For a number of reasons, it can be difficult to find exactly what I think I need to complete my wardrobe; buying most of my stuff used doesn’t necessarily help with that problem. Recently I have been musing on the possibility of tapering trousers for a straighter, more contemporary fit. These pants my daughters picked up for 50 cents provided me an opportunity to test out the idea.
What I did:
- I measured the leg opening on a pair of pants I like. I needed to take 6 inches out!
- Next, I marked the leg opening two inches in from each outside seam (flat, so that accounts for 4 inches) and one inch in from each inside seam.
- Drawing a line from the widest point of the thigh to the markings at the hem, I pinned the side seams, then basted them.
- Basically, after trying them on, I determined the fit was appropriate and sewed them up, then machine-hemmed them. 🙂
While I am pretty happy with both the process and the product, there is one problem which is easily remedied: the knees in these worn-out pants are baggy. The solution? Very simple: I am going to make them shorts!
For the most part, I much prefer the merchandise in thrift stores. And they don’t have blaring music that is always in another rhythm from the one in which you think. 😀
Cotton and Curls has a lot of seat of the pants alteration/remaking tutorials. Lovely young woman, modest dresser I believe though modest seems to include skinny pants for some, I guess. Now going back to school for fashion design.
http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/2011/02/altering-pants-tutorial-refashioning.html
She recommends – have not watched the video and just read some blogposts demonstrating – altering along the outer seam but adding in alteration from knee area down on inseam to prevent curling in of seams. I altered a pair of thin knit pants by laying a favorite pair of Norma Kamali jog pants on top of them and noting that all the excess could come off just the inseam. hmm. Worked a treat. Now they look modern.
You Look Fab, which had a recent blog redesign so as to make finding things easier, has a nice section devoted to picture-heavy trends. There you can see such as silky long shorts. Realize yours are not silky but weight and draping of fabric seem to make a huge difference in what is contemporary: Bermuda businessman structured woven shorts a world away from silky thin “bermuda” shorts.
oh, and…. Marcy Tilton seems to make pants patterns with pieced or tucked knees that I imagine is an idea to prevent typical bagging. I think she’s got something there. Why not a seamed and pieced knee area in pants?
http://communingwithfabric.blogspot.com/search?q=knee+tucks
I think, technically, I removed most of the fabric from the outer seam and took the inner about up to the knee. What amazed me was how the seams ended up in the right place, each directly down the side.
I do like the look of the tucked knees, but I am afraid they would not be for me: my legs are on the short side. My goal in these was to see how close I could get to a straight-line taper, for the lengthening effect. In the end, I had to narrow the knees a little to create a modern silhouette.
It is in the 80s here today, so I pulled out all my shorts. It will be good for me to make those into shorts cuz I had several pairs which don’t fit as well as I would like. I am working really hard on not compromising in my wardrobe. 🙂