Clothing Engineer

Yesterday I hit the thrift stores in the area. I picked up seven pairs of pants, one Columbia Sportswear button-down shirt, a GAP cotton jacket, and a leather jacket for $106. Some of the pants were only $2. (Yes, you can buy two pairs of pants for less than the price of one gallon of gas in CT.) A khaki skirt from Talbots that looked brand-new was $6. The leather jacket was marked down to $21. The most expensive item I picked up was a $30 pair of G1 Outdoor Gear khakis. (Some amazing details on those pants I would love to copy.)

You could hardly tell most of them had been used. I was thinking of sewing a pair of cargo pants, but when you can buy a brand-new pair of $38 Gloria Vanderbilt cargos with tags for $12, is it really worth spending all that time? For the typical casual weekend clothes it almost isn’t even worth the effort, especially something as detailed as these cargo pants. But attractive suits, dresses, and business casual clothes in wool and silk seem hard to come by. I could not find one business blazer/jacket in my size that looked good. Looks like I know where my sewing focus will be for a while…

I made this one over the weekend:

I didn’t expect this one to be as close-fitting as it turned out. The picture above is pretty accurate in how the fit is. I’m glad I used a stretch poplin instead of plain cotton shirting. But overall though I’m pretty happy with the fit, considering how I usually don’t do so well with princess seams. It was also extremely easy to sew, and I was able to complete it in one day. After I cut out it out I didn’t even glance at the instructions. I think the only thing I would change if I made it again would be to lengthen it an inch or so.