I spent several hours looking at the various patterns and photos of the extant example before I started working on the feet. Even with all that time I am still no where close to having wearable footies in my Thorsberg pants.
The original pants were made on a very slim cut where as my pants are cut to fit me while using the same shape and number of pieces as the original. My recreation allows for my large calves which makes the ankle opening 22 inches around. My ankles, where they meet my feet, are only 10 inches around. My first efforts, last night, ended up in me cutting the fabric to narrow to fit around the ankle opening of the pants.
The original pattern drawn out by Margrethe Hald: Olddanske tekstiler p 341 simply shows a fat horseshoe shape that is connected to a band and then sewn on to the pants leg. The second pattern drawn by Karl Schlabow: Textilfunde der Eisenzeit in Norddeutschland, figure 165 shows the same fat horseshoe pieces but includes a small gore that goes from the ankle, wraps under the heel, and finishes very close to centre underside of the foot itself. Looking at the two patterns I decided I would try to fix the issue with gores at the heel.
I cut the top piece, the fat horseshoe, just long enough that it would touch the ground on either side of my foot. I cut the gore wide enough to make up for the short fall on the ankle and long enough to go from my ankle, under my foot, to attach to the toe of the top piece. I did a quick running baste just to check the fit. It is a good thing, too. While the opening matches my pants leg, the foot itself was a huge bag on my foot. If you look at the photo on the page linked above you will notice the foot does not look like a bag, so back to the drawing board.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
A&S 50/ 50 Challenge: Wool Cap #2
Wool Cap #2
Brand of Wool: Paton's and Lion BrandColours: Purple and Yellow
Stitch: Oslo
Notes:
This was the first cap I tried to create a braided edging. To create he edge I made four stitches then a chain of four stitches, reconnected on the fifth stitch and repeated all the way around the brim. When I got back to the started point I made a chain of four stitches, then where the previous row was not connected to the hat I connected the second row. While doing that I made sure the second row of stitches wove over and under the first row.
The braided edge looked nice, if a little uneven, until I felted the hat in the washing machine. Now from a distance it looks like a slightly scalloped edge and close up it just looks like a solid mass. Felting the hat in the washing machine also resulted in it being a bit small for me to wear comfortably and is quite itchy.
Trillium Exchange #2 : Sept 2013 - Feb 2014
So I decided to make a wooden replica of a bronze strap en I saw in the British Museum's Online Collection. Of course I had to choose the most complicated piece but I thought it was 3 or 4 inches long. When I first looked at the strap end I did not notice that it is only 4 cm long. Further research shows that most of the strap ends in this collection are between 4 and 6 cm long.
Not to be deterred I cut out a piece of birch, drew out the pattern, and started carving. I chose birch because it is a very dense wood that will simulate the weight of cast metal and will most likely hold up to the riveting process better than a more easily carved wood like basswood. I gave up after an hour. My smallest tools are just to big to recreate the detail found in the photo. That is when I went looking at other strap ends and found they were all very small, and many had a great deal of detail.
I spent several hours looking at other strap ends today. I found a couple that look like they would be easier to carve from wood. But, now I am wondering if I should carve it in beeswax and use that to make a lost wax casting in bronze or pewter. The simpler pattern could easily be carved in wood but would a wooden strap end be as impressive as a cast bronze one. Of course, with the easier shapes I could use the wood one as a mold and do a sand casting. Most of the straps had very flat backs which is what you would get from sand casting.
I'm glad I have 4 months to work on this. It is going to take me that long to get anything accomplished.
Not to be deterred I cut out a piece of birch, drew out the pattern, and started carving. I chose birch because it is a very dense wood that will simulate the weight of cast metal and will most likely hold up to the riveting process better than a more easily carved wood like basswood. I gave up after an hour. My smallest tools are just to big to recreate the detail found in the photo. That is when I went looking at other strap ends and found they were all very small, and many had a great deal of detail.
I spent several hours looking at other strap ends today. I found a couple that look like they would be easier to carve from wood. But, now I am wondering if I should carve it in beeswax and use that to make a lost wax casting in bronze or pewter. The simpler pattern could easily be carved in wood but would a wooden strap end be as impressive as a cast bronze one. Of course, with the easier shapes I could use the wood one as a mold and do a sand casting. Most of the straps had very flat backs which is what you would get from sand casting.
I'm glad I have 4 months to work on this. It is going to take me that long to get anything accomplished.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Bocksten Hood
When I first decided to hand sew garb for myself, I decided to make two sets. A winter set made from wool, and a rest of the year set made from linen. I also thought why not start from the top and work my way down. After looking around I decided on the Bocksten hood. Even though it is believed to be 13th to 15th C, many centuries later than I am playing, I thought it general enough I could get away with it. I also thought the hood would provide some protection for my pale, easily sunburnt skin.
Like most of my garb patterns I got the one for the hood from the internet. This one was no different coming from the pages of a re-enactment group The Vikings. I looked at others but this one was the easiest to read and recreate so of course I chose it.
My first hood was made from wool, or possibly a wool blend, I picked up cheap at the local fabric store. I say wool blend because it doesn't look like other wools I have seen, like the wool that kilts are made of, and it isn't as itchy as I was led to believe all wool is. I used a wool embroidery yarn to stitch it together and to make a decorative blanket stitch about the edge of the mantle.
It fits well when on, but the neck hole is a little tight when I pull it over my head. The wool is heavy enough that the point sticks out, which it is supposed to do, but it looks like the back of my head is hatching a baby Rodan. I had originally thought to add some rabbit fur from an old fur coat I was given but I am still flip flopping on that idea. Partially because if the nose tickle factor and partially because I think it would be to affluent for a merchant.
I used the same pattern for the linen hood but I added extra fabric in the mantle so that it is looser. I also changed the neck hole dimensions so it slips easily over my head. The linen does not hold its shape as well as the wool does, drooping here and there. I actually prefer the way the back of the head looks on the linen hood over the wool hood, but I do wish the bit framing the face would droop less.
The seams of both hoods were done with a running stitch to hold the fabric edges together then a blanket stitch was added to keep the fabric form unraveling. After having done the pants with a felled seam, I am wishing I had done the front and back seams on the mantle with a felled seam using a contrasting thread to make it somewhat decorative.
Eventually I will add some embroidery to both the hoods mantles and to the line hood around the face. I expect in the end I will opt for embroidery around the face of the wool hood as well, though for now I am keeping the rabbit fur option available.
Update:
A dear friend of mine pointed out that there is a hood from an earlier time period. It is still later than my persona but at least it is a little closer. He also pointed out a mistake in me earlier post so you will find the date of the Bocksten Hood has been corrected to reflect it's true age, 13th to 15th C.
The new hood, the Skjoldehamn Hood, looks to be 11th to 13th C from a bog find in Norway. I'm going to do some more research on the pattern but from my initial searching it looks like it would be pretty simple to recreate. Essentially it is just a rectangle of fabric with two square gores to make it fit over the shoulders. It looks like the Bocksten hood but there are gores in the front instead of cutting the mantle in a half circle.Further Research:
http://www.expo-conv-svcs.com/Pennsic40/SkjoldehamnClassHandout.pdf
http://www.ceilingpress.com/Resources/SkjoldehamnFindInLightofNewKnowledge.pdf
http://www.ceilingpress.com/Resources/Nye%20tanker%20om%20Skjoldehamnfunnet.pdf
Trillium Exchange #1: Sept 2013 -Feb 2014
I signed up for the Trillium Exchange, a hand made gift exchange between people in the Kingdom of Ealdormere. The person I drew has been in the SCA for quite a long time and has many high level awards to their name. Needless to say I am intimidated by the prospect of making something for this person. We are limited to $25 and that must include delivery, but if it is something we already own it doesn't count towards the limit.
We have been asked to keep notes, which I wanted to do anyway, but to not publish any details until after our gift has been delivered to its intended recipient. This will make it hard to keep as a blog but I will make my posts and simply save them as drafts. After my recipient has received their gift I will publish all the draft posts at the same time.
I have several ideas for what to make. I have gotten some really good ideas and feedback from Cate Townsend, who is not in this exchange. She was able to find some stuff in the British Museum that would be very interesting to make and would really push my skills to another level. While trying to match her searches phrases I came across a couple of nice Bronze pieces that look cool.
While I have not decided on a project yet, I do have several ideas that I am bouncing around.
We have been asked to keep notes, which I wanted to do anyway, but to not publish any details until after our gift has been delivered to its intended recipient. This will make it hard to keep as a blog but I will make my posts and simply save them as drafts. After my recipient has received their gift I will publish all the draft posts at the same time.
I have several ideas for what to make. I have gotten some really good ideas and feedback from Cate Townsend, who is not in this exchange. She was able to find some stuff in the British Museum that would be very interesting to make and would really push my skills to another level. While trying to match her searches phrases I came across a couple of nice Bronze pieces that look cool.
While I have not decided on a project yet, I do have several ideas that I am bouncing around.
- A Wooden replica of a bronze strap end.
- A carved wooden box.
- A carved bone grooming kit - ear scoop, tweezers, comb, etc.
- A bronze brooch.
- A Bronze replica of the bronze strap end above.
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
A&S 50/ 50 Challenge: Wool Cap #1
While I try to figure out how the footies are assembled on my Thorsberg Pants, I thought it a good idea to share some of my A&S 50/ 50 Challenges. As I said in my opening post I am actually doing two challenges; Nalbound Wool caps and Illuminated Scrolls based on the Book of Kells. To date I have only completed sixteen of the nalbound caps and five of the illuminated scrolls, but winter is coming and that is my most productive period for nalbinding. With luck I will also increase my scroll count significantly as well.
When I started the 50/50 challenge I kept notes on the patterns and materials I used for each hat. I also posted pictures over at Ravelry.com. I will take my paper notes and the pictures from Ravelry and use them to create a blog post for each hat.
Brand of Wool: Fisherman's Wool by Lion Brand
Colours: Brown and Oatmeal
Stitch: Oslo
Notes:
I started this hat with a Josephine Knot, a single loop that I then create simple loops using the buttonhole stitch. For this cap I started with 8 loops. I did not keep track of my stitch increases which is a shame. I really like the way the hat is slightly pointed and has a smooth downward slope all the way along.
Experience with other, more recent, caps would suggest I did a single increase, i.e. two stitches, in each of the buttonhole loops. In the next several rows I increased once every three to five stitches. I did this until the round was as big as I wanted it, then I simple worked around with mo increases.
To finish the edges I increased the tightness of the Oslo stitches for two or three inches then switched to a buttonhole stitch until I reached the end of my piece of working yarn. The loose end was woven through three inches of the previous row.
When I started the 50/50 challenge I kept notes on the patterns and materials I used for each hat. I also posted pictures over at Ravelry.com. I will take my paper notes and the pictures from Ravelry and use them to create a blog post for each hat.
Wool Cap #1
Brand of Wool: Fisherman's Wool by Lion Brand
Colours: Brown and Oatmeal
Stitch: Oslo
Notes:
I started this hat with a Josephine Knot, a single loop that I then create simple loops using the buttonhole stitch. For this cap I started with 8 loops. I did not keep track of my stitch increases which is a shame. I really like the way the hat is slightly pointed and has a smooth downward slope all the way along.
To finish the edges I increased the tightness of the Oslo stitches for two or three inches then switched to a buttonhole stitch until I reached the end of my piece of working yarn. The loose end was woven through three inches of the previous row.
Sunday, 15 September 2013
Thorsberg Pants: Part 3
I finished the waist band finally. It took the whole evening, about 8 hours, but it is done. I noticed last night that when I am fresh my stitches are fairly even and quite neat. The more tired my eyes get my stitches begin to vary in length and distance. I know it is because I start to hurry, especially if I am working on a specific goal like finishing X piece before I go to bed.
I said in my last post Thorsberg Pants: Part 2 that my waist band was going to be similar to the extant example. I was wrong. I cut the waistband 5 inches all the way across and sewed the edges to the edge of the pants. To get the marked difference in height from side to side I would have had to cut one side 5 inches and the other side 3 inches, or sewn the side attached to the high leg piece so that when laid flat the waistband was level all the way across on the top.
Each day I spend on these pants, or any hand sewing really, makes me even more aware of just how much time and effort the pre-industrial revolution people spent to have a single set of clothing. I am lucky that I don't have to grow the flax, sheep, or cotton; process it into thread or yarn; and weave it into cloth before cutting out the pieces of my project.
I think is I had to do all that work, I would be very stingy with my fabric and make sure I used every single piece, wasting nothing in the cutting and sewing of the parts. I suspect the way the Thorsberg pants are made is for that very reason. To use the smallest amount of fabric to the greatest effect while creating pants that are comfortable and less likely to tear out along the seams.
I said in my last post Thorsberg Pants: Part 2 that my waist band was going to be similar to the extant example. I was wrong. I cut the waistband 5 inches all the way across and sewed the edges to the edge of the pants. To get the marked difference in height from side to side I would have had to cut one side 5 inches and the other side 3 inches, or sewn the side attached to the high leg piece so that when laid flat the waistband was level all the way across on the top.
Each day I spend on these pants, or any hand sewing really, makes me even more aware of just how much time and effort the pre-industrial revolution people spent to have a single set of clothing. I am lucky that I don't have to grow the flax, sheep, or cotton; process it into thread or yarn; and weave it into cloth before cutting out the pieces of my project.
I think is I had to do all that work, I would be very stingy with my fabric and make sure I used every single piece, wasting nothing in the cutting and sewing of the parts. I suspect the way the Thorsberg pants are made is for that very reason. To use the smallest amount of fabric to the greatest effect while creating pants that are comfortable and less likely to tear out along the seams.
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Thorsberg Pants: Part 2
I spent 8 hours working on my pants again last night. All I managed to do was get the waist band piece attached the to the main body of the pants, and lose a needle somewhere in my chair. Have no fear it will turn up the next time I sit down for a evening of sewing.
I did run into a problem while trying to even up the fabric of the pants before attaching the waistband. Actually, now that I think about it it isn't really a problem so much as an annoyance. It goes back to the problem with the leg pieces twisting oddly during sewing. Now that I look at the pictures, I see that my waistband is going to end up looking similar to the extant example. One side will be wider than another. The main difference, as far as I can tell from the photographs of the original, the width difference on mine will only be visible from the side.
Anyone who has worked with patterned fabric knows just how hard it can be to join the pieces together so it looks fairly seamless. I cut the fabric for the waistband from the left over pieces, along the longest edge, or the fabric. That fact, and the way I trimmed the pants themselves to try to even out the fabric, means that my waistband doesn't match up in any way with the pattern on the pants themselves. Luckily, I wear thigh to knee length tunics which will cover that rather unprofessional looking bit of seaming.
One advantage, to the way I attached the waistband to the pants, is that the waist band itself will be level at the very top. Again, much like the original. The only way I can test my theory about the leg pieces twisting and causing the unevenness of the waistband is to create another pair with the exact same pattern. I will not use the extra heavy duty seam, instead I will opt for a more period seam. I will also use some very light weight linen, essentially creating myself a pair of underpants, which I will then use under the wool pants I plan to make later.
Speaking of seam, I did figure out what kind of seam I am making. A chance post on Pinterest about a Medieval Bra reconstruction mentioned a felled seam. Since I had no idea what that meant, and the picture looked similar to my seam, I decided to look it up. I am creating a felled seam, and based on the various tutorials, I am going about it a completely different way. I start with my fabric edges lined up, fold it over to the left and stitch it down, then fold it to the left again and stitch it along both sides. Now, according to this page flat felled seams are within my period time frame using a hem stitch which I am not using. So are my seams period? I'm still not sure but considering how durable they are, and how well they prevent unraveling of woven fabric, I bet someone used something similar in the past.
The waistband on the original pair of pants is 7 cm ( 2.5 inches) wide on one side and ranges between 4cm and 7 cm on the other side. My plan is to make my waistband as close to 7 cm as I can. It will be interesting to see if my waistband exhibits a similar difference in width along the other side. If it does then my pants will only differ from the extant by the type of fabric I used. Or course without having access to the originals to study and photograph I can only speculate.
I did run into a problem while trying to even up the fabric of the pants before attaching the waistband. Actually, now that I think about it it isn't really a problem so much as an annoyance. It goes back to the problem with the leg pieces twisting oddly during sewing. Now that I look at the pictures, I see that my waistband is going to end up looking similar to the extant example. One side will be wider than another. The main difference, as far as I can tell from the photographs of the original, the width difference on mine will only be visible from the side. 
Anyone who has worked with patterned fabric knows just how hard it can be to join the pieces together so it looks fairly seamless. I cut the fabric for the waistband from the left over pieces, along the longest edge, or the fabric. That fact, and the way I trimmed the pants themselves to try to even out the fabric, means that my waistband doesn't match up in any way with the pattern on the pants themselves. Luckily, I wear thigh to knee length tunics which will cover that rather unprofessional looking bit of seaming.One advantage, to the way I attached the waistband to the pants, is that the waist band itself will be level at the very top. Again, much like the original. The only way I can test my theory about the leg pieces twisting and causing the unevenness of the waistband is to create another pair with the exact same pattern. I will not use the extra heavy duty seam, instead I will opt for a more period seam. I will also use some very light weight linen, essentially creating myself a pair of underpants, which I will then use under the wool pants I plan to make later.
Speaking of seam, I did figure out what kind of seam I am making. A chance post on Pinterest about a Medieval Bra reconstruction mentioned a felled seam. Since I had no idea what that meant, and the picture looked similar to my seam, I decided to look it up. I am creating a felled seam, and based on the various tutorials, I am going about it a completely different way. I start with my fabric edges lined up, fold it over to the left and stitch it down, then fold it to the left again and stitch it along both sides. Now, according to this page flat felled seams are within my period time frame using a hem stitch which I am not using. So are my seams period? I'm still not sure but considering how durable they are, and how well they prevent unraveling of woven fabric, I bet someone used something similar in the past.
The waistband on the original pair of pants is 7 cm ( 2.5 inches) wide on one side and ranges between 4cm and 7 cm on the other side. My plan is to make my waistband as close to 7 cm as I can. It will be interesting to see if my waistband exhibits a similar difference in width along the other side. If it does then my pants will only differ from the extant by the type of fabric I used. Or course without having access to the originals to study and photograph I can only speculate.
Thursday, 12 September 2013
Thorsberg Pants: Part One
I always defaulted to the plain pants pattern, similar to the modern sweat pants style for my garb. At some point, no matter how loose I made them, the crotch would give out. This almost always happened when I was bent over trying to move something heavy or cooking at the centre fire pit while cooking lunch or dinner.
I've made a lot of pants since I joined the SCA and several of them have been Thorsberg or Thorsberesque pants for my spouse, Cennedig. He swears by them. He says they are the most comfortable pants he has ever worn in his life. He has never had a seam give out, now matter how tight they get stretched across his thighs or butt.
So, when I decided it was time for a new pair of pants I decided to give the Thorsberg a try for myself. Unlike all the other pants I have made I decided these were going to be all hand stitched. Why? Well, I'm pretty sure I am insane and like to torture myself. I decided I was going to make an entire set of garb by hand. I thought it would be a good idea to push myself a little and in the process find out how long it takes to sew clothes together without a machine.
This is the first piece I've hand sewn but it is taking the most time, and truly making me appreciate my sewing machine. My finger tips are sore and my eyes are strained after only 14 hrs spread over three days and I've only finished the main body of the pants. The legs and crotch are done but I still have to sew on the waist band, belt loops, and last of all figure out how the footies are sewn. Cennedig has also opted for the no footed style so this is a whole new kettle for me.
First, I had to decide what fabric to use. Cotton is a natural fabric that breathes well when it is hot and insulates a little when it is cool. I also had several metres of cotton plaid in my stash, which made that decision easy.
Before cutting the fabric I washed it. I do that with all natural fabrics. It was a hard learned lesson back when I first started making garb. A lovely linen tunic created for Cennedig shrank so much it was donated to a much smaller gentleman in our Canton.
Then I had to figure out the dimensions of the pattern pieces. To the left you can see my worksheet. I took the pattern as shown on the Viking Men: Clothing: Trousers page, drew out each piece and using my measurements worked out what size each piece should be. You can also see that I made many changes to the dimensions along the way.
After sewing the legs and crotch pieces together I figured out that I have to change the size of the pieces. As you can see in the second photo the back of the crotch pieces do not come up level with the tops of the leg pieces. I'm not sure if that is because I calculated incorrectly or if the types of seams I chose used more fabric than expected.
The seams I am using do not seem to be period but I thought they would give me the best chance of now blowing out a seam due to torn fabric or broken stitches. I'm not even sure what to call this seam. I stitch the two pieces of fabric together with a running stitch then fold the two pieces of fabric over so that all the raw edges are hidden. Then I run two parallel rows of running stitches along the edges. It creates a very strong seam but the extra folds of fabric may be causing some measurement troubles.
The problem of the legs not sewing on evenly may actually explain something seen in the extant example of the pants. The extant example has different sized waistbands on either side of the pants. If you look at my pants you can see that one leg extends almost 2 inches above the centre crotch piece while the other side is only 1 inch higher even though both my leg pieces were the exact same size.
It makes me wonder if the shape of the crotch pieces somehow causes the leg pieces to twist as they are being sewn. If my measurements had been correct maybe only the one side would be different, and I could correct it by having the waistbands be different sizes. For now though, I am going to cut off the excess fabric, even with the back piece, before I sew the waistband on.
One of the things about the Thorsberg pants I have made in the past is that the way the crotch pieces are mad there is a bit of what I call "saggy bottoms". I was hoping that hand sewing would somehow correct this problem. The picture to the left is proof that hand sewing does not fix that issue.
I believe the problem lies in the shape of the pieces. The back is wider than the crotch piece. The leg gussets sew to the crotch pieces and with the difference between the two crotch pieces it creates a fold on both sides.
In the past, to correct the saggy bottoms issue, I made the widest part of the back piece the same width as the other two pieces. My next pair of pants, sewed with a machine, will probably be made with all the pieces the same width. It will all depend on how comfortable the excess fabric in the back turns out to be.
Who knows maybe they had a really good reason for making them that way. And I will not really know until I wear them for a decent length of time and put them through their paces, preferably doing things as close to possible as the 100-300 A.D.
I've made a lot of pants since I joined the SCA and several of them have been Thorsberg or Thorsberesque pants for my spouse, Cennedig. He swears by them. He says they are the most comfortable pants he has ever worn in his life. He has never had a seam give out, now matter how tight they get stretched across his thighs or butt.
So, when I decided it was time for a new pair of pants I decided to give the Thorsberg a try for myself. Unlike all the other pants I have made I decided these were going to be all hand stitched. Why? Well, I'm pretty sure I am insane and like to torture myself. I decided I was going to make an entire set of garb by hand. I thought it would be a good idea to push myself a little and in the process find out how long it takes to sew clothes together without a machine.
This is the first piece I've hand sewn but it is taking the most time, and truly making me appreciate my sewing machine. My finger tips are sore and my eyes are strained after only 14 hrs spread over three days and I've only finished the main body of the pants. The legs and crotch are done but I still have to sew on the waist band, belt loops, and last of all figure out how the footies are sewn. Cennedig has also opted for the no footed style so this is a whole new kettle for me.
Before cutting the fabric I washed it. I do that with all natural fabrics. It was a hard learned lesson back when I first started making garb. A lovely linen tunic created for Cennedig shrank so much it was donated to a much smaller gentleman in our Canton.
Then I had to figure out the dimensions of the pattern pieces. To the left you can see my worksheet. I took the pattern as shown on the Viking Men: Clothing: Trousers page, drew out each piece and using my measurements worked out what size each piece should be. You can also see that I made many changes to the dimensions along the way.
After sewing the legs and crotch pieces together I figured out that I have to change the size of the pieces. As you can see in the second photo the back of the crotch pieces do not come up level with the tops of the leg pieces. I'm not sure if that is because I calculated incorrectly or if the types of seams I chose used more fabric than expected.
The seams I am using do not seem to be period but I thought they would give me the best chance of now blowing out a seam due to torn fabric or broken stitches. I'm not even sure what to call this seam. I stitch the two pieces of fabric together with a running stitch then fold the two pieces of fabric over so that all the raw edges are hidden. Then I run two parallel rows of running stitches along the edges. It creates a very strong seam but the extra folds of fabric may be causing some measurement troubles.The problem of the legs not sewing on evenly may actually explain something seen in the extant example of the pants. The extant example has different sized waistbands on either side of the pants. If you look at my pants you can see that one leg extends almost 2 inches above the centre crotch piece while the other side is only 1 inch higher even though both my leg pieces were the exact same size.
It makes me wonder if the shape of the crotch pieces somehow causes the leg pieces to twist as they are being sewn. If my measurements had been correct maybe only the one side would be different, and I could correct it by having the waistbands be different sizes. For now though, I am going to cut off the excess fabric, even with the back piece, before I sew the waistband on.One of the things about the Thorsberg pants I have made in the past is that the way the crotch pieces are mad there is a bit of what I call "saggy bottoms". I was hoping that hand sewing would somehow correct this problem. The picture to the left is proof that hand sewing does not fix that issue.
I believe the problem lies in the shape of the pieces. The back is wider than the crotch piece. The leg gussets sew to the crotch pieces and with the difference between the two crotch pieces it creates a fold on both sides.
In the past, to correct the saggy bottoms issue, I made the widest part of the back piece the same width as the other two pieces. My next pair of pants, sewed with a machine, will probably be made with all the pieces the same width. It will all depend on how comfortable the excess fabric in the back turns out to be.
Who knows maybe they had a really good reason for making them that way. And I will not really know until I wear them for a decent length of time and put them through their paces, preferably doing things as close to possible as the 100-300 A.D.
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