Exit of skinny leg pants

The title says it all.

After years and years of narrow leg stretch woven pants and long tops worn to cover what these pants reveal I have decided to totally embrace wider, even shorter, pants.

I needed some new pants anyway and this seemed like a good time for an update.

The first thing I did is dig out the very first StyleArc pattern I ever made, the Linda pants. Some time ago I decided that the widish classic leg of these pants was insufficiently stylish for a Nova Scotia fashionista like myself, so I put this pattern aside when I went narrower like everyone else.

It was however a terrific pattern with that trademark Stylearc crotch curve that fits me without any alteration at all. It also has that smooth elastic containing waistband that lies as flat as any regular waistline. I am glad I saved this pattern.

However in a mild updating of it I made them a bit shorter this time out. To tell you the truth I am happy to let go of that look we were supposed to have with heels and hems grazing the floor.

Listen if you live where I do and a lot of the year is spent sloshing around up to your ankles in frozen slush and on salted roads. That super long leg look was never too practical in my world. In fact when I saw pant hems were going up my first thought was "Great no more arriving at the party with salt stains on the dress pants." Fellow Maritimers back me up here.

The kids and my daughter took the pictures. It's probably not hard to figure out which ones were taken by an 8 and 10-year-old.

The top is the Love Notions Classic Tee.

For a foray into wide leg 7/8 length pants I tried Stylearc's Como pant. I made mine in ponte and didn't include the tie thing draping down over my belly. The top here is another version of the Love Notions Rockford Raglan, which I think has a slight and obviously inappropriate maternity vibe, but still OK I hope.

For some reason I think that these wide pants look better when they are a little shorter. Maybe cropping them off keeps the volume from being overwhelming. What do you think?

Not crazy exciting sewing I know, but these are basics and I needed some of those as sort of ballast in the old wardrobe. I will definitely be making more of these, the wide pants in particular. 

A simple little weather idea

I am facing the fact these days that summer is over. 

The leaves falling off the trees, the groups of children on the sidewalks back at school, and myself in a warm and dry coat when I walk the dog are my first clues.

This week as the weather has spent a while looking like it is about to rain. As a result I have been glad I have a coat with a detachable hood I can stuff in my purse for emergencies. I can see putting something like this in a backpack for a kid too.

It's a simple idea and one you have probably already thought of but here's mine edition.

To make a detachable hood all you need is a pattern with a view with a hood and one without, with just a collar.

I used the Jalie City Coat:

I made my own coat in some softshell with a fleece backing on the inside. Very practical, warm, dry, and cozy. The coat I made had just the collar, much like the one pictured above.

I then made the hood as a separate item and hemmed it. Next I sewed some of those big snaps that are now available, three of them, a set on the under collar where they don't show, and on the hood.

Here's how that looks:

Pretty simple really but one of those practical manoeuvres a person who sews her own clothes can make.