Friday, April 5, 2013

Big Pants to Smaller Pants Refashion

Hello! The kids went back to school on Wednesday and I am still playing catch up. So happy to be back after a week of not posting. 

Anyway...here you have a pants refashion! 

This looks like a weightloss ad! lol
I am a lazy seamstress. There, I admit it. I don't particularly love putting in zippers, buttons, or pockets. That requires a lot of time and it's just plain tedious to me. This is the main reason why I don't make pants. The thought of sewing in the zipper, well it just makes me not want to even start the project. 

Mind you, I have made pants from scratch in the past, but when there are so many other things I rather do, like dresses, hats and tops, pants are always last on my list. 

Anyway, when I saw larged-sized pants on sale for $1.00 in my local thrift shop, a light bulb went off.   "Why don't I just re-size these big pants", I thought. I wouldn't have to put in the zipper or pockets!  I bought three of them with this idea and off I went to execute it. 



This was how big the pants were on me. 

This a full view, they were also very long. 

I decided that the only way to resize these pants was to remove the waist, cut between the pocket and the zipper, and then sew it back together, creating a middle seam on each side, front and back. Then I had to sew the waist band back on. 

This is how it looks when you turn it inside out. 

Here's the back view turned inside out. I lost the back pocket and I didn't do anything to make the insides pretty. I could've serged the unfinished seams but I was just experimenting at this stage. 


Everything was going okay until I had to re-attach the waistband to the pants. I don't know if I had the wrong needle, or if i didn't leave enough room between the waist band and bottom, but I did have a difficult time re-attaching the two. I finally got it done but it does not look pretty. I definitoley have to wear a long shirt to cover the top.
They also became capri pants when I realized I cut too much off. I am a bit impulsive and need to learn to wait and measure before I start chopping fabric off. But I don't mind it since Spring is here. 

A view from the back 

Sorry for the messy hair, lol.

All in all, I like the way it looks, I got a new pair of pants that fit me without having to put in a zipper or pockets. Was it worth all the hassle? I'm not sure yet.

What do you think? 




7 comments:

  1. I avoid zippers at all cost. They look great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Theresa! It's funny. I used to sew a lot from scratch and have put in zippers, just not my favorite part anymore. I want to enjoy the process as well as the finished garment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cool!! I love the idea of just making center seams - very creative.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Kaitlin! Will see if center seams work on all other bigger pants.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is always nice when we know how to sew or alter our own clothes. Sure saves us money. It looks much better! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete