4 November 2007

In The Pink

I will not wear pink in a box.
I will not wear pink with a fox.
I will not wear pink in a boat.
I will not wear pink with a goat.
I will not wear pink here or there.
I will not wear pink anywhere...um, yeah, you get the idea...

The last time I wore pink was in June of 1989. The closest I get to pink these days is a deep, rich coral orange. I have nothing against pink,
I'm just not a pink girl. I used to be a pink girl, back in the day. However, spending 6 years in the university chemistry department, surrounded mainly by men had pretty much wrung the pink out of me. When you're the only estrogen maker in a sea of testosterone you tend to lose the girly-girly girl stuff in a bid for survival. I found out quickly that pink is not usually taken seriously and I wanted respect. So, out with the pink.

Fast forward to last year. I ordered some red cotton interlock from Wazoodle. What came was not red, but pink. I contacted Wazoodle and was told that the proper fabric would be shipped out immediately and that I could just keep the pink knit. Talk about excellent customer service! Then it hit me - I was now the proud owner of 3 yards of light pink interlock. What on Earth would I do with all that pink? Needless to say, I never formulated a plan and the pink fabric sat in my stash for a year. That is, until this past weekend when I realized that I needed a new lounging outfit for around the house. Out came the pink knit and the rest, shall we say, is history.

The top is Jalie 2682 and the pants are V2989.

I have made the Jalie top several times before and I am smitten with it. I love the collar on this one. It goes together quickly and looks unique and interesting - it's a bit more exciting than a plain T-shirt.

I had planned on using the Vogue pattern to add a few much needed pairs of pants to my work wardrobe. As much as I would like to wear skirts every day, it isn't always practical, like on really cold winter days or on the days that I am crawling around an over stuffed book room at school. I figured I could whip up a muslin and satisfy my need for lounge wear at the same time. I am so glad I made a muslin of these pants - they are definitely not "fit-me-straight-out-of-the-envelope" pants. The rise on these pants is short- very, very short. Let me clarify by saying that I do have a fairly long rise and I don't like my pants too much below my belly button, but even with all that said, these pants are scandalous! I figure I will have to add at least three inches to the top to get these pants from Brittney Spears wannabe to respectable school teacher. Also, these pants are long - I always have to take length off my pants (the woes of being a short runt) and these pants are no exception. I had to remove 3" from the bottom. I will certainly have to make another muslin before cutting into my good fabric or I can just scrap the whole thing and go with a pattern that I know fits better. Right now, I'm unsure of what I will do.

After a few fitting fixes on the pants they are wearable around the house (which is all that they were intended for anyhow) and the top is great as usual.

4 comments:

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Okay I wanna see you in this pink outfit with my own eyes...only then will I believe that you made it for you! And I am just NOT gonna comment on the new statement...uh uh not one blessed word...

Sharon Sews said...

I'm with Carolyn - let's actually see you wearing the pink :-) I really like pink, but come to think of it when I did sales and worked and sold mainly to men I didn't wear pink either.

Summerset said...

LOL. I don't do pink, either! A bit to froufy for me. I did make an exception for the Vogue Couturier dress I made because the fabric was vintage and the lady who gave it to me expected me to make something great. Once in a while it will make an appearance in an art ensemble but that's it!

Katie Alender said...

Maybe this is the adjustment you made, but a simple fix for that situation is (either post-sewing or in the cutting stage) to scoop the crotch seam deeper. This not only gives you a longer rise but also lets the pants sit higher on your hips, removing extra length.

Forgive me if this is common knowledge... I just rescued a pair of a-little-TOO-hip pajama pants using this technique. I wouldn't do it to a pair of silk slacks, but if there's a pair of casual pants it's a quick fix.