Crotch Pagoda

I just had to laugh when I saw when I saw the pattern placement on this muslin.

I'm happy with the fit of these shorts.  I've already got another pair cut out. This pair though, they will never see the light of day!!

Needs Work Department

I've haven't been able to sew much, except "mind sewing".  You know what I mean by that, right? Like daydreaming, but with a sewing machine!

I have an area in my sewing room I call the Needs Work Department. Mostly what's there are thrift store finds that need just a little work, but there's also some things I made myself that need a bit of help. I know not all sewers like to, but I kind of enjoy remaking things. The way I think about it,  the garment is already mostly done and with a just a bit more time spent, you can have a new garment.

So anyway, I had a wedding to go to. An outdoor wedding in May. In the evening. In Michigan. So what I really needed was a long skirt! I had five pair of  pull on ponte pants in the Needs Work Department. Maybe I was going to make shorts out of them, I don't know. I do know that I never wore them. I got this bright idea I could make a skirt from them.  First I cut off the hems, then the inseams. I flattened them out on my cutting table with what used to be the crotch on the outside. Then I used my french curve to chalk a new hip line. I sewed the new side seam leaving a slit at the bottom. I did the hems on my cover stitch machine (which was already threaded black) and voila!
New skirt in about a half hour.

These pants were made with Lois Cuttings One Seam Pants pattern. The reason I never wore them is they always felt like they were going to slide off my butt. Maybe that's because I have the hips of a toilet paper tube.  But because the pants didn't have an outside seam turning them into a straight skirt worked great. I guess that makes this a No Seam skirt!

So what's in your Needs Work Department?

Update

The five finished skirts:

Two grey, three black, various lengths. They will be getting a lot more use now than when they were pants!

Vogue 7064

Have you ever read 25 or 50 pages of a book then decided you just couldn't finish it? Or wish you had that two hours back after watching a ho-hum movie? That's how I feel about this top. I wish I had the time back I spent on it. And I don't want to take any more time to hem it.  I don't think hemming it will help how I feel about it. I kind of like the collar and neckline but the overall shape of it is just a big bummer. I even added some shaping at the sides where the pattern didn't have any. And those sleeves? And the tucks in the back shoulder? It's just so...Correctional Institution. I'm not even going to bother putting it on to take a photo. Trust me when I say, its not doing me any favors.

 Maybe if I leave it outside the rabbits will eat it instead of the rest of my tulips.