I selected a cream windowpane check black and carmine wool crepe for my checked ensemble

For my first Britex Fabrics guest blogger post of the new year, I decided to branch out from dresses and into the world of separates. I designed a pair of pleated shorts in one of my prints a few months ago (coming to the web shop soon!) and wanted to make the same cut, but in a nice, pebbly wool crepe.

For the overall look, I was partially inspired by the geometric designs of André Courrèges and the playful, mod aesthetic of Foale and Tuffin and decided to make a windowpane pleated top and wool shorts combo.

(Left) Dress by André Courrèges, 1968; (Right) Marion Foale at the sewing machine, 1963

For the top, I designed and sewed an easy-to-wear pleated neckline top with relaxed short kimono sleeves, similar to my Pleated Tunic Dress, styled here with my A.P.C. cat brooch that I picked up in Belgium back in 2007 at their Antwerp store.

Front neckline pleating detail

Fully lined and easy to slip on without the hassle of a zipper

And for the shorts, I added front pleating and hip yoke pockets.

The devil’s in the details – checks meticulously aligned

We shot this look with photographer Liz Clayman the same weekend as the photo shoot for my new textile designs. Check out my Instagram for more behind the scenes glimpses of other looks from this shoot, including new Jamie Lau Designs prints which are coming to the web shop at the end of this week!

Thanks to my model Ming for the behind the scenes snapshot!

Visit the Britex blog for my full article which includes a tutorial with tips on sewing shorts (and naturally, can be applied to sewing pants as well)!