Sylvia Sews

After quite a long break from sewing, I have returned with a pair of wide leg casual pants!

Although a simple pair of pants on the surface, this was an interesting project for several reasons: I bought the fabric at the fantastic price of $5.00 a yard!! I went to check out two fabric stores in San Jose called Fabrics Yard and Fabrics R Us- they are in the same shopping center. Some overlapping product, same super low prices. And the 5.00 a yard was the higher end of prices for fabric- I also bought what I think is some sort of rayon challis for…. THREE DOLLARS A YARD!!

I’m not totally sure what type of fabric the pants are- but it feels like a linen blend. I would be pretty surprised if it was all linen, I haven’t attempted a burn test or anything to figure this out. Who cares! It was five dollars!

So first we have those amazing fabric deals and fabric store- the next thing was that I was able to decide I wanted to make some wide leg pants on a whim. I already had the pattern and supplies on hand! Last summer I made a Tamarama Set (Never ended up posting the result, just felt meh about it) and the shorts fit well enough so I used that pattern to make these pants. I had matching thread on hand and everything! Now that I have some more projects under my belt and a little stash of supplies, I can do that every now and then.

The last, and most unusual part of this project, was that I calmly made progress in 30 minute to 1 hour chunks of time over a week or so. Although I would say I still prefer working for 4+ hours, ignoring everything around me, forgetting to eat, forgetting where I am in time and space, etc., this felt like a healthy and approachable way to complete a project. I hate to say it, but I also think I made less mistakes. However… there are some confouding factors, like having extra experience with this being Round 2 of sewing this pattern.

I am really happy with the result. I think I will be able to use them in my wardrobe quite a bit. I was really generous with the length of elastic I used so I can hopefully wear them the rest of my pregnancy. I am about halfway through! After pregnancy, I think I can rely on the drawstring to be able to continue wearing them. (This also happens to be the reason for the hiatus- focusing on a sewing machine was making me want to puke for a few months.)

This is probably the first project I can geniunely claim was cost effective. I used 2 yards of fabric, so 10 bucks. No new patterns, no new supplies. Wait.. I did buy 1 inch elastic.. I got that at Joanns (RIP) for 2 bucks. Even if it’s not pure linen fabric, there is no place I could buy 34″ inseam pants for 12 bucks. Finding those amazing fabric stores was key. (One roll of fabric I saw there for 2 dollars a yard, I later saw online selling for 12 dollars a yard!) It’s even more satisfying to sew when it’s actually saving you something.

I KNOW that the technical price would be fractions of the pattern price, fractions ofthe thread.. etc.. I know and I don’t care. I stand by my claim that these cost 12 dollars. My labor cost is zero because this is a hobby and no one is going to hire me as a seamstress in real life. TWELVE DOLLARS. End of story.

No alterations on these other than lengthing the inseam. You can see the waistband below, and drawstring.. still need to clean up some threads there.

I wore these out for most of the day today and they worked out wonderfully, I was able to move around freely and be quite comfortable. I walked a few miles, the whole deal. One of the most challenging things I am running into is being able to identify types of clothing to sew that I will actually wear with my lifestyle. Kind of a separate style problem vs. sewing itself, but I definitely want to make use of the things I sew! Later on I will do a quick honest review of how my self made clothes are getting utilized (or not).