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Friday, February 21, 2014

Some alterations...

It's a cold, rainy, very gray day today...bleh :-/ Not great for taking pictures and not very inspiring in the way of refashioning creativity. So, I'm mending and altering and I've come up with  a way of inserting a smidge of detail into an otherwise pretty basic fix.

I don't have a before picture of these leggings (for running), but I'd ordered two pairs online in medium and they were just too big and kept sliding down on my hips. So, all I did was turn them inside out and sew up each outer leg seam (from the waistline to the ankle), taking them in about an inch on each leg. I decided not to trim off the excess, simply folding it to one side. Then, I picked out a decorative stitch on my machine and using a contrasting thread, sewed up each side seam (adding strength to the alteration, as well) to give some detail. Here's a closeup of the stitching and a full-length shot:
I chose gray in this instance.

Now, I've also got a pair of blue leggings to add this same detail to, but I'm undecided on which contrasting thread to use. So you get to help me decide! :-) I've pulled bright orange, bright pink, and aqua:
Which should I choose???
Let me know which you like best :), pretty please?

I also had to take my favorite pair of skinny jeans in at the waist...again. :-0! So, the original darts that I'd done are the ones closer to the middle belt loop, and the new ones are spaced out evenly towards the side belt loops. A super easy alteration and probably one that most women need to do (are have done) to their jeans. All you do is pinch in the amount to be taking in, mark it or pin it and then sew a line 1-2 inches long down from the waist out at an angle and then press so that they lay flat.

I also took a pair of my husband's running pants in (not to be pictured here) by two whole sizes. AND I've got a ton of buttons to sew back on and more pants to take in and a whole pile of t-shirts to turn into clothes and pjs for my son...well, the sewing inbox is definitely full, and I've got time on my hands! So, back to it ;) 

Peace,
Andrea

5 comments:

  1. I like the orange thread but the others are lovely too. What a great idea with the embroidery stitch. Love it +++ From Karen @ Facebook group Bowerbirds Journal.

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    1. Thanks, Karen :) I'm leaning towards the orange and the pink...I think ;) Keep changing my mind!

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    2. Your welcome. Enjoying your refashioning journey.

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  2. ORANGE! I like the darts in your jeans and I hope to one day need to use that little trick! :)

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    1. Hmmm, orange, is it? ;) I'm gonna get on that today! That was my first inclination (really like orange and blue together) so I may as well just go with it, right? Thanks for the feedback Amy Jo! Appreciate you taking the time to comment.

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