Pants Altered

I don't know what's happened, fashion-wise.  I was so convinced for years that flared pants were more flattering than straight-legged.  The flared ankle balanced things out and made one's hips look smaller, the theory went.  But the past couple years, as straight-legs have come back in fashion, it just doesn't seem true anymore.  Or, even if it's true, the advantage of smaller-seeming hips is not as big as the disadvantage of looking not-so-stylish.

I have two pairs of corduroys from Anne Taylor Loft that I love, one in dark brown and one in purpley-maroon (I call that pair my Peter Brady pants).  They fit well, they're in good shape, and most important they're decent non-denim pants I can wear to work.  But they're flared, and they just make me feel like any outfit featuring them isn't really a success.

So, at the advice of my friend Connie, I turned them into straight-leg cords! I laid a pair of straight-leg jeans over them and, using a quilting pencil, traced the sides of the jeans onto the cords.  Then I sewed them!  I think it went pretty well.

Here are the before and after shots.  As a bonus, the "before" photo is an action shot including the aforementioned friend Connie, and the "after" features my trusty sewing machine.

Before:

After: