Lime Shorts

I never made woven pants before and I’ve been eyeing the Deer&Doe Chataigne Shorts for ages. So I made a practise pair of children’s shorts to get an idea of the construction process. I originally wanted to make the ankle length version (both patterns are from Ottobre kids 3/2018) but my kiddo wanted shorts. So I kept the metre of chambray I bought especially for those pants for myself and managed to squeeze all the pattern pieces (or so I thought) out of a 60cmx100cm piece of fabric I bought from the scrap bin at Frau Tulpe ages ago. I was well chuffed with my pattern tetris until I realised that I needed two waistband pieces. There was no chance of the missing inner waistband to be pieced together from the leftovers, so I cut it out of a completely different fabric, which is why it’s green. I now consider it a design choice.

I found the instructions very clear, and my zipper (I didn’t have a matching gray one, so I went full colour contrast and picked a burgundy zip) went in very smoothly- there is only minimal bunching at the bottom of it, I am well pleased!  I made a size 122 and the shorts are a bit loose on my daughter (which I expected but I prefered that to them being too tight), so hopefully they will fit next year.

That was my second Ottobre pattern and I must say I am a convert. They were easy to make, wearable and the instructions are reasonably detailed. The amount and variety of patterns you get in one magazine also make for a good value purchase. I’m not a fan of the pattern sheet layout but at least it’s much better than burda. Ottobre also convinces due to its choice of child models. I find it very refreshing that these kids are not covered in make up or made to pose unnaturally. What I absolutely love though is that the instructions list the fabric weight of their sample fabric- very useful information indeed!

As stated earlier these were the test run for my Chataigne shorts and – be prepared- I made the same mistake again! I cut only one front waistband piece, which I noticed once I got the the interfacing stage. Io and behold- there was enough fabric left this time.