From Beastly to Beautiful

Tale as old as time, true as it could be

 Can you guess my very, very loose inspiration for my new favorite shirt? I had this icky greeny brown colored knit in my stash that felt Oh so soft and squishy it had to be made into a warm something. Digging around in my knit scraps had me rediscovering a bit of one of my most favorite knits! This lightweight grey with pale pink roses was outlined in almost the same shade of browny green as the main knit. There was only a bit of it left especially when I decided to fussy cut the rose for the bottom. But by that point I was sure this was the perfect, everyday, wearable tribute to one of my favorite stories.

I used a lightweight double sided fusible and carefully topstitched
close to the edge. The fusible added just enough stability to
the knit to make the sewing a breeze.

This was on my stashbusting list and used two pieces from the stash as well as some "ugly" buttons that happened to be a perfect match and not so ugly after all.

I love all the little details! One of my best attempts at topstitching yet. I love when a bunch of random stuff
comes together to create something beautiful!

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories in ALL of its many written and filmed versions. I think what has drawn me to it through the years, is how it captures the transformative power of love. While the love of books and longing for adventure have me solidly identifying with Beauty there's also a part of me that recognizes without the unconditional love I have been given I would be a pretty wretched beastly creature myself.

So who's with me? What is your favorite version of Beauty and the Beast? What makes you love that story so?

MmmMmm! Warm and Beautiful!

I'm so excited I finally get to share these with you all!! I must admit I'm more excited to be wearing them though. I wasn't sure about the leg width but after my little photo shoot, I think they are perfect!

My beautiful warm corduroy pants!

This is the second pair of pants I've made with Simplicity 2562. I really like the fit I have achieved in the waist and feel like the booty's not too bad either. I didn't want to mess with a fly front in these so I just added a side zipper.

My old, worn store bought cords. Not bad for five years of wear.

Old worn and boring on the right, Lovely, fun details on the left.
I'm delighted I got to use that amazing old button.

From Frayed to Fabulous. Hemmed to the perfect length so it won't
happen again.

I had so much fun putting the details together on this and am so glad to have a nice looking pair of warm pants in my drawer again. But now I have some questions for you!

These are a wide leg pant and I've learned the heaver the fabric the wider the leg. I want to do a bootcut jean next and am not sure how to draw it in. I experimented by basting these pants and it twisted the leg around.

Do I just mark my knee and taper above and below? (I made a muslin out of the leftovers of my brown poly pants but it didn't work cause you can't press poly:P) Should I just make another muslin out of a better fabric?

Please share your jean making resources! All I can find are directions for making skinny jeans which is not the look I am going for. I did find this site with a promising resource. Has anyone heard of her before?

I am in need of your pant/trouser making wisdom. I know there has to be a solution out there! Thank you!

Oh yeah! I almost forgot, this is garment makes 5 down of my 27 stashbusting garment total! Pretty sure this is vintage corduroy I got from a lady before I went to college...