Bedsheet Pants

Halfway through Summer, I’ve noticed that I’m wearing light pants more often than skirts, and that one of my favourite pairs is probably nearing the end of its life. Anticipating replacing it, I liked the idea of making the Style Arc Loddon pants again, but in a lighter neutral-coloured striped cotton fabric.

So when a friend and I did our usual check of the discard room at IKEA, a single bed sheet set caught my eye. It was wonderfully soft as well as meeting all my other requirements, and was on sale for just $14:50. The fact that I had a well-worn item of clothing in my wardrobe that it would replace overcame my determination to not buy more material. (Ok, there was also a white single bed linen sheet set for $49, which I failed at resisting buying, but who can pass up a fabric bargain that good?)

It being an item I’d wear right now, and feeling a bit guilty about adding to the stash, I decided that if I finished the I Heart My Sandhill Sling on Saturday, I would make the pants on Sunday.

And so I did.

Funny thing about stripes… I can never quite anticipate how they’ll look when sewn up. Thankfully, these look fine. I’d have preferred not to have the orangey lines between the stripe sections of blue and brown, but I don’t dislike them. Pattern matching wasn’t too hard because there was so much fabric. However, I recalled how fiddly the waistband was and made my life SO much easier by cutting the fabric along the stripes instead of across them. (I wear tops over pants these days so it wouldn’t be seen anyway.)

While I have enough fabric left to make another pair, what appeals more is a top of some kind. Maybe a long-sleeved shirt. I don’t have many of those. But there are other things I’d like to make first, and it might be a few weeks before I have time to sew giving me plenty of time to change my mind.