Dearest Sewing Friends!
Ha, this was such a fun project, and these are just the BEST comfy and warm trousers to fling on in the morning or evening, as the weather turns to winter here in south Italy... and they were made from a wool skirt:
I saw this skirt on the 50c stall: I loved how big and heavy it was, and the contrasting colours of the orange versus the deep maroon and bright pink... I immediately had an idea of cutting it into pantaloons, and adding a deeper, elasticated waistband.
I looked at various other garments that I already owned, to try and get the right combination of stretchiness, softness, colour contrast and size for my waist and ankles. It took ages, with at least 10 old jumpers tried and not working perfectly: I needed such a specific tension, colour and size.
Eventually I chose a yellow jumper that I'd been wearing the day before; it had a good width and stretchiness of cuffs, and the big cowl neck was perfect for the waist... I did some courageous cutting of the skirt and then the cowl-neck sweater.
This was a most wrestling moment.
The pinning of the new add-ons was not easy! The skirt edgings were bigger than the pieces I was adding, and so I had to gather them up a little and hold them in place whilst putting them through the serger/ overlocker machine.
Oof, the overlocker is really hard to manage too - the attaching of the new waist and ankle pieces was the most difficult...
...but running along the inside of the legs was quick, straightforward and enjoyable.
It was very fun how quickly I transformed the skirt into trousers! I put them on immediately, and showed them to my good friend @theastone who I was on an online Co-Creation Session with.
Though I didn't realise until later that I'd put them on back to front - which was why the pockets were sitting funnily! Haha - once I turned them around, the pockets still sit out, but that is the style of the garment: kind of clown-like, and very fun.
I will do just a wee bit more refining on them: the ankle cuffs in particular are a bit long and so they wrinkle up when I wear them - and this makes the whole leg runkle a bit much. Just too much fabric all in all! I love this aspect of making things spontaneously: where you can chop it up, add more, take more away...
I will shorten them, and the legs, one of which has a hole in - so shortening them will help the whole trouser to sit much nicer.
All in all, this was a very satisfying project, because of how quick it came into being, and how comfy and fun the new piece is... It suits me, to have a project so practicable - it makes me feel like I'm learning slowly but surely to create the kind of perfect garments that I need for my Good Life!
Especially in winter, I absolutely have to have comfortable and warm kecks. I just cannot have a chilly belly or knees or whatever, and big pantaloons like this really do a good job.
Bliss-ings to you all in your sewing adventures!!
