Notions Of Fabric

I realised as we were approaching last summer that I had denim shorts, and navy blue shorts, but no shorts in black - which was clearly an oversight. So I made 2 pairs! This pair is by far my favourite and I have worn it loads. I am really pleased with the fit on it too! This is the Lander shorts pattern, which I have made once before. I really like the fit on these. I made a size 8, as last time I cut and made a size 10, but then ended up taking it in at the waist. I also made the hem of the shorts a smaller hem this time to give me just a little extra length. For fabric, I used a perwinkle twill I bought from the Village Haberdashery which I dyed black and added to some black remnants I already had from a (very old) Chardon skirt. That made sure I had enough fabric for both these Landers and also the Maritimes I made too (blog post incoming). As these shorts were going to get a lot of wear (and I knew that they would ahead of time due to their versatility), I put extra care into them...

Today I have a real summer staple for the blog. As soon as I finished  my Lander pant   earlier in the year I knew that what I wanted for the summer was a pair of light denim coloured  Lander shorts   So I set off, buying a single piece of denim from  Guthrie and Ghani   Making the shorts also means much less fabric; I’m pretty sure I got this out of a metre of the fabric. I also pulled out one of my stashed Japanese fat quarters for the pockets, which are a beautiful touch. I really like using fun and different fat quarters for pockets. Same as with my last pair, they went together very quickly and easily. I love the instructions  - they make making trousers so much less scary! I did want to use proper jeans buttons, however I couldn’t find them anywhere so I used these regular gold buttons which look pretty jeans like. I still think if I’m not 100% sold on the buttons that I’ll try the jeans buttons after that. This time around, I went one size down ...

The final thing I wanted to make while I was in Australia was a huge departure in style for me. Although my style mostly consists of high waisted skirts with floaty tops, or dresses with a high waisted fitted bodice and a big skirt. Basically, quite 50s vintage vibe. So having high waisted trousers maybe does make sense, but I've never worn any before. So, in Australia with time and the Lander pattern (also bought in a Black Friday sale), I decided why not? I'd give it a go. With the plan to make a wearable toile, I thought of using corduroy fabric, again from Spotlight. And even though I had a plain color in mind, when I saw this fabric it just spoke to me! It was the perfect autumn fabric (and with the top I am wearing, which is from Cotton On, it's the perfect warm autumn outfit) and makes the perfect autumn pants! Only problem is that I've gone from Australian summer to British spring... But I forsee a lot of wear in the autumn. I made a size 12, but at the rage of ...