Last of my Summer Sewing : Tania culottes

Pattern: Tania culottes by Megan Nielsen

Size: size M

Alterations: lengthened about 10cm

Fabric: inexpensive dark blue viscose with mini white flowers, purchased locally and absolutely perfect for the job.

You know how last summer everyone went crazy for Megan Nielsen's Tania culottes?

Well, I didn't.

I was lucky enough to be a tester for this pattern, but when Megan sent it to me, we had spoken of something completely different, so I was a bit set back. I liked the idea of wearable, modern culottes that look like a skirt, but I was somehow perplexed by the actual pattern. Very full at the hips and very short... features I usually stay away from.
When I made my culottes in the fabric I always use for muslins (a lightweight plaid cotton, because I have a bolt of that stuff and "real" muslin doesn't exist here), it looked absolutely horrible on me. It made me look extremely wide and it was much MUCH too short for my own comfort.

So I wrote back my notes to Megan, telling her that everything went great with the construction (because they were very well designed), but this just wasn't the pattern for me. I was a bit heart broken, too, because it was the first time one of her patterns didn't really work for me.

But anyway, the pattern was released and many cute versions started to pop up (like Lauren's, Andrea's, Nette's and Sophie's, among others). Everyone adored this pattern and girls and women of all shape and sizes all looked great in these culottes.

Could it be that I was wrong?

Well, yes, I was. Oh, I was wrong BIG TIME.

It turns out I only needed to lengthen the pattern and use a fabric with much more drape!

I'm so happy I gave this pattern a second chance, because this is the garment I wore the most this Summer (together with my Bleuet dresses).

I especially loved it with sleeveless button-ups, but it worked perfectly with tank tops and t-shirts as well.

Of course the best thing about these culottes is that when someone tells you "Ooh! What a cute skirt!" (and someone WILL tell you), you get to to this:

It's so much fun, I think I did it to at least ten people.

A few notes on this pattern that many other people already made:

- These culottes give you more modesty than a skirt in most situations, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to flash A LOT of leg. Beware of wind... I speak from experience.

- Constructing these culottes is extremely quick, but leave them hanging overnight before you hem them, because the bias will cause a lot of distortion. You can see from the side shots that the hem of my culottes is not perfectly even, but I did what I could with this fabric.

- If you have a serger, a rolled hem will save your life. Seriously. I was so grateful I didn't have to hem those giant panels!

And that's (finally) it for my Summer projects!

In the next photos, you'll see cloudy weather, leaves on the ground and, of course, that tan is completely gone and I'm back to my pale old self. Yay, Autumn!