Pants Recon Challenge Round 3

Round 3 of The Great Pants Recon Challenge is finally here.  I’ve been using that word a lot lately, finally.  That’s what happens when you take too long to post things.

Anyway, this time I was strangely inspired by the hems of the pants to whip up something pretty.  Namely…

…flower corsages!

Nothing like something flowery to wear on your wrist.  To make them, I just cut off the hems of the pants and cut each into two strips.  I gathered them on one side and stitched the ends together.  With some fabric circles for the centers and some remnants of lace they made perfect flowers.  For the straps, I just cut pieces from what was left of the pants drawstring and threaded elastic through them before attaching.

Here’s the finished results.  The top three are corsages, the bottom one I made into a matching broach by attaching a pin to the back.

Now up to three finished projects with one pair of pants.

• Flower corsages
• Pin cushion
• Drawstring bag

And here’s what’s left of the pants.

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Pants Recon Challenge Round 2

For round 2 of The Great Pants Recon Challenge, I decided to concentrate on sewing supplies seeing as that’s what I used the last project to store.  What better to go with a pink drawstring bag than a matching pink…

…pincushion.

First I cut three circles from one leg of the pants.  I took two of the circles and with right sides together sewed all around leaving a space open.  After turning inside out and stuffing, I had my pincushion base.  Time for the third circle.  I made that into a fabric yo-yo and stitched it to the top to decorate.  There was still some of the pants drawstring leftover so I cut a piece to make a little bow.  Perfect thing to finish off my new pink pincushion.

Now up to two finished projects with one pair of pants.

• Pin cushion
• Drawstring bag

And here’s what’s left of the pants.

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Pants Recon Challenge Round 1

For the first part of The Great Pants Recon Challenge, I went with a rather obvious project.  Our lovely pink pants happen to have a pink drawstring waistband, so what would be better than using that to make a simple drawstring bag?  I can use it to store my new sewing supplies (see Breaking Down).

I simply cut off the front half of the pants so I had a rectangle shape that was about as long as I wanted to bag and twice as wide with the holes for the drawstring in the center.  By the way, I removed the drawstring before cutting.  I folded the material right sides together and stitched down and across the bottom.  I ripped out some of the stitching for the casing first so I could sew the seam without screwing up the drawstring’s path.  After all  that was done I just turned the bag right side out and thread the drawstring back in the “waistband” and tied it off.  I had to cut it since it suddenly became too long. 

Now I have a cute pink bag, that’s one pants project completed.

And here’s what’s still left of the pants.

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A Challenge!!

I mentioned the other day that I would be starting a special project.  I made this pair of pink pants several summers ago (see Pjs and a Long Awaited Photo). I’ve since gotten tired of them, but I still like the fabric and of course the color even it is a little bright. 

I call it The Great Pants Recon Challenge!  The mission: to take these sad lonely pants and cut and stitch as many little projects as I can from them.  My goal is to make at least ten different items.  Wish me luck

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