fitzfabulous

Not sewing as much as usual - work has heated up with a giant Freedom of Information project. I love the FOIA and the 1st Amendment and open government as reporter tools, and have wanted to conduct such an audit for a long time. So that’s good news. But here’s why editors wouldn’t let me do it before - it’s incredibly time consuming keeping track of so many document requests. More to come as Sunshine Week approaches.
That having been said, I have managed to straighten some pants, which is easy to do just because it can be done one small step at a time.

• Sliced the boot cut off dark denim pants inherited from my sister
• Un-booted gray cords I wear practically as reporter uniform
• Tightened up a gorgeous pair of vintage Bill Blass jeans
• Tried to taper the bells on these thrifted muddy pink cords because the waist construction is stunning and very solidly done.

So they’re pink, I know, after I just whined about stupid pink. (What’s with all the best thrift store stuff being pink?) But they are of such quality that I thought I’d try out dyeing on them since they were $1. Will try gray or brown or black. Nothing crazy.

The beauty of this work is that it can be done in pieces. Short attention spans welcome. Got 10 minutes to sew? You too can straighten pants. Click here for the step-by-step.

Straightening pants is pretty easy and can be done in 10-minute chunks. I have a bunch of cords and jeans that flare into boot-cut bottoms and they fit well up top; they just don’t feel cool anymore. Here’s how to un-bell bottoms into straight legs like this:

1. Put the pants on and figure out where you want the straightening to begin. If they’re belled or boot cut, it’s usually around the knee. Mark the spot with a pin.

2. Flip pants inside out. Pick out the hem. Don’t be lazy now; your work will go smoother and look more professional in the end.

3. With a ruler and chalk/pencil, draw straight lines down to the hem from the pin mark. ***If you’re doing jeans, one seam probably will be topstitched. Deal with the seam that isn’t.

4. Pin the pants at the chalk lines and sew. Trim the edges and finish them as you like. With heavy fabrics, I do two seam lines then serge, but a wide zig zag will secure the edges, too.

5. Mark and pin up the hem. Stitch it as you like. On cords and jeans, I like a straight top seam all the way around.

In the works is a how-to on how to insert zippers into the bottoms of *really* skinny jeans. You remember.