Yoga pants from a skirt

like my new yoga pants? (and my dirty feet?) well, actually, they’re not very new. nor were they always pants.

i bought this cotton jersey skirt in the long past 1999. i always liked it in theory, but i’ve never loved actually wearing it because i couldn’t move around well and the part around the knees would get all stretched out from walking around.

but i did use it a bit during my last pregnancy (it fit nicely under my belly) and apparently i wasn’t very delicate with it because the fabric right below the elastic got ripped in a quite a few places.

my solution: i turned it inside out, put it on and, keeping the front and back of the bottom hem even, i pinched the fabric together between my legs. when i got it comfy, i pinned it with a safety pin. i drew a line with chalk from the pin down to the bottom and then other lines to the left and right.

i cut along the center line and pinned the new legs (taking out the safety pin). then i sewed from the bottom of one legs to the other, curving the seam at the crotch.

now the ripped part. i cut the fabric as close to the elastic as possible, from one side stripe to the other.

then i turned the elastic upside down and pulled it a bit downwards (especially in the center). when i was sure that the ripped parts would get cut off, i pinned it all…

… and slipped that cut edge through the overlock machine. that way the ripped parts got cut off and the waist got lowered a bit, because it was too high to begin with.

perfect! you can’t tell i did anything!

i thought i was done there. but i wasn’t totally satisfied.

the fabric in the crotch was all puckered up creased in a weird way.

so i once again put them on inside out and proceeded to grap the excess fabric and pin it in a line. please be careful not to also pin your undies, like i did! (and there’s my little guy keeping me company.) once again through the overlock machine, from the crotch seam to right below the elastic. (so yeah, if you want to do this project, i suggest doing this part before fixing up the elastic.) then i resewed the crotch seam, making the curve wider and therefore more comfortable.

much better! not that you can tell from this photo, seeing as it was taken before the last adjustment and therefore the crotch is still wonky. the first picture of this post was taken afterwards, but you can’t really see the detail. but anyway,  now i have a light pair of pants for in-between seasons to use at home or as pjs. and i think it looks nice with my felix t-shirt! (i just love red and black together!)

p.s. don’t forget to come visit me in naples on thursday!!