So my latest project has been the Thurlow Shorts from the awesome Sewaholic . And I'm so pleased with them. I'm a major pear shape so finding shorts on the high street that fit my hips while not being stupidly huge on the waist or vice versa is a bit of an issue - luckily Sewaholic patterns are designed for pear-shaped women so getting them to fit was actually pretty easy. I made a muslin (ALWAYS MAKE A MUSLIN) in a size 0 as the finished measurement on the waist matched my own. The fit around the waist ended up being perfect and then I just used the Colletterie's Pants Fitting Cheat Sheet and this chart of common trouser alterations to change my paper pattern, whip up a new muslin just to check and voila! I was ready to go! Turns out all I needed to do was add a touch more room to the inseams near the crotch and at the side seams so I literally only graded those sections out towards a size 4 and back again.
Sadly for a beginner, Sewaholic pattern instructions are a bit sparse in some places so I'd urge everyone making them who's a bit unsure about certain tricky sections (the double welt pockets for example) to read Lladybird's Thurlow Sewalong. The only thing she wasn't that useful with was the cuffs at the end - turns out I don't know how to make a cuff! However after a little bit of Googling I found this tutorial which helped me out.
I went for some swish navy blue gabardine because I wanted some nice smart shorts that I could wear with tights in winter too, but they'd work just as well in a lighter cotton for summer!
My lining was pretty standard navy too but I really fancy making a pair in perhaps a beige cotton with a really crazy lining like this:
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| Como Bright cotton lawn by Alexander Henry |
My next project is going to be Sewaholic's Cambie Dress with the full skirt. I have always wanted to have a dress like that so I can't wait to get started!! I was inspired by this fabric which I saw in John Lewis
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| Charleston Farmhouse Bloomsbury Parchment by Felicity Miller |
