random thoughts – Day 2,242 (Thursday) – back in the zone

Thrift store brocade pants.

There were a couple days away from the sewing machine, but today I was back at it and it was good. It all started with a pair of pants found in a thrift shop after my bone density scan on Tuesday. They are a pinkish red with a heavy gold metallic pattern, which under much of my indoor lighting photographs as orange with gold. I thought the fabric would make a good costume top. They had a red tag, which was this week’s designated color for the blessed and glorious price of $1.29. I recently paid $12.99 a yard for gold metallic embellished fabric for the 25-yard skirt, so there was no way on earth I could walk away from the pants at that price.

They were not pants I would wear as is (or at all) which alleviated any guilt from chopping them up. When I tried them on, the silhouette was weird and they were puffy like a balloon from the waist to the crotch then the leg tapered with a beautifully executed notched deep hem.

This morning, the elastic waistband was cut off and all the seams were opened up. The pants had a lining, which was a bonus, because the top I was making called for a lining and it spared me finding coordinating fabric. The pants might have been homemade. There was no evidence of labels of any kind, and I noticed when taking them apart that the pants had been cut without consideration for the pattern. The fabric design ran in one direction on half the pants, and upside down on the other half, which wasn’t immediately obvious, but once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.

The project, like all the ones before it, took longer than expected. There were hiccups and hurdles, and pattern alterations and design decisions. I decided to keep the notched hem and the lower leg pieces were the perfect width for the sleeves, which would not need to be hemmed. I was mindful of the direction of the gold motif, which required extra care with pinning and cutting. The original plan was to add trim using the green and gold portion of the border from the saree I made the harem pants from the other day, but the pattern is just too much. If anything, it needs a solid trim to calm it down, not one with even more gold thread. There is still some work to be done, but it requires the procurement of a decorative closure for the front and possible trim for the bottom and neck edges, closure of one seam in the back, and the tidying up of thread ends.

Pants transformed to a costume top.

While I was ripping seams, altering and laying pattern pieces, then finally sewing, a two-hour music collection called “When Cello Meets Dark Techno – Dark NeoClassical Cello” played on YouTube. It was a great backdrop for the day’s work and was played on repeat multiple times. While working and grooving, ideas were popping in my brain for dances, designs, photography, writing, basically everything. A notepad was at my side to jot things down. It felt amazing to be “in the zone” again. It’s been ages (years!) and I’ve missed it. A lot. Seriously. It felt so good I could cry, but I didn’t because I’m still emotionally stunted.

The day wasn’t all slave labor (me) under a cruel taskmistress (me). There were at least two breaks. I stopped mid-day to roast broccoli and brussels sprouts and make packaged risotto for lunch. The rest of the lunch became sustenance at the supper break with the addition of a lobster cake. There are mixed feelings about having eaten a pound each of brussels sprouts and broccoli in one day, but it was over two meals and it could have been the less healthy things I gravitate towards. Perhaps the lesson is to buy (and roast) more brussels sprouts and broccoli. And buy magical brocade pants to chop up.