I bought these camel sweater pants (Liz Claiborne brand) at a thrift store for $3.99. I added some Adidas accents (see my inspo pics below) to the legs and also the hip.
I’ll break down how did it: I used black single fold bias tape (available at your local fabric store – please shop your local stores first!) You’ll need about a yard and a half (enough to go 3 times around the leg of your pants plus a bit extra for finishing it off.) I also used Steam A Seam (again, your LFS will have this) to attach the stripes before stitching, to hold them in place.
I stitched close to each side of the black tape, crossing over where I folded the bias tape at the inner leg seam to connect the tape. Bias tape won’t ravel – you can overlap the ends, press to secure with the Steam A seam and stitch over. I crossed over to the other side at this join and stitched close to the other edge. I did this on all three stripes, plus added three accent short ones on the opposite hip, just for fun.
I have to tighten the back waistband elastic on these pants (they are a little big on me), but they are cozy, easy and chic!
I have it on with a purchased funnelneck. For a funnelneck top, I recommend the Christine Jonson Funnelneck top (lengthen the sleeves to full length from 3/4), or you can use the Nikko mock turtleneck from True/Bias. Both are super easy to sew (the CJP one has only TWO pattern pieces – a front/back and a sleeve!)
The coat is a faux leather trench from the 1990s from my mom’s closet along with the bag – my mom has fabulous fashion sense (but she lives in a rural area on the Great Lakes and has no real need of a faux leather trench these days!) I’ve gotten a bunch of things from her closet recently, all of which are are on trend – oversized blazers, the coat and bag.
It’s about a week on from the 2024 election and the world feels like it’s teetering on edge of Germany 1933. So I’m a little off kilter, and I’ve seen many others say the same thing. What we do know is our clothing is about to be a lot more expensive – across the board 20% tariffs and from China, 60%, and as such, the clothing we buy thrifted (or sewn from stash or stock that’s already purchased and here), will be very expensive. In a way, it will slow down the treadmill of fast fashion for sure.
We do not even have a single machine that can knit a sweater for manufacturing in the USA. So even retailers that use American grown cotton, must send that over to China for knitting and finishing before importing it. And even if they’re using suppliers in Vietnam or Cambodia, it will soon be much more expensive to do both of these (send the cotton over, and then bring it back in the form of a sweater.)
Thrifting offers alternatives to this, and you can do fun stuff like what I did! And for those that say “it won’t happen” – 20% tariffs appeared within 1 month of the last Republican administration taking office. So, yes, it will. It will at least be 20% if not more. Save your money, buy from thrift and secondhand (online and in person) stores. We already have all the clothing we need here in the USA. Be conscious and upcycle the trends you want.