As promised, I’m back yet again today with my second pair of Thurlow Trousers.
I love the 40’s era trousers that I’ve been seeing online everywhere using the Simplicity 3688 pattern. I first spotted them on Debi’s blog My Happy Sewing Place (Fashions from the Past), then everywhere else (Lladybird‘s, Mena’s, Karen’s, Jane’s, plus more). I thought if all these gals could make them so could I.
Well…. I made them in muslin and they’re really, really bad. If I were to make them, they need some major adjusting. This is what led me to hijack the Thurlow Trouser to make my own 1940’s-inspired pair.
Can you guys still tell they’re Thurlows?
I’ve paired my trousers with my tallest red platform shoes to get my legs to be as long as possible, along with a vintage, cropped sailor knit top and a navy & white striped headband.
Alterations:
Surprisingly, I didn’t make too many alterations to make them look like they do. First and foremost, I raised the waistline by a fatty 2 inches. (This was quite tricky to do and I had to alter the pocket and pocket facing pieces to do this). And I also decided to re-do the waistband entirely by using my BurdaStyle’s High-Waisted Trouser Waistband piece, which has more of a contour and is on the straight grain.
Pocket Lining Piece:
Pocket & Waistband pieces:
I straightened out the side seams to fall straight down from the hips. I wanted to ensure you could still tell I had legs in these wide-legged pants, which is important due to my height. This is why I left the inseam the same so they curve inwards towards my legs throughout the thigh and knee area.
And lastly, I removed the fly-front zipper and shifted it to the center back, which was quite problematic. More on this later…
As I said in my past Thurlow post, I’m intending on using this pattern as a base to create countless other versions of pants, since it’s quite versatile and the fit is nearly 90% correct. (I just need to suss out my rear-end fitting issues first, with your help, hopefully!)
Below are two shots of the pants lying flat.
Front:
Back:
I used my red linen-blend, left-overs from my nautical 1/2 circle skirt for the facing pieces and the pocket. Otherwise nothing else fancy was done, just serged the seams and trimmed/graded when necessary.
As I mentioned before, I had some issues setting in the center back invisible zipper. My denim is very light-weight, so I made sure to add in some interfacing to the zipper area so it wouldn’t be strained or wonky. But that is exactly what happened!! I put in the zipper 3 times and the last time was the best. It was still a bit bubbly, but I was happy with it. Yet something happened during transportation while it was on a hanger. (???) It created a horrible bump right at the base of the zipper.
So aside from the fit issues I have in the rear (which I hope you’ll try to help me out with), I now have a small bump at the base of the zipper you’ll need to ignore for now. :)
The zipper bump is creating a mega V towards the bottom of my rear. But the issue I need help with is the area just south of my booty. I don’t think these drag/smile lines are as bad as my charcoal grey pair, but they’re still there nonetheless. What do you guys think I need to do, to get rid of them for the next go-around?
I’m pretty happy with how the front and sides look.
They feel much sleeker with the higher waist since they skim right over my mega hips and small, lower tum. I think the original charcoal pair were more comfortable, but the fit is more in line with my personal style and they do feel a bit more slimming.
Here’s a quick comparison of both pairs of Thurlow Trousers of my derriere, for reference:
If you haven’t chimed in yet about my rear-end fit issue, I’d reeeeeealy appreciate it if you could leave a comment with your thoughts. I need help ladies otherwise I’m destined to make more frumpty-butt pants. :)
In: Sewing
Comments (36)