jedediah pants by Thread Theory

if you haven’t heard of the new pattern company Thread Theory, you’re in for a treat! or at least the men in your life are. as i sew more and more of my family’s wardrobe, that means my husband, nathan, occasionally gets a new piece to add to his closet. after sewing a few shirts earlier this year, it was time to start making some pants. the state of available menswear patterns is pretty uninspiring to say the least. clearly there is a gap in the market waiting to be filled, and Thread Theory patterns is posed to be one of the first in line to fill that gap. they have an up-to-date take on classic looks and i am very excited to see where they are headed.

pardon the rumpled appearance, these have already been worn several times and gone through the wash. what can i say… he likes his new shorts!

i’ve been following Thread Theory for a short while, and when i saw their newest pattern offering, the jedediah pants, the release couldn’t come soon enough! my husband is on the smaller end of menswear sizes and pants, in particular, are almost always too big and way too long. i immediately begged offered to be on the list of pattern testers, and when the call went out i jumped at the chance. since i’ve done a lot of pants and shorts lately, i can knock them out relatively quickly. of course i’m accustomed to not following pattern directions, so forcing myself to actually read every step was a huge challenge for me. however, for the sake of pattern testing, i figured i should!

the jedediah pants are a casual pant with a dressy edge. they have a flat front, slash pockets, back patch pockets, and back yoke. the great thing about this pattern in particular is the fact that they have included instructions for things like flat-felling seams, bar tacking points that need reinforcement, and even french seaming the pocket bags (p.s. i have a tutorial on that if you need a visual). they also include the pocket facing pieces and the fly shield. it is a fold-over fly facing, but since every other detail is there, i won’t complain.

for this pair i used a medium-heavy cotton twill and went with a shorts length. i love the cuffed variation the pattern offers, but my fabric was a bit bulky so i ended up hemming them to knee length. if you’re not into the tapered leg it would be super easy to change it up, depending on what look your guy prefers.

as far as the fit goes, nathan typically wears a 30 in RTW so that is what i cut. as i was sewing them up, i thought i should check for sure what his measurements actually are, and lo and behold his waist is closer to 32″. afraid they would end up too small, i sewed the side seams at 3/8″ as well as the back seam. this left him plenty of room, but now the waistband i cut was too small. i had more fabric, but instead of cutting a new waistband (heaven forbid i waste fabric!), i simply pieced it right under the button closure where it won’t be visible. lesson: actually measure your guy’s waist. i believe these are sized a little slimmer than your typical RTW, but the pattern does include finished measurements to help get a proper fit.

since this is the first pair of pants i’ve sewn for my husband, this will definitely be my go-to for a casual pant or shorts. the fit is great, and it’s nice to see him in clothes that do fit instead of drowning his frame. the only downside is that once you’ve been bitten by the custom fit bug, you just can’t go back! he’s already requested more. 🙂 if you’ve thought of making pants for your guy, there will also be a sew-a-long over on the Thread Theory blog beginning august 15th to help you through the process. however if you’re impatient and want to get started sooner, the included directions are very thorough, even if you’ve never sewn pants before. seriously. they left nothing out!

so what do you think… tempted to sew a pair for your guy?

—lisa g.