Miss Fancy Pants

This past
week I finally finished this pants project I was working on for my
daughter. I was invited to a sew-your-own-pantaloons party at a friend
of a friend’s house, where I had the good fortune to meet the talented
Usha Davis, who taught a group of ladies how to recycle old
flare-sleeved blouses and pants into these fancy pants creations. She
makes some of the most amazing clothing with beautiful, rich colors and
textures all from thrift finds and yard sales. Then, of course, I was
feeling inspired and had to make a trip to the Goodwill Bins up in
Portland to get a pile of blouses by the pound. Since blouses are so
lightweight, this is a good way to go. I found some great stuff! Along
with my pantaloon supplies, I found a good sized pink and white circular
tablecloth doily which I remembered was good skirt material from a Mary Jane’s Farm
article I had read. I was swimming in supplies for my projects! These
supplies sat for a while, but I did finally get two pairs of pants and a
skirt made to delight my daughter’s inner fashion queen.

The
skirt was very simple. I cut a hole in the center of the tablecloth and
then hemmed it around the edge. Then I ran a finger-knitted drawstring
of wool yarn in and out between the little holes in the crocheting,
and voila! A fun, frilly skirt. The pants were pretty simple too. I
took some comfy pants that looked like they would fit for a while and
cut them off at about knee length. Then I cut off blouse sleeves and
sewed them on in tiers up the pants as high as I wanted them to go.