FO: 1940s Work Set (New York Pattern 519)
I’ve had this very rare early 1940s pattern in my collection for such a long time, it was finally high time to make it up!
Although it’s sized for a 46 inch bust – the hips are 50″ which is very close to my measurements and for the FIRST TIME EVER, these pants fit me really well straight out of the packet. This never happens for me!
I did make some modifications though:
– shortened the crotch by half an inch,
– took the waist in 4 inches (an inch each side, front and back)
– took the jumper top in approx 2 inches
– shortened the jumper straps by 2 inches (I’m short waisted)
They fit beautifully (and now I’ve ordered fabric to make even trousers).
One of the other changes I made was to use facings, inside of the bias binding recommended in the pattern. I personally prefer the look and feel of facings – they were easy to do, I just traced them off the pattern pieces, and added them before I inserted the jumper into the waist band. I also decided to sew on the waistband to the trousers at the very last step.
And here’s a shot of the what the back underlap looks like.
For fabrics, I used a gabardine for the green jumper and the brown trousers, and denim chambray for the blue pair – they’ll be fantastic for summer.
In all – I didn’t expect these trousers to fit me as well as they did! They’re definitely going to be my go-to trouser pattern – and you can find a copy of the pattern here.