So, okay, I haven’t cross-stitched since I was probably…twelve years old. Maybe thirteen. But this was still a totally fun little project.

Ingredients

1 plastic cross-stitch iPhone cover (I got mine from “Connect Design”, here.)

1 free download cross-stitch pattern (this one is from here).**

1 small assortment DMC embroidery flosses (mine from the delightful Rittenhouse Needlepoint).

1 needle (included with plastic iPhone cover, above)

1 scissors

Time required: several nice long episodes of some television series of your choice. (I watched The Grand because I’m a big sucker for British period dramas.)

If you weren’t the kind of nerdy kid who did cross-stitch for fun, you can find a good intro tutorial online right here at the Purl Soho blog, who is the original poster of cross-stitch phone covers.

**some other really cool free cross stitch patterns that are both vintage and awesome can be found on the University of Arizona’s “digital archive of documents related to cross stitch“–god, how I love the internet!

Creativity in words as well as in fashion and design…it’s almost too much.

(Quilt detail from Andrea Zuill)

It’s not a rule, per se, or a thing that I do, intentionally, wearing only skirts (although I’m a great fan and admirer of the No Pants! blog.)

I just figured out a while ago that in all photos of me taken anywhere, I prefer the way I look in skirts and dresses to pants, and since then, I’ve tried out various theories, in the following progression of thought:
1) Pants are particularly difficult to fit on MY body, and I just need to find the right styles and stick to those.

(and I drew this little sketch to illustrate it.)
2) I’m actually not really sure how to fit pants, and many of the ones I buy simply don’t fit very well, and I just squeeze myself into them, not knowing the difference, having quite likely spent my entire life thus far in ill-fitting pants.

3) Pants are by nature difficult to fit because there are so many measurements, and manufacturers can’t really fit a style closely to any individual body, therefore if I want to wear pants I should enlist the professional help of a good tailor.

4) If I sewed my own pants, I could eliminate some of these variables, but then I would still have to learn about all these different measurements and variables, myself, and I really don’t know where to start.

5) Then I discovered some pants I’d once made, some time ago, and decided that actually, my shape isn’t so difficult to fit after all (since once, at least, I’d been able to simply followed a straight commercial pattern, and end up with pants) and the real problem must be that the fit of pants is the first thing to change when one’s weight fluctuates, as mine (like so many other women’s) so often does. After all, these pants look fine, right now, but since there’s no waistband (just a side zip and waist facings, front and back) if I lose 5 pounds, they become too loose and ride down on the hips, becoming saggy in the crotch, and if I gain 5 pounds, the belly looks bad and…other unflattering things.

There’s quite likely some truth in all these ideas. I don’t really know how to fit pants, and most retailer’s pant’s aren’t a great fit on my body, and there are a lot of variables in measurements that improve a fit on a pair of pants, and I probably am really in over my head, on this one. But the fact that I once made this one pair of pants that’s not entirely awful indicates that maybe, just maybe I could try it again, and puzzle this thing out bit by bit.

I think I’m ready to try. My next pair, I’ll add some belt loops, so at least they might have some longevity and span at least a little bit of body-size fluctuation variation. Pockets would be a nice addition, as well. And a fabric heavier than suiting would be better, these are pretty lightweight, in my opinion.

But I’m still not quite sure where to start. Even if I made the same pattern over again, should I make some fit adjustments?  Those are from Butterick 6833, here:

The style seems to fit my preferred shape for pant acceptability, so close that I wonder if I was wearing my home-sewn green pants when I drew that picture…BUT: Fit for Real People warns me that wrinkles point to fit problems. I look at the picture of the model on the pattern, and I see wrinkles, pointing to her crotch as well as over her right hip, where her leg extends farther. Do these pants even fit her?

How do I know? What does a pair of right-fitting pants even look like?

And most importantly: Do mine fit me? Pants wrinkle all the time, with every step. Which posture is the one that’s supposed to reveal the true fit?  Which wrinkles are meaningful, and which ones are inevitable, as fabric flows around a three-dimensional form moving through space? And is there a formula?

One way or another, I’m going to figure out pants.

One of my favorite online retailers, Shabby Apple, has presented a “Mad Hatter, vintage-inspired collection.”

And they’ve named the pieces after lines from the  poem Jabberwocky.

My favorite choices are the dresses “Frabjous Day“  and “Calloo Callay!”

The real joy is that these are all fairly simple patterns, and can be easily reinterpreted in a more quiet printed fabric, for those of us tempted , but not yet entirely convinced, by the return of vivid floral chintz prints.

When I packed, I thought this outfit was the most boring of the batch, but it turns out to be my very favorite of the week.

-“Wear the Shift” shift dress, made by me.

-“Que Sera” cotton cardigan, made by me.

-Bowtie Pendant, made by Cheri Lewis, of San Francisco.

I like that even though it’s all neutral colors, the textures play well together and the patterns keep it from being boring.

Houndstooth fabric against patterned tights and lacy knit cardigan, even the scalloped pattern on the bowtie necklace adds something similar, yet different. I will totally wear this again, and am happy that my mini-challenge led to new wardrobe discoveries.

These are from Lux Legs, and I know they’re a little “out there”. But in my opinion, there’s a lot to like. The whole idea of spats is retro and/or steampunk, but I think some of these choices transcend that costume character and could be worn as a fun fashion element away from the theme park or con. I also like the way they change the silhouette of a shoe, and give the impression of ankle, calf, or knee-high boots, but without the investment or commitment of boots.  I wonder if spats wouldn’t be a fun sewing project, to play with this line and shape on legwear.

You can get a custom pattern drafted for yourself, starting tomorrow, over on Wear the Shift’s Etsy store. And today (and always) you can find cute shifts and skirts there as well (also custom made to fit your individual body in all its sizing peculiarities).