Being Mrs. E: Short- Changing Myself

One of the things I love the most about having my own sewing machine is the freedom it gives me to make mistakes. To mess up, to fool around. Cutting corners and then realizing I did it wrong, but on my own time with projects for myself. No pressure for it to be perfect, just usable.

I started a quilt, but haven't finished yet. I took an entire weekend to cut and sew a reversible duvet cover- all straight lines, even! I've been altering and fixing pieces out of our closets, too. Clothes I thought were only good for donating (coincidentally something we've done a lot of lately in preparation for our move), but upon a second look I realized the potential they had. Shirt's too big? Take it in. Fraying ends? Re-hem. Pants look ragged? Make them shorts.

I had two pairs of jeans in my closet that had just seen better days. I haven't bought new pants for a year and a half...which should be good, right? I haven't gained as much as I thought I had, I'm not spending money, etc etc. But I LOVE jeans. I love the way they feel, how they hold their shape. They fit my life-style whether I'm wrestling with the dog, cleaning the floors or playing with babies. So when my jeans start to go it's a little like losing a friend. Except, you know, inanimate and whatnot.

The first pair didn't fit as well as I would like. In fact, apparently these jeans were really keeping it all in there. So while I did make them shorts, they're going to be "around the house" shorts. And we'll keep it at that.

The second pair looked much better anyway. I had a few options for them: hemmed, rolled, cut or folded. I went with a rolled look because I can't stand the frayed ends of cut. Plus, I just worked really hard to make these- why would I want them to unravel as I wore them?

Figuring out where to cut was the easy part. I knew how long I wanted my shorts, and adding length for the roll was pretty easy. I made a small cut in the seam of the pants, but next time I think I'll use masking tape...learned that one from my aunt!

Cutting was a bit of a pain since I knew the fabric had to be straight in relation to the waistband, NOT straight across from the initial cut. And getting the crotch of the pants to cooperate, lie straight, no wrinkles = a pain. But I did it.

I tried the shorts on (and laughed at myself because I gave myself a lot of hem-line wiggle-room) and figured out where I wanted the fold. Then I pinned and cut the outside seam of the pants to make them a little looser around my thighs. It might be nice for pants to be slim, to keep you all in there, but shorts are not as forgiving...

I sewed two seams- one on the top of the fold and one on the bottom to make sure everything would stay in place. I might have been able to get away with just one at the top, but I didn't want to leave anything potentially unfinished.