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Monday 26 January 2015

Sewing for Men - Thread Theory Jedediah Shorts

It was my husbands birthday soon after Christmas (30th December, such a pain!!) and as we were going to be in Thailand on a big family holiday and buying shorts in winter is almost impossible I decided to make him some as a gift.

I tried a new to me pattern company that specialises in menswear sewing patterns.  This pattern looked to have a modern cut, had good reviews and was available as a pdf, because of course I had left it late to get started.

Thread Theory Jedediah Pants


Link to Thread Theory Jedediah Sewalong

I wanted these to be a surprise so I had to wing it on the sizing.  Going through my husbands wardrobe was no help at all, he has shorts in size 30, 32 and 34 so I made 2 pairs - a 32 and 34.  Our family trip included my father in law, 2 brothers in law and 4 grown up nephews so I figured they would fit somebody!



Actually they both fit my husband quite well, when I asked for some feedback all I got was "one pair is closer fitting than the other".  This was not news to me!  Further investigation only yielded that the looser ones are better for doing activities in, the smaller pair are smarter and which he prefers depends on whether he's having a fat day or not!  So I can't give you much advice on sizing but I think if I make them again that I will go with the larger size.  The image above makes the red ones look much bigger, but there isn't a huge difference between the 32 and 34, really hard to get them to lie flat so this isn't very scientific.  I deliberately made the larger, red ones a bit longer.


The instructions are pretty good and there is also a sewalong on the blog.  The only change I made to the pattern was to straighten off the legs a bit instead of having them slightly tapered and shortened them and left the hems plain instead of cuffed.

I deviated a bit from the instructions when it came to finishing the waistband.  The instructions have you fold the waistband back on itself, tuck as much of the shorts out of the way and machine stitch.  It's a bit tricky, but is well documented on day 7 of the sewalong if you want to do it properly.  However I copied some RTW trousers of mine and simplified it by serging (instead of binding) the exposed waistband edge, folding it in by the zipper before topstitching the waistband, it's not at all bulky and is easy to do.

This is how Thread Theory's look on the inside compared to mine which you can see on the inside views.





16 comments:

  1. Alison, your venture into menswear was very successful. I need to make some clothes for my husband who goes around in rags and refuses to buy any clothes.

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  2. I'm so impressed that you made 2 pairs to keep the surprise! You have done a great job. I have been watching this pattern company, but have yet to make anything from it, so I appreciate your review.

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  3. gorgeous sewing - that's so great that he can wear both!

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  4. These would have passed for RTW had i not actually read the post. Great job.

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  5. Fantastic! Lucky husband of yours - two pairs!

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  6. Very RTW shorts, they both look very impressive and interesting about the sizing. I only purchased some drill for some for hubby today for exactly the same shorts!

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  7. Lucky man to be made two pairs of fabulous shorts. They look great - and I would also have chosen the slightly larger ones for next time. This is another post I won't be showing my husband!

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  8. They look terrific on and beautifully made - I hope he was very pleased with them! Your observation about the sizing vs intended use is interesting, it makes perfect sense but I wouldn't have thought of it myself!

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  9. I feel a bit weird checking out your husband's butt! Your finishing on both of these are impeccable, and the fit looks great. Too bad I don't see for my husband, he could use some nicer shorts than the cargo pants he gets around in

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  10. Both versions turned out great -- thank you for the review of the pattern. My husband wore his well-loved yet tattered cargo shorts until I finally tossed them when he was away -- I bought a couple of replacements, but it would be fun to make a pair too!

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  12. If I sewed shorts for my guys, the only colors that would be acceptable would be brown, khaki, dark khaki, darkest khaki. You get the picture. Those red short look great (both on the model and the interior sewing shots). How great that your DH has the confidence and personal style to wear red.

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  13. He's a lucky man. The legs shaping you've done is a good look on him.
    And he has two pairs as well. Gosh you're good.

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  14. The sewing is superb! They look fantastic.

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  15. Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!

    Công ty vận chuyển hàng nước ngoài FadoExpress, hàng đầu chuyên vận chuyển, chuyển phát nhanh siêu tốc đi khắp thế giới, nổi bật là dịch vụ gửi hàng đi mỹ, gửi hàng đi nhậtgửi hàng đi pháp và dịch vụ chuyển phát nhanh đi hàn quốc uy tín, giá rẻ

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