I have a rule that I follow pretty strictly that helps me keep my clothes to a manageable number for my teeny tiny wardrobe. My share of our bedroom wardrobe measures 1.25m wide by 2m high and has to house every item of clothing I own for each season! There is no room for freeloaders! My rule is that if I don’t wear it for a season it is gone. After reading Marie Kondo’s book last year I also added that if it doesn’t bring me joy it’s gone!
I bought a pair of 3/4 pants from K-Mart on clearance just because I loved the fabric. They fit but not well, I had not been tempted to wear them but the fabric was divine. It is the softest, most delicious Indian cotton in a really sweet dark navy stripe.
I knew there wasn’t going to be big expanses of fabric to play with so I chose a thrifted pattern (Burda 8987) that I hadn’t tried yet to experiment. I started by cutting off the waistband (and saving the cord for another day) and then cutting up from the bottom of one of the inner leg seams and up through the crotch.
I laid out both of the leg pieces to cut the bodice pieces and the only joining I had to do was to make one of the bodice pieces fit under the armhole and to cut one of the facings.
By the time I had cut all of the pieces out there was not much of the pants left. This pile plus the waistband I cut off first. As a side note there was no following the grain when I cut the pieces out, which felt very naughty but doesn’t make any difference to how this top drapes.
For a first try and essentially a toile, I am happy with Burda 8987. I could use a bit more length which was a safe bet for my height but the amount of fabric I had to play with just wouldn’t allow it.
I think the side seam of the pants works down the centre front and centre back of the shirt and you can barely notice where I had to join a piece of fabric under the right armhole to have enough for the bodice piece.
I am going to love wearing this over Summer! The stripe is actually a navy but from a distance it is dark enough to also get away with wearing it as a black. Happy with my experiment! Off to search for any more freeloaders in my wardrobe.