Longest crotch in the east

After my 3 month ordeal with the lined wool pants, I decided I wanted something quick and easy. Like a new pair of jeans. I decided to reprise my skinny pants from the Burda 8/2009 issue, but in denim with jeans style topstitching and patch pockets. You'd think this would be a slam dunk. I'd think so too. I am so desperate for a new pair of jeans that I decided to just sew with what is at hand, so there are three different colors of topstitching as I ran out of thread and decided to try to make it look like a design element... Aside from the beige, dark brown, and rust topstitching, and the fact that I haven't finished the hems yet, there is a bigger problem.

The shape of the legs is good. Back looks okay.

Front is okay... kind of.

Promise not to laugh? Here's what it looks like if you can actually see the front.
Longest crotch ever! I don't think the zip is supposed to be the length of the entire pant front, though this is how the pattern is marked... it looks so Busy-Hands-At-Home-y... At this point, I think I might just toss these. What a waste of otherwise good fabric!

A huge difference in 1"

I wore the gray pants to work on Thursday, and on Friday and decided not to make any changes to them or the black pants. Here are photos (the far right are the black pair), of Burda 07-2009-102 in daylight... Can you tell the difference between what I'm doing differently today from Thursday? I'm wearing 3" instead of 2" heels. It's amazing how much better the pant legs fit with a little more length to drape!
And so you can see the pocket and waistband detail (photographing dark gray and black are tricky!) here is an overexposed view.
I am considering making a jacket to match the black pair (there's enough extra fabric left to do so) but the fabric was so fussy that I think it might be better to use it for something simpler, like a skirt or a sheath dress...

Aw, shucks.

Thanks Andrea!

I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me and nominate 7 of you to do this too... I'm actually not going to nominate anyone, but I would love to hear from someone who's never commented before. Tell me about yourself! Do you have a blog? I'll add you back!

1. I was born in the 70s, not the 80s. For some reason, this always surprises people.
2. I enjoy traveling alone. I've taken road trips in California and Australia by myself and met a lot of interesting people along the way.
3. The very first thing I bought when I got my first job after college was a used Singer sewing machine for $80, because I always wanted to learn how to sew.
   
4. I love bikinis, because it means beach to me... and I love swimming in the ocean.
5. I am a doctor, but not the kind that works in a hospital.
6. Apples are my favorite fruit. If you want to get specific, I'll take a Pink Lady or a Honeycrisp, please.
7. The first thing I did with my first sewing machine (see #3) was reupholster a love seat and 3-seat sectional. Believe it or not, that was much easier than learning how to fit clothing to my lumpy little body.
   

A big step outside the box

I finally finished the two pairs of wool pants I've wanted since December. This is the Burda trouser pattern I mentioned about a month ago. I'm not sure how I like them. I made a short muslin (ended at the knee) so I didn't get a good idea of how the full leg looked. This pair is gray stretch flannel, the other pair is a wool/poly stretch that for whatever reason (different fabric?) feel bigger than this pair. My muslin was made from stretch corduroy and felt more fitted in the thighs than these do.

I took these pictures this morning because I plan to wear them to work. I wanted suitable office wear pants, but these feel really frumpy to me. Believe it or not, this is the brightest spot in my house -- I'll take better photos outside this weekend when the porch isn't covered in shade. I am trying to remind myself that the day is coming where I can't go to work in skinny jeans so I should get used to dressing like this, but the fit of these pants just feel so off to me. After doing the flat seat alteration, I'm somewhat satisfied with how this fits in the butt but the legs feel way too big and baggy in the thigh. I'm wondering whether I should have gone down a size in cutting the leg. Because I never put belt loops on my pants (and more importantly, I hate wearing belts) I am pretty sure that these will be saggy and even more frumpy by the end of the day.

click to enlarge

Sewing and running don't mix

Hi! This is what I've been doing instead of sewing the ever growing list of things I want to sew.
This is a photo of me around mile 13 in a 30K (18.64 mile) race that I did on Sunday. Despite my humble goals in my upcoming marathon (finish without crying like a little girl), training for this race is really taking it out of me. At this point, I'm running 60 miles per week, which means getting out on the pavement at 6:15 in the morning, and another short run in the evening. When I'm not doing that, I'm working, or trying to keep my stomach full. It's amazing how expensive marathon training is -- I'm always eating!

And I'm always tired. Like, I have a hard enough time keeping my eye on the goal at work, never mind at my sewing machine. On Saturday, I needed a good sit-on-my-ass-and-drink-lots of water activity... sewing! I am almost done with my wool pants (that I wanted in December) and probably would have finished them but for spacing out after every other seam. I've also decided that I can't go to the Lowell textile museum meetup after all; I have a 20 mile run planned for that morning and the last time I tried to go to a museum after a long training run I spent most of it sitting on a bench outside the exhibition... not so great for hanging out when everyone else is actually looking at the exhibits!

Given the rate at which I'll be sewing until this marathon, I really need to prioritize what I'm going to sew. I want some new skirts, jeans, and shirts for Spring. However, I think that I need a suit or some other grownup attire for upcoming interviews and the like. Tomorrow I have a Big Presentation to give and no idea what to wear. I had an interview for a job a few weeks ago and freaked out for a few days over what to wear... and was relieved when it was a phone interview. So this is where I ask for your help -- what do grownups wear to work? I think that I can possibly make a long term project of a suit of some sort. I have plenty of suitings in my stash. What color is "professional"? Gray? Black? Is it "more" (whatever that means) professional to wear a skirt suit or pant suit (I'd prefer pant suit, I think)?