DIY fashion don’t

Yesterday achieved a 75% success rate with some DIY wardrobe work.

Reattached original jean hem to two pair of DL Florence skinnies, close to looking like who ever knew. Re-hemmed a pair of silk twill cargos, actually did the work three times, once two weeks ago Friday and wore them out that night, they didn’t feel great. Knew they weren’t right so there they sat for another two weeks until yesterday when they were tackled again, this time it took two tries to get it right and now they are good. Actually wearing them today while working and doing the runaround. Success.

Leather culottes? Not so much. Feeling strong after having accomplished a good length on three pair of pants decided to rip-stich these leather pants at the seam around the mid-leg. The length of your pant can tell so much: you’re perfect model height and those jeans just hit you at the exact right spot, or, you’re like 99.9 percent like the rest of us and you’re pant length needs some adjusting.

Home hemming your leather culottes is a definite DIY fashion don’t. Googled ‘how to sew leather’ after seam-ripping one leg in half, cutting 1 3/4″ off of each end, and then attempting, unsuccessfully, to sew them back together. Have been sewing since about 5th grade so decided why not? You never know until you try, right?

In addition to sewing on leather playing with proportion can be a challenging thing which led me to cutting the pants at the knee in the first place. When something needs to be shortened you need to look at the entire garment, even skinny jeans can taper at the end and can cause a little puckering at a new hem length if not considered. These leather culottes were pieced at the knee and having been told that to shorten them you simply had to cut the desired length of the bottom of the pant I should have listened. The hook was in seeking to create the correct placement of the mid-leg seam where the skins were sewn together. As the legs on this body are on the short side kind of wanted to put that mid-leg seam further up on the leg to create a longer line. Bombed. Leather is unforgiving and the tiniest indiscretion shows big. Way above the current skill level. Off to the experts we go.

Expensive mistake but okay. If you don’t try you’ll never know. 75% success rate is acceptable here and we learned something: probably don’t attempt a DIY wardrobe rework on a leather garment unless you simply plan to cut the bottom off, and this I’m thinking is probably a bit tricky. Funny thing is just might try it again if I can get my hands on some leather sewing needles, synthetic thread, binder clips, and feel confident in adjusting the thread tension. For now taking this pair to the professional tailor.

If he can’t fix the mess perhaps I’ll simply cut them off some more and make both legs equal. I’ll then have an awesome pair of leather shorts, now those are so useful. 🙂

Every day dress, DIY fashion don’t. Mistakes happen, moving on.

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend.