Monday, February 9, 2015

Why NOT white pants in February?



Call me perverse, but when the weather gets cold and gray and the streets are covered with dirty snow, I want to wear white -- or least, sew something white!  (The shot up top is from my 2011 jeans sew-along and the month was May, but so be it.)

I've been planning to make myself a pair of white twill pants (basically jeans) for some time now.  Since I'm focusing on pants this month, I decided to jump right in.

I picked up about two yards of white cotton pants-weight twill in December and pre-washed it once, though twice wouldn't have been a bad idea as it does tend to shrink in the dryer initially.



My pattern is Kwik Sew 3504, which I've used with success many times.  (It's the pattern I used for my jeans sew-along many moons ago.)

I tweak it a bit every time I use it: currently, I add about 1/2" to the side width (my 30" waist is history, alas) and this time took roughly 1" out of the back width, starting just below the seat; I just pinned it out.



Everything else was straightforward.



I sewed these on my Kenmore 158.141.









For the pocket bags, I used an old white cotton jacquard tablecloth.



After I was finished but before hemming, I threw the pants in the washer and dryer.  They shrank hardly at all width-wise but roughly 2" in length!

Here's a peek at the finished (all but hemmed) pants:



Note to self: avoid black underwear.





Curse thee, muffin top!



Once change I make from commercial jeans is to add two belt loops -- one on either side of the center back seam -- instead of one.   A good way to avoid visible butt cleavage when squatting!



I'll do a more elaborate photo shoot down the line.

Anybody else digging out their white fabric stash these days?

Have a great day, everybody!

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