knit from FabricMart that was on sale for $3/yard.  I also used the fabric to make this skirt worn during Me-Made-May.  So for $9, I made a skirt and a dress/coverup.  Nice!

I made a few changes to the pattern.  First and foremost there is a ton of ease in the bodice...8"!  Normally I'd cut a 16, but I cut a 12 instead and still had 4" of ease according to the pattern.  I think a lot of that ease is found along the underarm seams, but across the chest this is fine for me.  The skirt had 5.5" of ease which I thought was a good, and I cut my normal size (18).  I cut the longer skirt and it hit me right at the knee (I am short-- 5'-2" so if you are taller, you may want to add length.  

I used a band of black spandex along the neckline rather than turning and stitching as suggested by the instructions.  This was much faster, easier, and neater.  The plain black also breaks up the print and draws attention to the neckline.  

The sleeves were a little long for me so I chopped off about 1" before hemming.  Now they end at my elbow.Using my serger I did a rolled hem on the sleeves and skirt hem.  Easy peasy!  

I think this will work great for a cover-up and it could easily be worn as a dress as well.  If I were to make this purely as a dress, I would lengthen the bodice by 1.5-2" so that the skirt would start right at the smallest part of my waist.  Other than that it is awesome.  

Sleeves!

Back view

 This is such an easy pattern and it was very quick to sew.  A winner!