I don’t have a lot of photos of today’s project. That is because I spent A LOT of time ironing and sewing. This was pretty challenging for me. See, I tend to keep it simple – take up a hem, sew a pillowcase. I like to keep my sewing in straight lines and on things that won’t really show if I make a mistake.

Pants are a completely different story.

OK, it’s not like I made them from scratch – THAT would be a challenge. But today’s project definitely pushed me past my comfort zone. This whole 31 Days endeavor has, really. It’s making me be super organized to get projects completed, photos taken, and posts written, all while the kids are sleeping. And many of these projects have intimidated me a little, hence their still being in the “to-do” pile for many months. But they are making me learn new skills and giving me confidence to try bigger things. And it’s really been a lot of fun.

Speaking of ironing, I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve never been much of an ironer. (That’s not the confession; it’s no secret I’m not very good at it.) My mother is a fantastic ironer – she ironed all my clothes until I went away to college. Husband is also a fantastic ironer – when we were dating, he ironed jeans and t-shirts almost every day. So, at college, with no Mom to take care of my laundry, I got used to wearing wrinkles. But when I wanted to wear something that absolutely HAD to be ironed, I asked Husband (Boyfriend at the time) to come to my dorm and iron for me. He quickly realized that it would be better for both of us if I learned how. So Husband is the one who finally taught me the ins and outs of ironing.

OK, on to the project. I’ve been wanting a pair of skinny red jeans for a while. I pinned a few cute inspiration outfits on Pinterest with red pants, and I’ve thought of a few more things in my closet that would be great with them. I looked at thrift stores for a while, with no luck, and I looked for them at retail stores, too. I couldn’t find anything I liked – not the right shade of red, not the fit I was going for – so I just put it on my wish list for a while.

Then I found these. Not skinny, not even jeans – they’re corduroy – but I LOVED the color, and they fit in the waist. That was enough of a starting point for me. Like I said, this project is about challenging myself.

I’m not giving you a tutorial today because this video from Cotton & Curls does a good job of that. I watched it a few times and then just went for it. I marked the inside seam of one leg, sewed the new seam, and tried them on. Not bad. I copied the measurements of the first leg and marked the other leg the same way. I followed what she did and marked the outside seam on one side next and sewed. This did not turn out so well. I ended up ripping out that entire seam and remarking a tighter seam on the inside (and ironing and ironing and ironing between each of these steps – thank you Husband for your good ironing lessons so long ago).

That was the trick. In the end, I didn’t even have to take in the seam on the outside – the inside seam was enough. I cut 2 inches off the bottom of each leg and hemmed them.

And I LOVE them! They look great with flats, and they tuck into boots easily. Aside from the ironing, it wasn’t SO bad. I’m inspired to try this again – maybe Kelly green next?

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• This post is part of a 31 Day series. Find all the posts in this series here.
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