Violet has similar issues when it comes to pants. Although the situation is improving, her rear end remains comically inadequate to hold up anything without the assistance of elastic.
She is also long-legged. I have actually abstained completely from purchasing blue jeans for Violet, because they never fit and she never wants to wear them. How is it then that I have a drawer full of jeans in need of alteration? My hand-me-down hook-up dresses her children almost exclusively in pants. She actually has an amusing habit of saving dresses for special occasions and then never putting them on her daughter, due to her crippling fear of stains. I get a lot of jeans in various stages of decomposition and a fair number of dresses that have been worn only once, if at all.
The winter has been cruel enough that I have forced Violet to wear pants way more often than she would like. In order to make them work I have had to do a little creative re-construction.
Holey knees do not keep the wind chill out, so I crafted some decorative patches to reinforce the threadbare denim. These will eventually get the ankle treatment when Violet's legs shoot out again.
The above pants are a 3T, with the elastic taken in an inch. I KNOW! Thankfully, I have a touch of hoarding in my blood and fabric scraps abound for projects like these. I can lengthen and patch pants for years to come.
I think it's a little sad that this kind of clothing repair has fallen out of fashion. It is another casualty of the ultra-cheap clothing market. Walmart, Target, KMart! I'm lookin' at you. I am not innocent. I have purchased many $5 t-shirts in my time, but I really enjoy the challenge of making something last. Violet has an ever evolving wardrobe of "forever" clothes; things that just need a little length or a bit of patching to keep being useful.
Now, if only I could figure out how to make snow boots from recyclables, I'd really be in business.
Great idea to make those jeans last. I can't find jeans that fit Caitlin without giving her plumber's crack.
ReplyDeleteLove the patches!
ReplyDeleteMy girl is tall and tiny so all of the pants fall off her. And what is with hip huggers for kids. Come on!
So clever! By the time our hand me down jeans make it all the way to Binny there isn't much left of them.
ReplyDeleteI do love though that kids pants nowdays are being made with adjustable elastic waistbands. Completely necessary for junior plumber's crack issues.
cheers on the extending the life of jeans. Unfortunately, my son probably wouldn't wear jeans with fabric for lengthening. He can still wear size 5 shorts. And he's 10! So I know exactly about the pants being too big around. You may remember my rant. I'm glad that works for Violet. My own dear daughter won't go near jeans. She thinks they are uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! I repair and lengthen, though I draw the line at sewing up holes in tights.
ReplyDeletenice, I love the idea. and as a long-legged lady myself, the finding pants thing never gets easier, just harder.
ReplyDeletegood thing V's a dress girl.
I have a couple of skinny kiddos. Especially my daughter is so skinny, that at nine years old she can only wear jeans with adjustable waists. Yep.
ReplyDeleteI love your creativity. And if it wasn't such a hassle to pull out that sewing machine, set it up on the dining room table and then put it away before dinner, I'd use it much more often. Hoping for a bigger house with my own room. :)
Brilliant! If was so talented my daughter would be over the moon and ticked pink sideways - she's always fancied having a go at customising her clothes and I haven't a clue where to start! Well I do - I bought her a a beginners sewing machine - but that's my absolute limit - you mean they need threaded? eh?
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