Now there’s a thought…

It occurs to me that I can expand my wardrobe by shrinking my waistline. Then all those too-tight pants would fit. That would be a kind of biological re-fashioning…

Refashioning too-short pants

Last night I finished Refashion #2–and I actually used the sewing machine! These black denim pants were languishing in my closet–too hot for summer, but too short to wear in winter, ’cause they look ridiculously short with socks and shoes. I bought them second-hand last year and only wore them a couple of times. I figured I needed about 2 inches more on the hem. Since today was “school colors” day, I opted for some funky new cuffs in black, blue, and orange, with a matching belt. Sash. Whatever.

I cut two long strips that were the same length as the distance round the bottom of the pants leg,  sewed the ends together, pressed the seam open.  Then I turned in the sides, folded it in half, fit it onto the bottom of the pants leg, pinned it, and sewed it on.

The sash was two long strips sewn together, folded right sides together, sewn along the side.  Then I tore the fabric trying to turn it right-side out and had to cut off six inches of the sash turned the tube right-side out and sewed closed the ends.
The really nice thing about this was that I didn’t need to do anything to the pants themselves except sew on the cuff.  If I tire of the relentless cheerfulness of the blue and orange cuffs, I can snip ‘em off and sew on satin or eyelet or whatever takes my fancy.  If I were REALLY clever, I’d figure out how to make interchangeable cuffs, with velcro or buttons or something, but it  was late…

So here are the finished pants.  I wore them today with my blue and orange school shirt.  Go Bulldogs!

October crafty

I’ve been working on “home improvement” projects: pillows and pillowcases and a table runner for my parents, which are nice and necessary but don’t quite pack the punch of…Wonder Woman! Here she is, costume design (largely) by my daughter and her friend, with me serving in a supervisory capacity.