Thurlow Shorts - a review

When Sewaholic released a pants pattern I jumped on that right away.  Her patterns really are drafted for pear shaped bodies and this means less alterations for me.  The pattern also has everything I like in a pair of dress trousers, slash pockets up front, bound button hole pockets in the back and a little flare to the leg.  The shorts are pretty cute too and since it's summer I made those up first.

Thurlow definitely is men's wear inspired because it has about a million pattern pieces.  I admit sighing heavily a few times while tracing and sewing everything.  But don't be lazy because the end result is a really nice pair of shorts.

My pair of Thurlows are made up in a gray/violet lightweight stretch cotton from Marcy Tilton.   Very nice weight for shorts and the color is an interesting semi-neutral.

Still had to make most of my regular pants fitting alterations, but having just completed Iris it was not too hard to transfer the changes over.  Started with the size 14 and made the following alterations.....
1.  Dropping the crotch 1".
2. Extending the CB seam line 1". 
3. Cutting off all CB extension provided in the pattern.  Actually had to take in an additional 1/2 in this location so it seemed silly to keep all that extra fabric when I don't need it.
4.  Increased the back dart intake to 1 3/8".  This did mean there were some puckering problems when sewing on the bound buttonhole pockets. 
5.  Cut down the waistband at CB probably about 2-2.5".
6.  Added about 1/2" to the front at the top of the side seam.
7.  Added 3" of additional length to the legs since the crotch alterations sucks up a lot of inseam length.  Also wanted the shorts a little longer for my tastes.

Now some close up shots so you can see all the great details on the shorts. 

Zipper with button and hook and eye closure.  It's annoying that you can't get jean zipper in very many colors locally.  If anyone knows of a good Internet zipper supplier drop me a line. 


Slash pockets on the front. I did omit the belt loops since I never tuck my shirts into pants.


Bound buttonhole pockets on the back.  Personal confession..... I HATE sewing bound buttonhole pockets even though I've done plenty of them. They're always fiddly and you've got to cut the fabric, so there's that no turning back point.  UGH!  That being said these turned out pretty well.  The increased dart intake seemed to create a pucker under the bottom of the pockets that couldn't gotten around.  I just accepted it and moved on.   Also the pocket bags are completely different than I've ever sewn before.  It took a few minutes of rereading the directions to understand what to do.
 

Speaking of pocket bags, I used some Liberty of London scraps for mine. Ooooo pretty!



Final thoughts on Thurlow, I think it's a great pattern for intermediate to advanced sewers.  I wouldn't suggest a beginner tackling bound buttonhole pockets on their first foray into pants sewing.  But if bound button hole pockets and fly front zipper insertion is an old hat to you then you'll love this pattern.   The directions are well done, and I really like the option of being able to adjust the fit at the last minute with the CB extension.  Come fall I'll be happily sewing up the pants version.