OWOP Roundup

So only 3 days in to OWOP and my decision to use the Chataigne shorts suddenly seemed like a poor choice - us people up here in Glasgow woke up to frosty windscreens on our cars and fleece lined trousers seemed to be suddenly oh so desirable! however - I powered on and think the results came out ok.

so here we have day 1:

Chataigne shorts take 3 with a New Look ribbed tank and New Look sandals - im so gonna miss my student discount in that store!

Day 2:

again the pink shorts came out. I was hungover as all hell and only left the house once (to buy bacon). These shorts worked quite well with my tartan army t-shirt. We put up a proud display against the germans, and it was a shame that some people on the park were rather negative towards Naismith.

Day 3: THE DAY IT WAS COLD

This day I wore the second incarnation of my shorts. Black tights and boots were the order of the day and my thick 'woolen' jacket (fake wool). The look was finished with my union jack tshirt (a questionable choice...go figure). all three of these were also 'New Look'.

Day 4:

I cannot tell you how hungover I was today! We went for our weekly darts game with friends, however upon returning we met our new neighbour and proceeded to have a little more than we anticipated! As such I didn't photograph on the day or even want to be near a camera - but this is from Wednesday morning... Tuesday I wore my black pinstripe shorts again with my pink shirt (Next special purchase). Today I also got my tickets for the Christmas Hobbycrafts fair at the SECC - excited much?!

Day 5:

Wednesday is highland dancing day! Today it was also freezing and i really think the heating timer may have to be set for the mornings now! bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! For the most part of the day I wore my lilou dress. I really do like this dress - I'm thinking of making another. I forgot to get a picture of me in this so thankfully I thought to take a picture before dancing.

Day 6:

Today was warmer again and maybe a little too warm for the woolen shorts! It hit 20 something degrees after lunch! I also felt human enough to stand in front of a lens!! Today in conjunction with chataigne shorts 1 I wore my other Next Special Purchare shirt and the same boots as monday and Tuesday.

Day 7:
So fellow OWOPers we made it!

Today I wore with my woolen chataigne shorts a blue jumper (new look) and waistbelt (primark) and yet again the same boots. I really have to admit the jumper was a strategic shout today as I was trying to aviod the media scrum in the city centre! please excuse the poor quality of this photo - the flash was on and the camera was set to indoors and low light. (although while we're here do note the metal bars on the door, theres 12 in total, the previous owner was scared someone would break in - they are leftovers from an aircraft carrier built on the clyde - no joke!!)

Did anyone else take part in OWOP? what pattern did you all choose?

Have a good weekend guys
JCS xx

OWOP and a shiny new garment

Today has been a traditional scottish day - warm, cold, sunny, freezing, raining, sunny and cold - and it's only 1pm...

 So a few weeks back I read over on handmade jane's blog  that there was going to be a One Week One Pattern challenge (OWOP) coming in September! Initially I didn't think that I had the resources to participate, however after a minute or few's thought realised 'don't be silly Jen of course you do!!'

 So what is my pattern? Well the Chataigne shorts of course! Currently I have two black pairs (easily styled for the formal office event which will no doubt take place at zero notice) and this literally *shiny* new pair... so that leaves me with plenty to work with over the week. One of the great things about the wool pair is that they stay very fresh and can easily be worn on consecutive days. The pinstripe pair are good especially for office wear or if a large curry *has* to be eaten. ahem, and finally this new pair are perfect for dancing on wednesday evening.

So this new pair of shorts are made from this lightweight cotton twill. When i bought it I didn't realise that the material was shiny but to be honest when I saw that it was it made the shorts even more appropriate for my dancing class. (my teacher is in love with shiny things :-))

There isn't really anything new with this construction apart from the fact that the waistband went in a lot easier this time.

I have also determined a slightly different order to construction from the instructions too - it suggests puting the pockets in first then joining the front and back pieces, however I always want to put the pockets in the wrong curve *doh!!*so join the back and front first. I also cut the same size as my first pair as I felt the pinstripe pair were getting a little roomy (although on review these are maybe a little tight). the only other change i made was to add topstitching to not only the pocket edge but the waistband and cuff edges too. This was done in co-ordinating thread (partially because the colour was such a good match)

Is anyone else taking part in this challenge?

Take care and have a good weekend
 JCS xx

Completed: Chataigne Shorts number 2.

So I promised that I had some completed items to share with you - and here's the first!

 A second pair of Chataigne shorts from Deer and Doe.

The fabric I used was a black pinstripe woven concoction I bought at Christmas in Remnant Kings  - im not entirely sure what type fabic it was but it loved to frey! - I used it for a waistcoat and had about 1.5 m left. There were a few fit alterations I made to these ones from my last pair and I think they turned out well. the first change from the last time was that i graded out a size for the waist, this fabric is less partial to stretching with heat and so unlike the wool version I need the extra room that the larger size provided. I also graded in the legs - i may have a larger waist but my legs don't seem to need the same room. In fact the legs can probibly be brought in a little bit further.

I left off the back pocket flaps (even though I sewed them both up)- I felt in this particular fabric that they didn't look quite right I think the weight of the material was all wrong and they just didn't add anything in this particular variation.

The invisible zipper decided it was going to play on this garment so I was happy with that (although I did sew one side back to font DOH!) haha.

Woo! Waistband lines up :-D

And because i was only finishing edges inside the shorts I never changed the overlocker thread

I also slipstitched the waistband into place - not quite my neatest work but not bad either!

Squinty interfaced waistband

  The waistband is interfaced to within an inch of its life - I know it's probably not PC (I'm not caring!!) but i used all my scraps of black interfacing left from my Burda Waistcoat and made a patchwork effort on the inside. I do have a minor gripe that after a few tries to line up the point of the front waistband, it still doesn't *quite* match up - the fabric was a bit of a pain to work with so I can live with that! I'm definitely going to make these up for a third time - maybe in linen for casual summer wearing. this is probably/definitely my favourite pattern that I have made up :-).

I have a presentation of my work on Wednesday and I think these will make the perfect office attire! (with tights definately no bare legs!!)

Oh and have a look at how light it was outside at 4 am on the solstice the other night it was so pretty :-)

Looking east towards the park

Looking north west towards the park and town

Have a good week folks

JCS