My Creative Space

There's something very different about my creative space this week. Something strange. Something unusual.

Can you guess what it is?

Yes, that's right ..... it's neutral.

There's nary a colour in sight. Starting on top we have a lovely pumice coloured linen, of the best quality. Then a charcoal Italian wool underneath, followed by a navy blue Italian wool in the same fabric, just a different shade. All sitting on a grey and silver textured upholstery piece.

Neutral. What gives??!

I'm the first to admit that I don't quite know how this happened. There I was, at the Laura Ashley outlet, hungrily pawing my way through thousands of metres of discontinued fabric at THREE DOLLARS A METRE - yes ladies, you heard right - and I came out with neutrals?

No colours? Not one? I must be sick.

(Actually, I am sick, today my throat feels as though it's being lovingly stroked by a chainsaw.)

It's the only thing I can think of that may have thrown me off balance. And it gets worse, too - guess what I'm wearing today. Neutrals. Grey linen pants and a black linen top. I don't even have a coloured necklace on.

It must be time to crawl back under the covers - clearly, something is seriously wrong.

She wears short shorts

Well no, not really she doesn't, especially if you read yesterday's post. But it was a compelling title nevertheless .... and I'm still hoping one of the CEOs of a sportswear company will read yesterday's post and reply to me, like the MD of Lincraft did about the cushion inserts all those months ago.

Ahem. This post is actually about shorts of the longer variety - dress shorts this time, not running ones - I thought it was appropriate to continue the theme. And it's all part of the January sewing frenzy, in which I spend the entire month sewing for me me me me me me me.

I now have not one, but THREE pairs of new shorts in my wardrobe. And two of them I made myself.

I think I need to put this in perspective for you. I haven't worn shorts in over a decade, they just don't work on me. Plus, if you read yesterday's post, you know how averse I am to anything that falls above the knee. It's not just my thighs, ladies, it's also because I am short, and I prefer clothing that elongates my form rather than chops it up.

But a month ago, on a whim I purchased some lined black linen shorts from Laura Ashley (on special at 70% off) and they were an absolute revelation. The comfort! The ease! The complete lack of worry about ahem, delicate chafing issues in the hot weather! (I always wanted to be one of those women with boy hips and gaps between their legs, but no amount of starvation ever managed to achieve this, so I long ago gave up and accepted my inevitable carrot shape.)

So I set out to exponentially increase the proportion of shorts in my wardrobe - ie, I wanted more.

I found this Simplicity pattern number 2656 months ago and had determined I'd use it for the skirt. Which I still intend to do, but after buying the Laura Ashley shorts I suddenly remembered that it had a short pattern as well.

I was dubious to begin with, especially because of the pockets on the side - I really don't need any extra bulk around my hips - but I decided to give it a shot. And lo and behold it worked beautifully! The pattern fit like a dream with hardly any alterations needed, and that is saying something.

I used one of those fabrics we all have lying around in the stash which is too smart for trying out any old thing, but not smart enough to use on one of our special projects - you can see it a little bit under the first photo, it's a dark polished cotton with a subtle yellow and blue check running through it.

So flushed with enthusiasm, this time I made the pattern up in this cute birdie fabric remnant I got from IKEA ... and it was almost exactly the perfect amount. See the sweet lining in those pockets, too?

And I had a lovely little metal-toothed vintage zip that I used for the back seam (the pattern didn't have a zip, or any other method of entry, which confused me somewhat, because otherwise how are you meant to get into the things?).

Overall I am very pleased with them, and they're the perfect casual separate for weekends. I intend to wear them for as long as the hot weather allows.

Australia Day barbeque, anyone? I'll be there in my shorts.