Any motivation to turn from pants to dresses?

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crenfro

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Hello.

I’d like to quit wearing pants so much and look more like the female creature I am.

I can sew, I have the material here for two skirts and two dresses, but I so lack motivation.

I was thinking the other day how nice it would be for a group of like minded people who sew, how fun it would be to start a sort of fractured sewing circle - any ideas or comments?

Thanks for listening.
 
i would love to be able to sew!

Lately i have been buying a lot of dresses and skirts. I like how i look in them because jeans just always make me feel horrible. Seriously the moment i put them on i get a negative feel towards my body. I start seeing all the bumps and thinking that my thighs are huge and that i am a fat cow. When i wear dresses i feel more comfortable and more beautiful. This is a new thing because i have always been a jean wearer. In HS and College i was known for wearing jeans and a t-shirt every day to school. Now i love to wear dresses. I know beauty comes from with in but feeling such negativity from the clothes i am wearing doesn’t help.
 
If you search on “skirts” in this forum, you will find a ton of threads about the topic. Some are nice threads and some tell us pants wearers that we are going to hell in a handbag.

I am just fine being a woman in pants. Those of you who have the body for skirts, you are welcome to them.
 
if you need motivation, gain some pounds and as pp notes, get in the 360 mirror and see the reason why skirt might be better than pants. or just try shopping for jeans that fit. next move down here where it is 100 + for months at a time, and 90s rest of the time, and the relative coolness of wearing a skirt (with a cotton bike-short or “bloomer” underneath) will convert you.

personally I am convinced 90% of women never look at their rear in a mirror before leaving the house and have no idea how hideously unflattering the pants, esp. low-riders, are to them.
 
Why not combine dresses and pants/trousers?

Has the advantage of trousers eg not having to worry about bending over, and dresses eg not having to worry about gaps between top and pants.

Cullottes/divided skirts are another possibilty.
 
I just bought three yards of brown cotton lawn with pink polka dots, and this dress pattern for it. I’ve never made a dress before, so hopefully I can get this into wearable shape by next May. I only started sewing this summer, and I’ve just finished a corduroy wrap skirt (with buttonholes that I put in myself, first time ever) that is super cute, but apparently I didn’t bind the seams down enough because they frayed like crazy the first time I washed it. So now I have to go back over it with purchased seam binding. Sigh. It’s worth it, though, super cute and in a brown that will go with a lot of T-shirts. I made a black circle skirt in knit fabric that just needs hemming, and have dove gray Tencel (for an A-line), sky blue stretch twill with big white flowers (for a wrap skirt with ties), brown/gray wool tweed (for a straight skirt with pleats), orange stretch twill with a mod floral pattern (not sure yet, maybe another A-line), and a gorgeous red dupioni silk (for my Christmas skirt, a half-circle wrap) in line on my desk. I also have grey fleece with a robot print for DH’s pajama pants. It’s a fun hobby.

What really got me motivated was 1) realizing that I liked wearing skirts this summer, and 2) finding this book (Sew What! Skirts). It teaches you how to draft your own custom patterns and shows the different techniques that you can use. Since I can’t ever find skirt patterns that are quite right, this is perfect. I’ve had a lot of fun with it.

I’m not about to give up my pants, but I do find myself wearing skirts more and more. For one thing, the comfort factor as noted. Good grief, when it’s hot and humid skirts are the absolute coolest things you can wear. Instant ventilation. 😃 I also think that the combination of living with only my husband and working in a lab with all men has me inwardly screaming “I’m still a girl! I swear! I refuse to become one of the guys!” and I think the skirts are an outward manifestation of that.
 
I wish I could sew. I never learned how to do that.

I personally love ‘slip skirts.’ They are very breezy, casual, and you can dress them up or down. They look somewhat like a slip, but have patterns on them. They are not see through like a slip, thankfully. But, those are my fave skirts.

I also have suit skirts…straight and not comfortable. So, I prefer pants with suits, as opposed to skirts with suits, any day. Although, they look classy, they are sometimes not comfy for long meetings at the office.😦
 
What could be prettier and more comfortable than a flowy skirt and tee?
 
whatevergirl said:
I wish I could sew. I never learned how to do that.
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I taught myself. The concepts aren’t hard, the tricky part is applying them to the fabric (something which I am still learning, thank goodness for seam rippers). The manual that came with my cheap Singer machine is very helpful, as is “The Idiot’s Guide to Sewing”. Jo-Ann Fabrics offers classes, too.
 
Around here (New Jersey), they’ve gotten rid of all the fabric stores. Just Walmart sells fabrics, and the selection is poor.😦

Edited to add: I need to start purchasing fabrics on line, but I really like to touch it before I buy it.
 
crenfro said:
Hello.

I’d like to quit wearing pants so much and look more like the female creature I am.

I can sew, I have the material here for two skirts and two dresses, but I so lack motivation.

I was thinking the other day how nice it would be for a group of like minded people who sew, how fun it would be to start a sort of fractured sewing circle - any ideas or comments?

Thanks for listening.
Click to expand...
Funny you should post this, I sew also and this summer I made a lot of skirts. I had gone to Hawaii about 5 yrs ago and bought material and never used it. So this summer I did, and have been wearing skirts instead of pants. Not all the time, but a lot and I really like wearing them. Go get motivated and sew yourself some skirts you will be happy you did.😃
 
saw in stuffmart the fabric for broomstick pleated skirts with pattern prints, you just cut, hem, and they even sell the proper elastic for the waist, looks like you could make 2 or 3 skirts in an afternoon, and with some upscale Tees with embellishment or cute tops good to go.
 
puzzleannie said:
if you need motivation, gain some pounds and as pp notes, get in the 360 mirror and see the reason why skirt might be better than pants. or just try shopping for jeans that fit. next move down here where it is 100 + for months at a time, and 90s rest of the time, and the relative coolness of wearing a skirt (with a cotton bike-short or “bloomer” underneath) will convert you.

personally I am convinced 90% of women never look at their rear in a mirror before leaving the house and have no idea how hideously unflattering the pants, esp. low-riders, are to them.
Click to expand...
When I was about seven or eight, reading one of my mother’s magazines, I came across the statement, “Most women have never seen themselves from behind.” It has stayed with me ever since. 😃

(I am also convinced a great many women have never even seen themselves or their outfits in a full-length mirror.)
 
puzzleannie said:
saw in stuffmart the fabric for broomstick pleated skirts with pattern prints, you just cut, hem, and they even sell the proper elastic for the waist, looks like you could make 2 or 3 skirts in an afternoon, and with some upscale Tees with embellishment or cute tops good to go.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a fun project. Are they kind of hippy skirts–gauze skirts? What kind of fabric is it?
 
Wear what you look good in and what feel comfortable to you. What’s the big deal. :rolleyes:
 
There is no motivation in the world for me to learn to sew. I’ve tried it before, and it’s about as fun for me as cooking!

See, I’m a lousy domestic. My poor daughters have a horrible role model in terms of feminine skills.

From what I’ve observed, in terms of vanity, women over 35 look better in skirts and dresses. And, most women over 50 should have a long blouse that covers their behind if they wear pants.

But…I don’t like to wear skirts because I don’t like my legs to touch each other. Sometimes I’ll wear bike shorts under a skirt for this reason, but it adds to the bulk. And, I tend to get lower backaches if I don’t wear my tennis shoes. My friends tell me just to wear my tennis shoes with the skirts, but I think that looks a little dopey.

So, while I admire skirts and dresses on women as more flattering and more feminine, I haven’t adopted it myself. But, someday…

When I do buy skirts, I buy them at Goodwill. I’m sure it’s cheaper than buying fabric. It sometimes takes a couple of trips to find a flattering style/cut/fit, but I drop in about once a month on a general shopping trip to see if I can fill in gaps in the kids’ wardrobes.

Right now, I’ve been looking for a maternity skirt. I may have to go retail :eek:
 
puzzleannie said:
personally I am convinced 90% of women never look at their rear in a mirror before leaving the house and have no idea how hideously unflattering the pants, esp. low-riders, are to them.
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Ha, ha! I’m sure that even if you have a cute rear view it’s not best to go around in leggings or tight pants.

Trouble, ladies! It’s just plain ol’ trouble if ya ask me!
 
Jacafamala said:
Ha, ha! I’m sure that even if you have a cute rear view it’s not best to go around in leggings or tight pants.

Trouble, ladies! It’s just plain ol’ trouble if ya ask me!
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Ugh, I don’t think anyone looks good in leggings with nothing over them. IMO they are not pants, they are footless tights. One does not walk around in tights with no pants/skirt over them, so I don’t understand why it’s considered acceptable if the tights are footless. :confused:
 
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