Sunday, March 14, 2010

10-minute jeans refashion!

minutes before leaving for our Colorado ski trip, I discovered I'd lost 20 pounds (you can see how this might catch a person off-guard, of course) and suddenly my everyday jeans sagged around my waist, causing me to perform what I like to call the Very Attractive Pants Hike Maneuver more frequently than anyone would've liked.

jeans refashion 002-2

jeans refashion 003-2

so naturally, I altered them to fit. in 10 minutes. no big deal.
actually, it was pretty easy. here's the Official Tutorial:

1. pinch the back of your waistband until the jeans fit comfortably, creating a V-shaped flap of excess fabric.
2. place a pin at each edge of the V and measure the width. then divide that measurement in 2. because you have two side seams, duh. that's the size of the pinch you'll take in on each hip.
3. turn jeans inside-out, pinch side seams and take in the required (previously guesstimated) amount, tapering your seam down until you near the top of that pesky little rivet everyone likes to put at the corner of the front pocket.
4. finish seams, turn jeans right-side-out, and look sooo good.

here's a poorly photographed example of what your finished seam should look like. (sort of.)

jeans refashion 006

check out the difference! (yes, i own two pairs of the same jeans in the same size. don't pretend you don't do this, too.)

jeans refashion 007

voila!

jeans refashion 005-2

Thursday, March 11, 2010

letting the days go by...

it's been a Talking Heads kind of week. or couple of weeks.

1.
i signed up for Wardrobe Refashion -- a 4-month pledge! only problem is it started on March 1st and I was in Colorado skiing until the 5th. and have spent the last week or so recovering from that trip. oh, boo hoo, i know.
one of these days i'll get a grip, make my grand introduction, and post photos of my very first *official* refashions. patience, my child.

2.
i MUST find a pattern for a dress just like this. or at least sort of like this. i even have piles and piles of vintage denim just laying around waiting for an opportunity like this. any suggestions/tips/tricks?


Image courtsey of Alloy.com