Miss Fancy Pants

This past week I finally finished this pants project I was working on for my daughter. I was invited to a sew-your-own-pantaloons party at a friend of a friend's house, where I had the good fortune to meet the talented Usha Davis, who taught a group of ladies how to recycle old flare-sleeved blouses and pants into these fancy pants creations. She makes some of the most amazing clothing with beautiful, rich colors and textures all from thrift finds and yard sales. Then, of course, I was feeling inspired and had to make a trip to the Goodwill Bins up in Portland to get a pile of blouses by the pound. Since blouses are so lightweight, this is a good way to go. I found some great stuff! Along with my pantaloon supplies, I found a good sized pink and white circular tablecloth doily which I remembered was good skirt material from a Mary Jane's Farm article I had read. I was swimming in supplies for my projects! These supplies sat for a while, but I did finally get two pairs of pants and a skirt made to delight my daughter's inner fashion queen.

The skirt was very simple. I cut a hole in the center of the tablecloth and then hemmed it around the edge. Then I ran a finger-knitted drawstring of wool yarn in and out between the little holes in the crocheting, and voila! A fun, frilly skirt. The pants were pretty simple too. I took some comfy pants that looked like they would fit for a while and cut them off at about knee length. Then I cut off blouse sleeves and sewed them on in tiers up the pants as high as I wanted them to go.

While sewing something from scratch is not necessarily my cup of tea, I found that I enjoy recycled clothing projects that involve sewing parts together to make something new. It's an amazing transformation to see a regular old pair of pants turn into a frilly, colorful pair of pantaloons. It just gets me thinking of all the ways a person can get creative with their clothes...