This project is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, I love these culottes - they're cute and comfortable. On the other hand, they're a bit of a sewing fail and I suspect I won't wear them very often.
The fabric is another one that has been in my stash for a while. It's a silk twill from Emma One Sock. I bought it in 2018, thinking that I would use it for a tank top, but I never followed through. It's very lightweight, but not slippery.
Then I saw these culottes by Jenny of Cashmerette and I knew that's what I wanted to do with this fabric.
I didn't actually have enough fabric for this pattern, but I made it work by shortening the legs and cutting creatively. All that was left over was a small pile of scraps.
As I cut, I made sure the border stripes were along the ends of the legs and the back of the waistband.
Putting them together was easy - even if the silk frayed like no one's business the entire time.
When I got done, however, I realized I'd made a silly error. I had checked the size chart, but not the finished measurements. I didn't check because - usually - in patterns for woven fabrics, the finished measurements are larger than the size chart. If the fabric doesn't have any stretch, then it won't fit if it's smaller than your body. That didn't hold true for this pattern. The finished waist measurement (with the elastic completely stretched out) is several inches smaller than the hip measurement on the size chart. This means I have to wiggle and shimmy and jump up and down to get these on. Once they're on, they fit great! But getting them on and off is unpleasant.
I paired them with a me-made piece from another Cashmerette pattern here - a grey silk/wool blend tank - but it's been cold and I'm more likely to wear them like I styled them below for while yet.
This is the last of the 2018 fabrics I've been hoarding! I made a little collage of what I made with all my hoarded fabrics. Now it's time to move onto all my 2019 fabrics...
