As I think back about all the sewing and all the fun of this summer I have a confession to make: I wore someone else's pants all summer long.
You see, years ago, my very excellent friend Magenta had this pair of awesome summer pants - they fit her perfectly, were light and airy and had some fun details. As they started to wear out, we had plans to recreate them for her. This was so long ago that there weren't any tutorials or info about doing a rub-off floating around the blogosphere, and I was a much less experienced sewist. Between not finding suitable fabric and not knowing how to create a pattern, our plans fizzled.
Fast forward to early in the summer when I realized that I needed more pool and patio clothing. Life at that moment involved long weekends full of fun at our town's wonderful community pool, shopping at the farmers marked and grilling in the backyard. Sewing something fun to wear around town, at the pool and in the yard was a must. A rummage thru my stash yielded some black gauze. I also found some black crocheted lace and elastic thread. Perfect, I thought to myself.
I was about half way through this project when I realized that I was finally sewing those pants; the ones we had talked about so long ago. But for me. Oops! Sorry Magenta.
And they were one of the easiest things I've sewn recently. They are my TNT trouser pattern sewn up as a pull on pant in an airy gauze. They look as different as could be from my other trousers from this pattern, which makes me love them even more. As a reminder, my TNT pattern is BurdaStyle 9/2010 #115 - Slacks with Notched Waistband - which is a talls sized pattern.
To make them a pull on style, I simply left the darts open, eliminated the pockets and straightened out from the hip to the waist a bit, so they would fit over my hips. I also added a few inches to the rise so that they would sit at the waist without a waistband.
I've had elastic thread in my stash for years. So, it seemed like a good time to experiment with a shirred waist. It's far from perfect and somehow I neglected to take photos of it, but I feel like I know what I'm doing with shirring now, and may use it again in the future as a design detail. It's fun and summery.
The last detail is the two rows of crocheted lace I added to the calf and hem. It was a feature of the original pants and I think is the thing that makes this a fun summer make.
Anyway, I couldn't let summer end without mentioning these pants, which I wore non-stop.
Next spring, Magenta, we will have to have a pants making party and make one in every color for us both. These are not the last pair of these pants that I will own, and I already have some enhancements in mind like a simple pocket, slightly different placement of the lace and a waistband with a drawstring, among other things. Anyway, until next summer...
You see, years ago, my very excellent friend Magenta had this pair of awesome summer pants - they fit her perfectly, were light and airy and had some fun details. As they started to wear out, we had plans to recreate them for her. This was so long ago that there weren't any tutorials or info about doing a rub-off floating around the blogosphere, and I was a much less experienced sewist. Between not finding suitable fabric and not knowing how to create a pattern, our plans fizzled.
Fast forward to early in the summer when I realized that I needed more pool and patio clothing. Life at that moment involved long weekends full of fun at our town's wonderful community pool, shopping at the farmers marked and grilling in the backyard. Sewing something fun to wear around town, at the pool and in the yard was a must. A rummage thru my stash yielded some black gauze. I also found some black crocheted lace and elastic thread. Perfect, I thought to myself.
I was about half way through this project when I realized that I was finally sewing those pants; the ones we had talked about so long ago. But for me. Oops! Sorry Magenta.
I've had elastic thread in my stash for years. So, it seemed like a good time to experiment with a shirred waist. It's far from perfect and somehow I neglected to take photos of it, but I feel like I know what I'm doing with shirring now, and may use it again in the future as a design detail. It's fun and summery.
The last detail is the two rows of crocheted lace I added to the calf and hem. It was a feature of the original pants and I think is the thing that makes this a fun summer make.
Anyway, I couldn't let summer end without mentioning these pants, which I wore non-stop.
Next spring, Magenta, we will have to have a pants making party and make one in every color for us both. These are not the last pair of these pants that I will own, and I already have some enhancements in mind like a simple pocket, slightly different placement of the lace and a waistband with a drawstring, among other things. Anyway, until next summer...
