Deer & Doe Chataigne Shorts in stretch & flowers

Whenever I'm in The Fabric Store I lose track of my original set of plans and get a new set.  But after my last move I'm trying to be fluid with my projects and also move slower...less fast fashion!  Nonetheless while I was there I fell in love with some liberty cord that had flowers on it.  And I decided I needed Chataigne shorts. 

But this isn't liberty cord, you cry!  Yeah...in the leftovers bin I found a piece of this amazing stretchy sateen - I was totally eyeing it online last year but never bought any.  I thought I'd use it for the pockets on my Hampshire pants.  But once I got home I decided it would be even better to make practice Chataigne shorts from a stretchy fabric, especially when I realised I had enough original fabric for the Hampshire pants to do the pockets in the same stuff.  I'm totally milking the end of summer for all it's worth in my year of always-winter...

I have made this pattern before - in fact I think I bought it because I liked the waist detailing and I wanted to make pants.  What I learnt from that experience was that drafting a well fitted, shapely pant leg is not just a matter of extending lines.  Here is my Chataigne pants experiment, which I gave to a friend in Switzerland.  I didn't love the bagginess, the legs twisted a bit, and the hemp fabric didn't match my hopes but she loved it all.

The size 38 had also been way too big.  So I took a big leap and traced the 34 out of my pattern pieces.  Also I still had to get an invisible zip foot.  And as you see I didn't have enough fabric for the pocket facing or the waist facings so I had to get a scrap from elsewhere for that.  At the moment my stash is all future projects, no scraps yet so I didn't have anything lying around that I could use.

I actually french seamed the crotch on these and did some extra top stitching, mainly with the interest of everything lying smoothly.  The crotch seam idea is from my Hampshire trousers which will be up on my blog sort of soon...

I had a big hiccup when I was putting the front yoke in, naturally I didn't take it too seriously at first, sewed half of it, got the center V off center, and it was a big hairy mess.  The result does have a tiny crimp right in the middle but it's basically invisible so I left things at that.

I hand sewed the waistband down which was not really necessary but meant I could do it in the car.  I was literally finishing these at the last minute because I was only given a few hours notice to move out of my temporary housing, but I was so so keen to wear them!

Since then I've been nomadic waiting for May when I take possession of my new space...so things have stalled a bit.  I have about 12 projects to do and itchy fingers, mainly because of how I somehow didn't pack any tshirts.  (wtf?)

After wearing these I am so so so pleased with them.  I'm going to make some teal blue leggings to go with them for winter.  But I do think I'll size back up to the 36 for the non-stretchy version because the fit is so perfect I just can't imagine it being ok without stretch.  Or?  smaller seam allowance?    I might start to use this waistband to measure my size because I don't think I have ever had one that fit so well!

 

DP Studio 504 sweatshirt

Ever since Sophie of @adaspragg changed our world on Instagram with a post about DP Studio, people have been pinning and tagging and generally lusting over these patterns.  French pattern companies have something that we all want these days.  These patterns are available directly from the studio and they have instructions in English.  I had some issues with my order and was in contact by email with the studio, who were friendly and helpful the whole way through.  I know that Stitch56 in Australia also has them in stock, but not sure of other stockists yet. 

Upon moving to New Zealand, as always, my luggage was a mess and most of my stuff was left behind.  Although this is tragic, it does give me a free canvas of things to sew because I actually need stuff!  That plus my new sewing machine plus overall overwhelm led me to choose this sweatshirt as my first sew.  To simplify the crazy options I picked a doublefaced merino blend from The Fabric Store.  I used the lighter pink face as the exterior and the bright side as all the details.

You can go really crazy with details for this - the sleeve stripes on the pattern are one contrast fabric, with a second contrast fabric/ribbon sewn over the top.  

Although I knew it would be roomy I went with the size 38 as my first pattern by this company.  The pattern pieces were all clear and I just cut it out.  Using the same fabric for the bindings meant I had to pull really hard to get the front waistpiece in, and that adds to the gathered look of the front.  This was overall a pretty easy sew.  However I got to the neck and had some thoughts - I decided first to skip the neck zip.  The neck is actually a tight high neck and so without the zip, I had to make it bigger.  I went through a few tries to get a size I liked and it did end up wonky because of all the cutting by eye.  If you use the neck as designed you really must have the zip in, no matter how stretchy your fabric.  Also I found the band would have been too short for the neck as designed, but again my merino doesn't have as much stretch as some knits.

Other changes & notes:

-The sleeves were ridiculously long.  I cut off 2" or more from each arm.
-There is a little facing for the corner where the bottom tie comes out.  I found it hard to understand exactly where and how I was supposed to sew this so I sewed it on the front edge which is genius, as it creates a clean hem for the drawstring but I left the top free since it didn't seem to matter.  It's not beautiful on the inside but my fabric doesn't unravel.

The front is actually pretty short.  It hits just below my belly button and I'm very short waisted.  The back is of course very long, it covers my butt, but once the drawstring is in I pulled it quite tight so it curls inward. 

I used a silk cord from The Fabric Store as my drawstring.  This stuff is beautiful, it's really strong and has an amazing sheen.  I'll be using more of it!  I went with grey to balance all the pinks as the pink would have been too much.  Also I only had one of those little clip things for the end of the drawstring so I stuck it on and tied a knot on the other side, but I will eventually get more clips, maybe even silver ones to match better.

I've been wearing my sweatshirt all the time since I made it.  I think if I made it again I would change the hem to go straight around the back rather than dropping down over my butt, and I would be more careful with how I changed the neck.  I doubt I'll ever do the high neck as designed.  It would be tempting to take some fabric out from under the arms for a more fitted look...but for now I'm really happy.