Pants for a Spring Retreat

I got some wonderful sewing books for Christmas last year. (Thanks, Mom!) One of them was Amy Butler's In Stitches. The style of the book amazes me. Plus, the patterns are simple to put together. I love it. One of the patterns was "lounge pants". Here is the picture from Amy's book.


I thought they would be a perfect surprise gift. You see, I traveled to Denver, CO just two weeks ago to see my sister and meet up with my Mom and a friend for a weekend Women's Retreat (one of my favorite weekends of the year). I thought, wouldn't it be so fun if I could make some lounge pants for all of us to wear on the retreat? I could pick up some really cute vintage sheets at the thrift store . . . and all four of us would be so cute in our lounge-y pants! I was so very inspired by the jammies that pinkpicketfence made for her sister, here. (Her pictures are so fabulous). I just couldn't help myself. And, the thought made me so excited.

Well, life happened in between my daydreaming of lounge pants and the weekend of the retreat, and I ended up with only one pair to bring with me - not four. I was even finishing them at the last minute the night before the trip and couldn't even get a decent picture of them! These pants went to my twin sister, Em. Here she is modeling them for me.


The fabric I used was from a vintage sheet set that I had picked up last year and used it to make European pillows for the guest room.



I love the fabric and this was the perfect opportunity to use the rest of it. I modified Amy's pattern a bit. I thought her pants were a little too wide. So, I took an inch off of both sides (I think). Unfortunately, that made them a little tight in the hips. Thankfully Em is a skinny minnie, so she can squeeze them past her hips easily. Note to self: if narrowing the width in the legs of pants start narrowing 10 inches from the waistline.

I also substituted the drawstring waist for elastic and then just sewed a bow to the front. Lastly, I added 3 inch pink trim around the waist and the bottom of the pants. I like how they turned out.

Em is also modeling a kimono robe that I made for her at Christmas. I thought I would share that briefly too. Here's the picture from Amy's book.


Here's Em.


The fabric is another vintage sheet that I picked up. It has a nice paisley pattern on it (although you can't see it in this picture). It's lined with white flannel making it feel a little "heavier" (for those cold Colorado mornings) and making it cozy on the inside. I added the 5 inch white trim around the sleeves and body. She likes it. And, I like that she likes it. And, I really like her.

**In that picture Em is standing on a chair next to her fridge. I can't remember why. But, no, she is not 9 feet tall.**