WIP: Tonia Shorts

How do I work in a mess like this?  Least charming photo ever.

I used the Tonia shorts pattern from burdastyle.com.  It cost me $3 !  Yes, that's still very little to pay for a full pair of shorts, but I'd gotten so used to their patterns being free that this was a very big shock.  Paying for it made me feel more like I had to actually finish the shorts, though, since I get really excited about new projects, but have a really hard time finishing them.

So far, I've modified them a LOT.  A lot of guesswork was involved, and very little formal pattern drafting (as you may remember, I only took Draping last year), but I carried out my adjustments based on what I felt like common sense called for...and hopefully I'll prove myself right with the fit.  If you compare these with the original pattern, you'll see that these are the low-rise, short-shorts version.  With a fly that may or may not be constructed differently than the directions had instructed.  (Has anyone else found that burdastyle patterns are written really weirdly?)

But the best part of these shorts is that they will be scalloped at the bottom of the leg!  Yes! Inspired by the current Chloe collection (though it seems that they use a scalloped trim) and encouraged even further by a little how-to handout our Copying Couture teacher gave us on the techniques of Pierre Cardin, these shorts will be SO cute.  If all goes well.

Naked Pillows No More

I finally clothed my pillows!

So a while back, I made my sister send me [from New York!] her un-used pillow fillers, and since then, naked pillows have been sitting around my place, their weird unfinished seams bugging me. And the fabric I've also had for ages; definitely more than a year. But finally, they're done, and I must say it was quite easy, except that for something so easy and logical, it took quite a while to calculate everything so that every opening slit, etc. was in the right place in the end. I'm all for making things yourself, obviously, but I hate when things LOOK "homemade," you know? They should look professional!

I've only made those 2 so far, and I don't think I'm going to use the entire box of pillows that C sent me, but I think I still have a few to make.

P.S. It doesn't look like it's on purlsoho.com anymore, but it says on the selvedge that this fabric is by Tina Givens for Westminster, collection name "Zazu." Flowers, chandeliers, and pink! Hmm...I don't think it's quite girly enough...