I’ve made a pair of culottes, or are they a bifurcated skirt? Hmmm!
This is a pattern that I drafted in my pattern making class using my pencil skirt block as the basis. This surprised me, I thought I would use my trouser block, but no, they are based on a skirt. Anyone who has a copy of Winifred Aldrich’s “Metric Pattern Making for Women’s Wear” will find the instructions on page 52 (in my edition).
We made a slight modification to the pattern in that we eliminated the inside leg seam, so the pattern looked like this.
You can see that the bottom of the culottes are folded up to fit on the fabric, and that I have drawn a tuck down the front. I had one yard of this amazing Irish linen given to me by Megan of Meggipeg when I looked after her gorgeous dog, Truffles. When someone gives me fabric, or even a fabric voucher, I take the make much more seriously. I thought about what to do with this fabric for a while and am thrilled that I have made a garment that has proven to be so useful. I am also really pleased that this is almost a “no waste” pattern. I only threw away the edges of the fabric.
The pockets were the pieces of fabric cut from the crotch, and I put tabs over them to just use up a tiny bit more fabric. By the time I cut two waistbands I had almost nothing left – yay! You can see the gorgeous colours in this fabric – it is like a shot linen, in that the warp and weft are different colours, but it’s quite subtle.
BTW, that left hand tab is straight in real life, I just had the waistband twisted a little bit. The invisible zip has now been made invisible! Here I’m wearing the culottes with a pink Scout Tee.
I gave the culottes a deep hem to give them a bit of weight at the bottom. They go really brilliantly with my apricot Bellini.
And here I have teamed them with a Eucalyptus tank from Megan Nielsen. The fabric for this tank was a teeny tiny silk chiffon remnant from Spotlight.
Thongs/flip flops are The Rubz, a Danish brand, which are made from carbon fibre and silver plated chain. They are exceedingly comfortable and I bought them from Heaven Wrapped in Claremont.
I’m going to make another pair of these culottes, but this time I’m going to flare them, as per page 53 in Winnie’s book.
Ooho, these look just lovely! Beautiful fabric, and an extremely economical and clever layout too. I love the pockets with the little tabs at the top.
Great use of gorgeous fabric.
Thank you 🙂
Gosh, so frugal with the fabric (though I can’t imagine making anything for me with this little fabric! ). I have Winnie”s book but haven’t thought of culottes from my block as yet. Yours are great and versatile too.
Thank you. Winnie’s book is pretty good for lots of things, including ideas of what to make!
Very nice, and extremely practical too. Great use of a lovely fabric.
Thanks Kim, they are really handy in our warmer weather.
Yeah- these are keepers! Nicely done.
These culottes look really flattering and comfortable; what a great vision you had designing them. They look nice with all the tops too. Definitely make some more!
Thanks Nic, also planning a long pair, which would probably just be wide-legged trousers!
Oh these are lovely Sue. So clever to cut them out of so little fabric…and that fabric is rather gorgeous. Love them with your pink scout best but they look great with all your tops. Should be a real workhorse in your wardrobe. Isn’t it great when you add a garment that works so well with garments that you already have!
Thanks Jean, it is nice. I’ve been trying to comment on your last post since last night, but Blogger is playing silly bloggers!!
Culottes are all the rage right now, both in warm and cold climates! Yours in linen look so perfect for hot days. I would never have guessed that you could draft them from a skirt. In my mind, pants would make more sense, but this book seems to be a gem for drafting. Can’t wait to see your next more flared version. Always interesting to see multiple stylings.
Thanks Hélène, I also fancy a long pair, which I think will look very ’30s. And yes, I was also surprised that we used a skirt block!
These look gorgeous! I was on the fence about culottes but then I made some and they are sooooo comfortable! I’m definitely a convert 🙂
Thanks Kate, I was a bit the same – I always think my legs are too thin for them, but these turned out ok.
Brilliant!
Very clever! You did a fine job! Probably really comfortable too for the nice weather you are having.
They certainly are Linda!
The culottes are great, but your crisp and perfect waistband really steals the show! How did you do that?
Love these culottes, they are full but not too full and interesting it is from a skirt block.
I know; how interesting is that?!