Wednesday 29 May 2013

Don't you just hate...

Clothes are that incorrectly made and labelled?  Recently, I bought two pairs of jeans from Matalan  but felt the so-called leg length of 29" was a little short.

I know, I know... I should have taken them back and exchanged them for a 31" leg but I didn't. I was indecisive and needed to wear them so decided it was me. Guess not, although they look fine worn with walking boots and even sandles, they look too short with shoes. Even though I am only going to be wearing them around the house or for walking they were bugging me so much I decided to do something with them.

Yep, customise!

In my assortment of rag bags, I had inherited some odd and sods of fabric ribbons from when our school closed. Not enough of each to do both pairs so decided on two different looks. I needed to trim off the fat hem on the bottom of each pair (losing another 1/2" in the process), sew the ribbons together, strengthen them with iron on vilene and attach. Not an easy job as I am not a fantastic seamstress but hey, no pain no gain right? (DB had to cut through the blue air to get to the kitchen on occasions!)

They may not even make it through their first wash but I'll tackle that problem if and when it arises. Want to take a peek? The pink ribbon as you can probably make out has astrology symbols on it:

 The blue ribbon has an assortment of flowers:
I have probably only gained a 1/2" or 3/4" overall, but they do look and 'feel' better.

17 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I love it when something can be 'redeemed' for further use like this. The bottom ribbon is lovely. Are they edelweiss?

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    1. I'm afraid I have no idea, could be though couldn't they?

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  2. Love 'em! Dc we'll make a Molly Dancer out of you yet - you have all the chops!

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    1. Well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Wore them today for our very wet walk.

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  3. I love them! Definitely worth the effort if you feel better about them.

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    1. I do now feel they are better but whether they actually are or not, I'm not sure. Mind you though, it is nice to be different.

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  4. Great idea, and I love how they turned out :)

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    1. I do as well. I just used what I had to hand.

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  5. I do find it annoying yes! I have to try clothes on before buying because there is no such thing these days as a standard size.

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    1. I was annoyed because I had tried on a 29" straight leg and they were good. Just decided to buy boot leg which were not the same length.

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  6. This kind of customizing was quite common during the 70`s in Germany, as I remember. And, funnily enough, I am now also trying to customize one of my summer trousers in this fashion again. It brings back good memories of my childhood days. Can`t see anything wrong with re-living those days, so customize I shall.

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    1. I enjoyed doing it and might do something similar to some other clothes.

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  7. I have that problem all the time with jean lengths - 27" to short 29" too long - you have solved the problem perfectly.

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    1. I think like Anne said, nothing is correct these days. Even shoes vary so much as well.

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  8. Really like the idea,jeans are so boring, and the second pair look really nice!

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    1. I prefer the 2nd pair but didn't have enough to do both pairs. The pink pair was the only other braiding I had.

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  9. A brilliant idea, well done, I like both pairs, very individual.

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