Purge Pile

It's that time again where I have to discard some of my old projects that no longer serve me. It's the responsible thing to do when they're just lying around gathering dust, but I won't sent them off without a proper goodbye. Part of being purposeful with my handmade wardrobe is assessing why things do or don't work for me, or why things that once worked for me don't anymore. The discarding process does unfortunately produce some net waste overall, but that's just the nature of creating. You're going to make some duds or outright fails no matter how good you get at your skill. Or you just outgrow things, in all senses of the word. And so, what am I getting rid of today?

Purple Jones Trousers: My Velveteen Training Wheels

If there's one thing that keeps me in my sewing comfort zone, it's my reliance on stable, easy-to-handle fabrics. Just look at all my cotton poplin tops and twill pants. That these materials are low-maintenance in terms of care and laundering, and casual enough for daily wear are huge factors for why I pick them in the first place. It's not that I feel guilty for not challenging myself with more difficult fabrics, but I do lament that I don't often let myself use them because realistically, I will not wear the clothes I make with them. I would still like the opportunity to work with them for the sake of learning something new.

I went looking for and found a woven, 100% cotton velveteen because I thought it might give me a vague idea of what sewing real velvet made from silk would be like. And having both the luxe look of velvet and the ability to machine wash and dry (absolutely huge, so crucial, a necessary attribute) was too attractive to resist. The fabric is 44" wide which gave me a great excuse to make my second pair of Jones Trousers. And in purple, because it's the one color that's not already in my wardrobe. I'm happy with what I ended up with.

In the Folds Wrap Skirt, Times Two

Without any preamble: I made the free/pay-what-you-want, creatively named Wrap Skirt designed by In the Folds for Peppermint Magazine. I made one in the fabric leftover from the Jones Trousers and another in a cartoony eye-print canvas. I had to ignore the most of the instructions. You're instructed to finish the raw edges with French seams, which I elected not to do in favor of serging. Both fabrics are too bulky for French seams. Both skirts have side-seam pockets and the yellow skirt has a lining, and both elements conflict with the order of assembly. So until the last two or so steps (the waistband and the hem) I only consulted the instructions to confirm the seam allowances.

Jones Trousers by Goldfinch Textile Studio (Zero/Low Waste!)

Goldfinch Textile Studio's Jones Trousers have everything I've learned I like in pants: a front fly, loose leg, high waist, and a slightly dropped crotch. And, they fill a missing niche in my wardrobe by having a comfortable half-elasticized waist. They're business in the front, post-lunch bloat in the back. Well, that's not unique design element in itself, as many pattern releases have incorporated this, knowing that this is the average post-pandemic person's ideal trouser build. 

What drew me to the Jones Trousers over other patterns was the zero-waste cutting layout. Somewhat shamefully, this is where I admit that I don't feel a strong sense of personal responsibility as if I were reducing my sewing waste for the sake of the environment. I just thought the cutting style would be a fun change of pace for me. I don't typically follow any pattern's given cutting layout, but the principle of ZW patterns demands that you follow the layout to a T. And after doing so, I've found that for me, the actual benefit of ZW cutting is not having to clean up the scraps after cutting. I have never been so heartened by the sight of a clean floor. This is a high I may continue to chase. Anyway, onward to the pants themselves:

V1729 Don Pants Hack

Gun to my head, if you asked me to pick a favorite designer I'd probably say Rachel Comey. And it's not because I have so many that I love that I can't pick just one. Beyond the most recognizable, I'm not familiar with apparel designers or fashion houses. My poor memory isn't built for that kind of encyclopedic logging of names and signature styles. But if you mention sewing, miraculously I suddenly can access that part of my brain: the only reason why I know who Rachel Comey is, is because of her collaborations with Vogue Patterns. These patterns are identifiable as garments sold in her RTW line, and I own two of them: V1729 (Transit Pants) and V1645 (Steadfast Jumpsuit). And to name a few not in my collection, but caught my eye: V1994 (Drill Jumpsuit), V2035 (Geles Jumpsuit), V1501 (Delane Dress).The designs are unique but have a cool, uncomplicated appeal; I imagine that RTW clothes have to maintain a degree of simplicity to ensure that they'll sell well among average people. Average people willing to spend $500 on a single pair of pants, that is.

The pants I'm wearing here, believe it or not, were not $500 and they were also not from an existing pattern. They're a copy of RC's Don Pants (pictured beneath the jump) which is a RTW design that does sadly not have a Vogue counterpart. But in a way separate from the aesthetic, they're still RC because I repurposed V1729 to emulate Don. By adding two simple changes in the angled front pleats and an exposed zipper, I have an entirely different look. Without the signature ankle pleat V1729 already resembles Don and its straight-wide leg, so I figured the hack couldn't be difficult. And it wasn't! I'll demonstrate how later in the post.

Readytosew Papao Wrap Pants

I've made a lot of pants starting from the tail end of 2023, til now. I've enjoyed sewing every single one, and even when the construction gets samey. Most of them have rigid waistbands, carefully fitted to my current waist measurement. One of my primary concerns is if I'll be the same size in five years and if I can no longer wear them, rendering my hard work useless in the long term. That's why I want to include more pants with adjustable waists beyond a simple elastic band. I got a good start with the Papao Pants by Readytosew, with their wrap-style closure — a fun departure from my regular styles and construction methods. They're an interesting marriage between bohemian and structured and I don't have anything like it in my existing wardrobe.

V1729 Transit Pants in Striped Denim

 

So, I did that thing again where I got lazy and bought a pattern instead of taking one of my existing ones and hacking it to get the one fun design feature I'm attracted to on any given week. Yeah. V1729 is a sewing pattern version of Rachel Comey's Transit pants, which boast a unique but uncomplicated ankle pleat detail that I could simply copy on any pair of straight-leg pants. But sometimes you see an Ebay listing for a product you know is out of circulation and the collector (or FOMO) in you thinks it's worth it. I think it was; I justify it with the thought that I would have never gotten around to hacking my old patterns anyway, and not ended up with cool new pants.