Ninni Culottes 02

A woman wearing grey ikat culottes, a black sweater, and black boots stands in front of a mirror holding a camera. Only the bottom half of her body is visible.
Side view of a woman wearing grey ikat culottes, black boots, and a black sweater. Only the lower half of her body is visible.

Pattern/Technique: Ninni elastic waist culottes by Named

Modifications:

  • Used Zanzibach tutorial for inseam pockets rather than the method suggested in the pattern (saved to Drive for posterity)

  • Fabric width wasn't long enough to cut the waistband in one piece, so I cut it in 2 pieces and added 3/8" seam allowance on one end to compensate. Because I had limited fabric / was trying to match patterns, I cut a long piece of waistband, then a smaller section (approx 18 in) and attached them together

  • Added bartacks to the pocket edges for reinforcement

Materials: Used 2 yds (57") of Gray ikat cotton/linen/rayon blend from Joann Fabrics. Stitched with Aurifil Natural White 50 wt, using 70/10 universal needle.

New skills: Pattern matching

Lessons: This was the first time I've tried large pattern matching on pants, and I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to get a decent match while using very little fabric. Based on how pants are constructed, it's most important to consider pattern repeats at the front and back crotch seams, and the outer side seams.

What I'd do differently: This time I decided to not topstitch the elastic, so I used 32 3/4" of elastic (since topstitching won't stretch it out). I like the look of the non-topstitched elastic, however because the pattern actually calls for 1 3/8" elastic the waistband is a little wide and the elastic migrates. I used non-roll elastic so I don't anticipate issues with it flipping, but if this actually proves to be an issue, I'll reduce the length of the elastic and top-stitch it to keep it stationary.

Care: Machine wash, lay flat to dry

Fen Top

Lauren, a white woman, wears a bright blue shirt and some reddish pants while holding a camera to take a selfie.

Pattern/Technique: Fen Shirt by Fancy Tiger Crafts, size 20

Materials: Mora Slub rayon/linen blend in Cobalt, 2.5 yds

New skills: n/a

Lessons: This shirt came together really quickly—it's only 3 pieces and I've practiced all the techniques before--which is a nice affirmation of the skills I've been building over the past year.

I notched the underarm seams after serging them and took care not to notch too aggressively (the material is a pretty loose weave and I didn't want the notches migrating into the seams). The material seems to be holding and not fraying but I should keep an eye on this. (Update: the fabric has definitely frayed with washing and some of the serged edges have actually frayed away, though the seams appear to be still structural. I think in the future with loose weave I may serge and not notch, and see if the fabric can stretch to accommodate the underarm curve.)

I went out of order on the steps for finishing the neckband; I didn’t serge the bias binding before attaching it to the neckline, instead I serged the entire thing after attaching, and then pressed the seam to the inside of the shirt.

Topstitching the neckline is super important, especially with a shifty/drapey fabric that will stretch out when manipulated.

What I'd do differently: n/a

Care: Machine wash cold, lay flat to dry