My Monochrome Tania Culottes

I'm taking some time off my studies and work for a bit of 'me-time'and self-reflection. I will no-doubt have a lot of sewing time which is an added bonus! My first make of my time-off are the Megan Nielsen Tania Culottes. I used a monochrome 95% cotton 5% stretch fabric from Darn Cheap Fabrics called 'Angus' and bought the PDF pattern from Indie Stitches. I'd heard a lot about the culottes, in particular that they were very short, and loved how they looked on others.

 

My measurements fell between the small and medium. I ended up cutting the medium to allow for food room. The fit around the waist is perfect. In terms of overall comfort, I'm still getting used to them. I'm constantly pulling the excess fabric from between my legs and when I sit down I feel as if my skirt is stuck between my legs, which, I guess, it is. 

While I knew that the culottes would be very short I only had enough fabric to cut the original length. So these are my risque culottes. I actually like the length and think they are flattering. I will make another pair at some point and probably add 1-2" to the length for a more work-appropriate look.

This was my first time using a Megan Nielsen pattern and the instructions were very easy to follow. The pattern and fabric were quickly cut out, with only four pattern pieces, and the culottes came together in a breeze. The most time consuming part of this make is hemming the giant leg holes. I didn't make any changes to the pattern but suggest the following instruction adaptions: 1) at step 1, sew the crotch seam before the pleat so you are able to press the crotch seam open ; 2) at step 7, rather than hand stitching the the sides of the waistband facing to the inside of the waistband, after sewing your facing to your waistband pivot your needle sew down the facing (inside out) along the zipper, snip corner and turn waist band right way in. The only other change I made was to top stitch the facing to the waistband 1/4" from the bottom of the waistband and 1"4 from the top of the waistband. 

This was my first time using an invisible zipper foot. In the past I've used a regular zipper foot. The foot certainly makes this easier and my zipper is mostly invisible. I didn't make any attempts to pattern match with these short, but my right side seam is a lovely accident!

I love how these shorts turned out and hope to get a bit of wear out of them. I need to make some simple block colour tops to go with them. Unlikely to happen anytime soon though, I love prints!