Monday, September 22, 2008

DIY

so. i had a mean, mean hangover yesterday and slept until 3 pm and then decided to do some sewing so that my day wasn't a complete waste. i ended up altering two pairs of pants to make them really skinny. they are great pants and were expensive (by my standards anyhow) but have just been sitting on my bookshelf for months because they just don't really fit my wardrobe anymore. so i made them skinny. and so can you!



first i try them on. i get a feel for how much skinnier they need to be. i try to match the skinniness of the leg to the skinniness of the top; in other words, if they jeans are a little loose on me, the leg needs to be a little lose or they'll end up looking like riding pants. i just eyeball it, generally. boot cut pants are usually tight enough in the thigh that they only need to be taken in to the knee; wide leg pants are a trickier task and need to be taken in all the way to the crotch if they don't fit tightly in the thigh.

so. turn the pants inside out. figure out how much they need to be taken in at the ankle, keeping in mind that you have to be able to get your foot through them. the stitching should look something like this:





i then try them on to make sure the fit is right. i do one leg first and then match it up against the other one that i am about to sew, to make sure that at least the ankle will be the same width, and the just do my best to match the gradual tapering of of the stitches from there. one could certainly be more careful about this. you could put the pants on inside-out to start with and then put pins in them so you know how you want them to fit. i am just too impatient for this kind of thing and so far it's worked out well.

the pair of adriana goldschmied jeans i turned into short and skinny yesterday (i should have taken a before picture, but they were about 4 inches too long for me and very bootcutted. i took them in several inches to the knee) turned out like this:




no super fun outfit today. i woke up late. but i did get my harmonica necklace! i'm in love!






xo aud

2 comments:

  1. YOU are me HERO! can WE be BFF's!!!
    XOXO Aud, :)

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  2. dee, i would be HONORED, and i mean that so sincerely!!! i miss you so much! xoxoxo

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