Thread Theory Trio: Fangirl

I had a hard time deciding what to make for the Fangirl competition.  I was coming up with all sorts of outfit ideas for myself but there was almost too many fangirltastic patterns to choose from.  Then I had an ‘Ah-ha’ moment when I realised that one of the pattern companies that features heavily in my browse history would be perfect! Just not for me…….Oh, ok..Guess I’ll make my husband a fangirl outfit instead 🙂  So here is the Thread Theory Designs Inc: Jedediah Pants, Strathcona Henley and Goldstream Peacoat.

Jedediah Pants

My husbands measurements fit pretty perfectly into the size 34 (same as his ready to wear size) so that is what I cut with no alterations.  I started out reading the printed instructions but couldn’t figure out how the pocket pieces were to go together; thankfully there is a sew-along on the Thread Theory blog and their great photos helped me out a lot.  I’ve made trousers before but for me the ‘Jeds’ weren’t a straightforward sew, there was something about the written instructions that wasn’t quite gelling together with my brain!  I am really happy with how they turned out though and so next time sewing up should be a whizz.  I like all the detail in the pattern and the nice waistband finish that doesn’t require hand sewing.

Fabric: Unsure – it has a drill type weave but it’s not 100% cotton – medium weight.  Cotton pocket lining and bias binding.  Sourced from: In Stitches, Stratford

Size: 34 – I only used 1.6m of 150cm wide fabric (pattern recommends 2.4m)

Husbands review: ‘I really like them a lot but do they look a bit tight on my butt?’

Strathcona Henley

This is a really great, basic pattern of which I will definitely make more.

I noticed that the neckband pattern piece was supposed to be laid out with the grain.  This was the opposite to the way I would usually do it and my fabric also had barely any stretch in that direction.  A google search led me to this post by Four Square Walls and so that confirmed my decision to lay out the neckband running with the greatest stretch of the fabric.  The same post also linked to another way to do the placket, so I decided to copy that too!  For my next Strathcona I think I’ll do the placket as per the pattern instructions as I quite like the manly look of the stitched and crossed square at the end of the placket.

I gave my husband the option of doing the sleeve and hem bands but he opted to do without them.  I didn’t add any length to the body since it seemed long enough but to compensate for no band finish on the sleeves I added 5cm of length.  It turns out this was just enough to give me a 1.5cm turned under hem.  The hems were finished with my cover stitch machine.  Can someone please explain to me why I chose to do a contrasting topstitch on only my second ever time using a overstitch machine?  Bizarre.  More practice definitely needed!

The pieces came together really smoothly and the written instructions that I did use were very thorough.

Fabric: Merino from The Fabric Store, Wellington (mail order)

Size: Medium.  True to his usual size.  I bought 1.7m of 135m wide fabric and probably have enough left to make a short sleeve T for myself.

Husbands review: ‘It’s just really, really comfy’

Goldstream Peacoat

I purchased this as a .pdf and the printed A4’s came together beautifully (after a couple of hours – there was a lot to tape together!)  My husbands measurements fitted into the medium size range.  I really, really enjoyed sewing up this jacket!  It was challenging in an interesting rather than tedious way.  I found the written instructions easy to follow but I felt like the accompanying diagrams didn’t really add much information.  I chose the classic variation and didn’t make any changes.

On holiday in the big city, we decided to go looking for the fabric we needed.  We walked into the shop, my husband went left and I went right.  30 seconds later he came back to me saying ‘Here. I’ve found the fabric, it’s perfect.’ Then he walked out of the shop, leaving me thinking ‘But, but…but thats not how you’re supposed to shop in a FABRIC store….s a v o u r  IT!’  We got the fabric home and I went into a 3 day google frenzy, panicking because I had no idea how to sew with wool.

I pretreated the wool this way.  I probably would have used the dryer method but didn’t think the fabric plus towels would all fit in my dryer.  The fabric was so thick that I’m surprised my machine handled it – it did up until the point where I was sewing body, lining and collar together and then it called it quits.  I don’t blame it; the seam was about 1cm thick.  Luckily I could dash down to my local sewing shop and use one of their more heavy duty machines.

The buttons made me go ‘SQUEEE’ when I found them.  They have a long shank so were perfect for my thinker material…until I tried to sew the three ‘fake’ buttons on the front of the coat and they stuck a out a mile away from the fabric.  My husband ended up using a BBQ spatula  specialist tool to bend the shank against the button so that they sat flatter.

Fabric: Wool coating, double sided (tweedy/chocolate brown) from: The Fabric Store, Auckland.  Lining is a check brushed cotton for the body and brown lining for the sleeves from: In Stitches, Stratford (Also buttons.)

Size: Medium, no adjustments

Husbands review: ‘This is the best item of clothing I have ever owned’

This is one of my most favourite items that I have ever sewn.  Now I wish I could be a dude so I could fit it 🙂

I would definitely recommend all three patterns and would also suggest making the most of the additional information found on the Thread Theory website.  They have this free pattern too, which I might sew up soon and I’m also thinking of purchasing the Comox Trunks pattern.  Yup, Thread Theory, LOVE!