Cute as a daisy

So I spent the afternoon putting dead plants in the ground.  Yes, I said dead.  Pitiful.  I had to keep telling myself that either I am saving their life or giving them a decent burial.  Yes, I bought plants and let them die in the pots before getting them into the ground........I'll admit it.  Not the first time, likely not the last.  I don't think that they were completely dead.  When I pruned away the dead branches, there was still some green in the stems.  That means there is hope, right?

Speaking of flowers....dead plants, flowers.....close enough.  These daisy pants have waited as long as I plan to wait on getting the after picture.  I've mentioned before, I hold up a lot of posts waiting to get an awake person in the outfit for the aftershot.  I guess I could start taking pictures of the kids in the outfits while they are asleep.  That just sounds creepy!  Can you imagine, a blog full of pictures of sleeping kids in wrinkled up clothes?  And the work involved in dressing a sleeping child?  I'm sure several of you out there have done that in the mornings, dressed them while they still slept.  :)  Ha, ha!  I digress.

This pair of ladies capri pants had the prettiest feminine daisy pattern, I just couldn't pass them up.  Capri's are one fashion choice I never made because I am too short.  Any that I have, which is usually exercise capris, I have to cut them off shorter and re-hem them so I don't look like I am wearing high-waters.  But I do see lots of really "loud" capri pants in the thrift store.  I grab them for the fabric alone or to make the daughter some pants in her own size.

Here is a close-up of the pattern.  These are a thicker jean type material with a slight stretch.

Now here are some of the details that I want to save.  First, this nice finished waistband.  I love it when the attention to detail is taken on the inside of the garment too....with the casing on the edge of the waistband, that will keep it from rolling up.  By the way this is photographed, there is obviously a side zip, that I would normally try to save, but not this time.

Now the bottom of the pants legs has a little vent that I'd like to save, but since these pants legs are much wider than I'll need, I'll have to lose it.   I'll just focus on saving the hem since it is a nice deep hem and will sturdy up the bottom.

Now, there are several ways that I can go about this.  I can go with full length pants since these are adult pants and the capri length is actually about right for my daughters height, BUT I would be left with a very long crotch area, if I just whacked them in from the sides.  I would have to completely de-construct the in-seam of the pants and cut the pieces down to size with a new in-seam, resize the waistband, cutting it down from the side opposite the zipper.  Then reconstruct as a full length pair of pants, saving my side zipper, and leg vents.  Sounds like a lot of work for a pair of pants that she'll outgrown in a couple months.  I did not go that route..  These pictures show the steps of my cheaterpants plan.

First turn the pants inside out. They will lie nice and flat if you lift the crotch piece into the air.

Now I lay an existing pair of the daughters pants on top of these, also inside out.  By lining up the crotches, I can see what I have to work with.  These pants will be shorter that her regular jeans but that is where my embellishments come in.  I can add a cuff or a ruffle if I want full length.  Or I can flip that hem up for a capri cuff or under to shorten a little more to make these regular capris for her.

I'll be able to cut them off right below the waistband and save it to reattach or for another outfit.

So that is what I do. Notice I left that zipper intact.  Who knows if I'll need it on something else.

I cut the band off really close to the edge, careful to not cut the band itself.

I used the stitchpicker to remove that excess fabric, leaving the band ready for reattachment.

I used the existing pants as a pattern to cut the legs down.

If I wanted to add embellishments, I would do it now while the seams are open.  But I think I'll just keep these simple since they have so much pattern already.  That's it, serge up the sides, put elastic in the waist, done.  One reason I wasn't concerned about keeping the zipper is the fact that these have a little stretch to them.  And in the end I chose to go with a simple elastic waist instead of reattaching the waistband since adding the band back would lengthen the in-seam.  A too long in-seam on stretchy material equals a droopy crotch.  They are long enough to wear as regular pants (maybe a little high-water) but turning that wide hem up makes the perfect casual cuff.

Now isn't she as cute as a daisy?

Is it bad to pull her away from homework and with a wet head to take a quick after-shot?  And then not take the time to fix the red eye?  Yeah, I know.

I see other blogs that look so awesome and it is obvious that much of the blog is about showing off their camera skills....I really need to work on those skills.  And keeping plants alive too.  Add that to the list.