What up, Shortie?

I have now made my fourth(?) pair of Thurlows. Once I get stuck on something I can’t seem to stop. Jamie Jeans, B5526, Sorbetto and Thurlows. I’m a junkie and they are my drugs. Eventually I would like to get the booty to fit a bit better on the trouser version but that’s not part of this discussion. It’s all about the shorties!

I had leftover denim fabric from when I made the trouser version of the Thurlows. So sick of me to use the remnants for another pair. I couldn’t think of anything better to use it for and I could really use more shorts living out in the AZ.

I have made the shortie version before, again with leftovers from another Thurlow pair of trousers but they met an early demise. I do find them super comfy but after a few (who am I kidding, a ton) of wears the excess fabric in the legs is annoying. If they were made with a crisp fabric that could hold a crease, I could see the need for the extra room. Too tight and the crease disappears. With this fabric I can go tight. Not painted on tight but fitted. Fitted sounds much less trampy than tight.

I used a red and white polka dot fabric on my pocket lining. I only have a smidge and this seemed like the only logical use for it. I didn’t use it on the waistband like I normally do because I really didn’t have enough for all that. I did continue with the red and white theme when picking buttons and my zip. A cute little red button on the inside and a little white zip for the fly.

I couldn’t help not using my alphabet function on my sewing machine. I picked my brightest pink thread to stitch “Thurlow” inside the waist. Even though now I think about it, I should have used red to keep in theme but I love bright pink so I was in the moment. I took out 1″ in the rise and left off the welt pockets again.

I’ve got this down to where I can make them without using the instructions. I did mess up the fly zip though because I was still stuck in Jamie Jeans mode and they are so different.  Whoopsie! It all was sorted in the end.

I’m sure these poor beasts will get a lot of wear with all this heat and plus they’re so adorable! I feel like I need a polka dot shirt to match my pockets. Of course no one would know about the matching but me. So maybe polka dot undies? lol

Walking on Sunshine

One of the many times that Jo-Ann’s had its $1 pattern sale, I picked up all the vintage reprints that I could handle. One of those patterns, I honestly didn’t know if I’d really ever use but it’s so cute and a dollar. After seeing Rachel over at Sew RED-y with her cute blue gingham housewife dress I couldn’t help myself. I have a stash of yellow gingham and her retro thread made me feel the need to do my own.

I chose the Simplicity 1365 vintage pattern version C. I did do some adjustments to the back. I planned my path before chopping away. I think that’s part of the reason it takes me so long to sew sometimes. I must plan the attack before it’s executed. The back of the halter is designed to button up. Do I really want to struggle buttoning this up or call upon Hubby to help me dress? No! Independent woman coming through!

I recently was talking about ruching fabric. What I actually meant to say was shirring (Doh!). I get my sewing vocab messed up sometimes. Anyways, it stuck in my head. Why not shirr the back of the shirt to make it fitted and not worry about buttons? There’s a band that goes along the back and I can just shirr that and then the fabric on the bodice back would be gathered.

I’ve been told, by many other blogs, to test out shirring before doing it on your garment. I have the elastic thread on my bobbin and white poly thread on my spool. It took me a couple tries but I got it to gather properly! Woot Woot! Only it’s a big pain and I was only doing about 2” worth. I’m going to have to shirr all the way across the back of the shirt. This isn’t happening. Then I had a brilliant idea as I was rummaging through sewing odds and ends. I have a decent length strip of elastic. What if I stretched that out and sewed multiple lines across it? That would give the same effect with less cussing. I tested the length of the elastic by pulling it from arm to arm across my back. I snipped a bit off the length and went to work. No testing because I was feeling ballsy!

It worked out beautifully! I’m so chuffed with myself. I honestly would take another inch or so out of the elastic if I had to do it again to make it tighter for security reasons, but this still works well.

I doubled the length of the bodice, it’s supposed to be fitted and end at the top of your trousers. That’s not my style. The fabric is a bit thin aka see through. I cut two of both the bodice pieces. One to use as a lining and the other for the outside.

I was going to leave off the bow and make the neck strap connected at the ends. I was worried the tie would be fussy. More security issues. It ended up that the strap parts were too short so I had to add the bows. I’m not sorry about it. How totally cute is it?

Who’s lookin’ all summery? That would be me! Walking on sunshine. Hats off to the ear worm. Hope you enjoy hearing it the rest of the day!