Badminton shorts.

As soon as I saw the new twill from the Lisette line I knew it was meant just for me.  I snatched up two yards and started thinking about which pattern to use.  I remembered Justine made a fab pair of Ikat badminton shorts, so these are inspired by her, who was in turn inspired by Peta's, community effort.  

I made Oliver + S Badminton in the 18-24 month size and they fit perfecto on George, I haven't tried them on Izzy yet but I left a little room in the elastic just in case they work for her too.  They should as she is the one I measured when choosing the pattern size.

My only dilemma when using this fabric was how it would be sooo obvious I suck at pattern matching being the shorts are two pieces (not including the waistband), so I decided to turn my pattern pieces into one thus eliminating the side seams.


Wanna know how I did it? (so you don't do it wrong and waste fabric like me)

Since I was eliminating the side seams I had to take that amount off the pattern pieces.  I drew a line a half an inch from the side (in marker so I could see through for the next step)

Then I matched up the lines I had drawn and taped the two pieces together and cut two of my now one pattern piece.  Easy peasy!

Ruffliscious trench.

I know you have all been waiting on pins and needles since my last post (only joking).  But I finally got the time to sit down and blog how I made it! I made a 12 month this go around (p.s. if you forgot it is the Secret Agent Trench pattern we are working with:) so you will likely need to adjust my measurements if you are making a larger size.  Using view B I started by subtracting 1 1/2" from the bottom of pattern pieces 10 & 3 and added 1 1/2" to pieces 11 & 12.  I did this to eliminate the drop waist.  I just guessed at the amount to take off since the twins are wiggly and for some reason didn't want to hold still while I figured it out. 

*No further changes will be made to piece 10, the following explains how to alter piece 12 to make 2 pieces*  Then I lined up pieces 10 and 12 and drew a vertical line from the edge of 10 and added 1" to the left side for seam allowance.  Then from the edge of 12 I traced to the edge of 10 and added 1/2"  to the right side for seam allowance. 

And you now have two pieces for 12 instead of one.  Oh, and don't do like I did and forget to mark to cut your larger piece on the fold.  You will end up having to cut a new piece and doing the happy dance  you just happened to buy a little extra.  Cut two of the narrow panels and one of the wider panel on the fold.

I wanted 4 layers of ruffles so I cut out 3 1/2" strips, serged, hemmed and gathered.  Attach the ruffles to your wide panel, lining up the first ruffle with the top of your panel.  I spaced mine 2" apart.

Make sure you leave 1 1/2" free on the bottom of the panel for hemming later on.

Then sew the two narrow panels on either side of the ruffle panel.  This should now measure the same as the original pattern piece 12.

I pleated the narrow piece of 12 to match the back of piece 10 (the back bodice), then pleated the front of the skirt.  You could also gather instead.

Then I followed the Oliver and S instructions from there!

See? Pretty pleats!

Be very careful when hemming so you don't catch the ruffle in the hem.  I went from the 1 1/2" hem as instructed and narrowed it down as I reached the ruffle panel.  I sewed right up to the ruffles, lifted the foot and sewed on the other side.  Then hand stitched a few stitches on the bit that I skipped.

The hem isn't as neat as I would like, but it works.  The grey thread I used is a near perfect match so you can't really see it in real life:)

See the corner?  That is what happens if you catch the ruffle in the hem.  I will be unpicking this... eventually, it is 18 month so too big for now.

Then try it on your little cutie.

And smile as she accessorizes herself.

And gives you cheesy faces. 

Tada! You have yourself a super cute ruffle trench! Now if only it were coat weather...


If I wasn't clear enough or you have any questions, leave a comment and I will get back to you!! Oh, and make sure to add yours to the O+S flickr group!

P.S. When I took these photos I still needed to add belt loops and buttons... they are now on! :)