If you live in Singapore (heck, if you live NEAR Singapore or have Singaporean friends) you’d probably know that Singapore is celebrating its 50th year of independence today, locally known as “Sg50”. That’s right, our little red dot turns 50 today and from the scale of the celebrations you’d have thought we were turning a 1000! Sg50 car decals, flags, fashion shows, lighters – you name it, there’s a merchandise or event being hawked in Singapore with a Sg50 label on it.
Lots of people my age have poked fun at all this hype (which was probably exacerbated by Lee Kuan Yew’s passing earlier this year) but I have to admit… I kind of like it. Singaporeans don’t often come together to do things (except when it involves free stuff then everybody loves helping others to game the system) so it’s sort of nice how the general population is so excited about this affair. So when local print artists and sister duo Fictive Fingers announced a fabric bundle challenge to coincide with National Day, I knew I had to get in on the fun. How it works, is you buy a mystery fabric bundle from Fictive Fingers consisting of cloth pieces of various sizes. You then make something using materials from the fabric bundle and enter the competition! Simple? I thought so!
As it turns out, things weren’t as simple as all that. Before my fabric bundle arrived, I thought about possible patterns using the fabric pieces as features – a yoked tessuti ruby top maybe, or the roza pattern from kate and rose? Neither of these worked out as the fabric pieces turned out much too tiny for a yoke, even with cut in arm-holes. So it was back to the drawing board again.
This time, I tried to look at what I had to work with before picking a pattern. The biggest two pieces was a white and grey hourglass print, and a green leaf print. Long story short, the hourglass print really reminded me of old-world colonial architecture, which in the spirit of Sg50 (lol) I thought would be a very fitting source of inspiration. It was, and this is the end result: white denim mid to high-waisted shorts with feature slash pockets, cuffs and belt loops.
This pair of shorts is made using the Itch to Stitch Angelia Shorts pattern which I helped to pattern test. Previously, I made up a straight size 4 in view A which was way too big. I ended up having to take a lot off the centre back and sides until it fit. This time, I made up a straight size 2 with view B length cuffs which was an almost perfect fit as is. The only alteration was to lengthen the behind butt dart (weirdos be damned, there isn’t a way to avoid saying the word!) by a good 3cm. It improved the fit, but didn’t eliminate pointy-ass syndrome altogether – do any of you have suggestions? Perhaps I should be doing a full butt adjustment on a size 0 or something instead…
In any case, this pattern was really quick to sew up and as usual, Kennis’ instructions were spot on. I especially like the instructions for the fly zip! I got it wrong the first time, but after giving my feedback to Kennis I think the instructions were made a little clearer in the final pattern.
To add the slash pockets (the pattern only comes with patch pockets), I followed this tutorial from By Hand London which was really useful. It’s a fairly simple job – I’d probably have shied away from this alteration if I didn’t know how easy it really is!
I really like the end result of this make – it’s practical and stylish and really meaningful (to me at least)! Besides, every girl needs a pair of white denim bottoms in her wardrobe. This pair isn’t too tight which with white denim would make me look even more bottom heavy, and it doesn’t ride down in the back when I sit – it goes a long way towards class factor! I shied away from white denim before because I thought it would amplify my booty size, but I think the way the angelia shorts skim rather than hug your behind is sufficiently clever to defeat the colour choice! White bottoms – yay or nay? Let me know what you think below!
P.S. the fabric bundle challenge is ongoing today, hop on over there and root for your favourites!
P.P.S Happy 50th birthday Singapore!
P.P.S. I was given a copy of this pattern to pattern test and the final copy to keep. But as always, all opinions mentioned above reflect what I really do believe about the pattern!
These look great! The fabric you chose from the bundle is a lovely detail
Your shorts look great! and so comfortable! I may be late, but Happy 50th Birthday Singapore!