Tania versus Kelly

After I made my Grainline Studios Moss skirt, I did indeed fall down a denim skirt rabbit hole, and have made both Megan Nielsen's Tania Culottes and Kelly Skirt.  Here are my thoughts on both.

Both worn with a good old Tilly And The Buttons Agnes Top

Tania Culottes

These are made from a chambray fabric I bought on ebay.  I made version 2 (knee length) in a size small, but used the length from size extra small.  The pattern calls for 2.6m of fabric, I had 2.5m and cut this out by the skin of my teeth.  The pattern says 2.6m for all sizes on version 2, but it might be a bit tricky with the larger sizes, so 3 metres might be safer.

The most important thing I found was to label all the pattern pieces with front and back, as they all look so similar.  Also, I marked right and wrong sides as my fabric was the same on both. These came together really quickly, the instructions are brilliant, and the sizing is as on the pattern. 

The hem is supposed to be turned and pressed under twice, but as it's about 5 metres long, I didn't fancy that and used bias tape instead. 

Kelly Skirt

Again these are made from some chambray from ebay, and I made a size small.  The sizing is as on the pattern.  

This is a lovely pattern, and my favourite thing is the pockets.  They are the perfect size, and the instructions for sewing them are brilliant.  The pleats give the skirt a lovely shape, and are easy to sew.  

The instructions have interfacing the button placket as a guideline, rather than something that has to be done.  But I would always interface where I'm going to cut a buttonhole, so that's what I did.

Conclusions

I love both garments, but I surprised myself by liking Tania better.  This is because Kelly has a rectangle waistband that sits in the middle of the natural waist, and Tania has a contoured waistband, with the top of the waistband sitting at the natural waist.  I have always found contoured waistbands a bit more comfortable as I have a short torso, so Tania is my winner.

I thought these culottes might lose some volume as I couldn't wear a net petticoat under them, but the pleat at the front and back give them loads of movement.

They are basically a circle skirt, but culottes, so no worries about the hem being caught in a gust of wind - as beautifully demonstrated in the photo above!!

In fact, I loved Tania so much, I've already made a second pair from some linen/rayon fabric from Like Sew Amazing.  As it's linen it has slightly lose weave, and is slightly see-through, so I underlined it with some black cotton voile.  And clearly I need to make some more Agnes tops...

Have a great weekend!

Lynne