Monday, July 28, 2014

Floral Pants

Enough with the florals, already, right?! WRONG :) I love me some florals and have yet another new piece to add to my ever-growing floral wardrobe. I started off with these pants that I thrifted last month for $3.

I really liked the floral print, but they were obviously big on me. I'd been keeping a lookout for floral print pants (either to resize or that miraculously were just right) and when I finally came across these, I snatched them up.

I started by putting them on inside-out and pinning (roughly) along the outside seam and the inseam, avoiding the hardware around the pockets.

I set my sewing machine to the longest possible straight stitch and basted along the pinned lines (after taking them off, of course). I tried them back on, readjusted a bit at the hips and calves, then reset my stitch length to something shorter and resewed the outer and inner seams. I went back after and unpicked the basted stitches. The crotch area gave me a bit of trouble on my initial go, so I unpicked the newly sewn seams, unpicked the original seams and did some readjusting there by taking it in at the front seam just below the zipper then closing everything back up. I think it's referred to as taking in some of the ease? Once I had the fit just right, I trimmed off all of the extra fabric, overlocked my raw edges and tried on my new pants one final time!

Aaaaah!!! I heart them so much!!! OMG! ;) Hahaha, okay, but for real though. I really like how these came out and only wish they were a bit longer....may have to play with the hems and see if I can let them down a bit. Taking them in as I did makes them high-waisted (which I love) and because there isn't any stretch to the fabric I had to leave them a bit looser at the knee (which I don't love). But that's just being picky. I styled them with a fitted chambray top that I bought on one of those rare forays into the mall a couple of years back, a pair of animal print kitten heels from DSW, and a yardsale necklace I picked up for $2.

Gah! I'm dying over how excited I am that these actually turned out! I was so sure that the crotch would totally end in failure and I'd be on the hunt again for another pair of floral pants...which I may or may not be anyway ;).

Hope you like this one, as its fairly obvious that I do. Oh, and I found that floral silk scarf hanging in the background last week and need your ideas on what to do with it!!! I need to be able to wear it (I simply don't use this type of scarf as a scarf) and don't have any qualms about chopping it up! So, let me hear 'em...all of your best ideas. TIA!

Peace,
Andrea

14 comments:

  1. http://www.sewitagain.com/2014/07/collar-wrap-adds-interest/

    My friend Jane suggests a wrap skirt or cape making a cut from one corner to centre.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooo, I like the idea of the cape and it automatically brought to mind adding some sort of trim (fringe, pompoms, etc) along the edges...hmm, great ideas! Thank you friend Jane :)

      Delete
  2. Super cut Andrea! Wow you have been busy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Love Street Salvage :) I know!!! Finally got my sewing mojo back ;)

      Delete
  3. Adorable. Thanks for the tips for taking in the pants...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Becky, I appreciate you stopping by!

      Delete
  4. What a beautiful pair of pants you sewed up!!! I'm over here pondering the adjustment you made in the crotch area. I have had issues in the past with the crotch area pulling when I try to take pants in, maybe this is the solution.

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! Yeah, if you actually unpick the crotch and look at how the pieces are shaped and come together, you'll see why sewing straight across the crotch (when taking in along the inseam) doesn't work so well...especially with fabric with no stretch to it! I wish I would have taken pics step by step but I was winging it and wasn't even sure it would work ;)

      Delete
  5. Your cropped floral pants are amazeballs, I'm in total envy right now xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, amazeballs...love it! Thanks, Sarah, I appreciate it :)

      Delete
  6. You did a great job taking these in - glad they worked out for you. Isn't it awesome to find/remake something you like so much?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jenny, I agree, it's pretty awesome when that happens!

      Delete
  7. They're oh sew cute! Beautiful job, such a great fit now! *sigh* :)

    ReplyDelete