A friend of mine asked me to help her make an outfit for a 70's Palm Springs themed Christmas party. Some time on Pinterest made me fall totally in love with the idea of wide leg linen pants. This of course led me to the Winslow Culottes by Helen's Closet which were already in my pattern collection. A quick trip to The Fabric Store and I knew I needed a pair for myself too.
I made these using a mid weight charcoal linen. They read charcoal but do have a very purple look up close. The linen was lovely to work with and really lends itself to these type of pants.
I made View D for full length pants and have plans for some shorter ones too. The only change I made to the pattern was swapping the straight waistband out for a curved one. I've worked out a curved waistband really helps with keeping things in place on my body so its a change I made to most patterns now.
This top is a total recreation of this top by Katie of Katie Makes a Dress. She really makes the coolest things. She used a self drafted pattern for hers which bought me to what I ended up with.
One of my goals for this year is to purchase less. This involves hacking and altering patterns I already have, where possible, to achieve the look I want. Thankfully it turned out well in this case.
I started using the Sew Over It Silk Cami pattern as a base. I've made this pattern before and know it fits well if I don't do french seams. Using the smaller seam allowance makes all the difference for me with this pattern.
The changes I made included raising the front neckline about 2 inches and lowering the back neckline by about the same. I didn't refraft the facings and used bias binding on the neck and arm holes.
To insert the frill I used my french curve to create a subtle curve just above the bust where I cut the pattern and added seam allowance. I then drafted a slightly curved piece which I gathered and inserted. It was a pretty simple alteration and worked out pretty well for a first attempt!
I purchased fabric for this top about 6 months ago with my work bonus. I treated myself to an order from Nerida Hansen. This Jocelyn Proust print is amazing and I'm so glad I managed to add it to my stash. It's a 100% cotton base which worked really well for this project. I'm really glad I cut into it. I understand the temptation to leave things stashed for good but I've worked out that as my tastes are ever changing it's much better to just sew the fabric while I like it!
Also, rookie error was doing my make up, including red lip stick before getting dressed. That may have been the riskiest thing about this whole outfit!