Stash Busting

A couple of weekends ago I decided it was time.  Time to spruce up the wardrobe, time to make a dent in the apparel fabric stash, time for some new pants! 

I have a wonderful Great Copy pattern that I have used a lot, my very favorite.  Then I have a go-to trousers pattern from the Today's Fit line from Sandra Betzina.  Last but not least, I have a lovely Palmer-Pletsch pattern that was personally fit to me by Marta Alto at a seminar in Platteville, WI one summer.

What to do, what to do?  Which should I pick?  And what fabric?  The choices nearly paralyzed me for a while.  Finally I remembered how much I love moleskin fabric and how nice it is to sew.  AND how good it looks even after many washings!  I dug into the stash and came up with light gray and dark brown moleskin.  On the way I found a lovely dark stretch denim.

Pulling patterns -- remember my post about putting things away?  Hmmm, must not have found the Great Copy pieces, because the folder is not in my circle of activity.  OK, Great Copy is Missing In Action.

Sandra -- where are you Sandra?  Must be stashed away somewhere with a piece of designated fabric!

OK!  Choice made, on to the PP.  I cleared off the table and laid out the gray fabric.  This one has all the adjustments made and should be just about perfect in the moleskin, with its slight stretch.  Pockets or no pockets?  None this time, and no zipper.  Actually, my hips are relatively small in the scheme of things.  Even the snuggest waistline just skims over the back and bottom of me without unzipping.  Easy peasy!

I cut and snipped and got three pairs cut in one afternoon.  Out came the serger, and one we go!  I had white thread in, so I did the light pair first.  I can sew nearly the entire garment on the serger, the only exception being hem and waistline.  I cut three lengths of my favorite noon-roll elastic, and got down to it.

I have a Babylock Serger, with the pneumatic looper threading.  I love this machine!!  I used to hate changing thread colors.  I would sew everything with a kind of a dirty gray just so I wouldn't have to change looper threads.  And me breaking a looper thread was not a pretty sight!

Anyway, I did all three pairs of pants, top stitching the waistbands and pressing up and sewing the hem.

Good News:  I used 8.5 yards of fabric from my stash.

Bad News:     I forgot to adjust for length again, and all THREE pairs of these wonderful pants are about three inches too long!!  Just like when I buy them from the store.

Only they actually fit everywhere else.  Darn.  I should alter the pattern right now!

Sew on!