Ooh! I Can Wear That Now
Have you ever looked at a fashion style and had to dismiss it because you could not see how it would work for you?
I have walked straight past pants with ankle zips. If, like me, you find all pants are too long for you, this article is for you.
I found the solution to taking up pants with ankle zips from Judith Turner in Vol 21, No 7 in ‘Stitches’ magazine. You can either do-it-yourself or take the instructions to your alterations person.
I bought these cheap purple pants from K Mart to try it out. Judith gives professional alterations techniques. I chose the ‘let’s skip a few instructions’ easy way. My method works best on dark colours (one seam) whereas Judith’s version works on all colours as she makes a feature of the seam.
Find the point just below your knee and fold over until the bottom hem is where you want it. It takes a few attempts to get it to your satisfaction (be aware of where the seam will be when you sit down). Then I sewed up the seam twice for strength on the inside. I cut the folded bit smaller, turned under the edges and zigzag sewed the edges together (about ½” final length). To make the fold less obvious, I hand-sewed the fold edges upward to the side seams.
Voila! You and I can now wear ankle-zip pants. Walk confidently and no-one notices the seam.
PS – Judith unpicks the side seams and ends up with a top-stitched feature seam whereas I just tried to downplay the seam. See her website – http://www.geniecentre.com for more alteration tips and the link to her book ‘Clothing Alteration Secrets Revealed’.
PPS – If you want to try it and cannot find the instructions, click here to email me & I will send you a PDF of the 2-page instructions from Australian ‘Stitches’ magazine.
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The Fashion Translator 