For the first time in what feels like an age, this week I got really into my sewing mission! - working towards finishing 3 fabulous projects, visualising an organic, private 'busyness', and imagining lots of new clothing from old fabrics... It is a great relief, as it had been feeling somewhat forced and dry in places. Just too much to do, to achieve, to make happen. Our land, the move (still happening, very slowly), the potential sale of our old house, whether or not to renovate the wreck on our land, the rental house, and what/ when to build on our land… as well as a new relationship, adjusting to life with someone I can actually trust and lean upon – and our lifestyles and rhythms melding into One…

Suffice to say I still do not have a proper sewing area set up, and my clothing and equipment are spread between three properties, with at least 2 and a half hours of driving from the first one to the other two. My passion is as elevated as ever, but it is quite challenging to really settle down in a day and get on with any one project.

But I am making it happen! This one is something I was looking at for a few weeks; a pair of ill-fitting army trousers in mossy-green wool, which I nevertheless wear a good deal in autumn and winter, for warmth and working-ability. I wanted them to be easier to move in, and so began looking at adding another section to the leg, to make them (even) sturdier).

The other section appeared quite quickly! Yet another bargain from the beloved 50c stall in Telese Terme, which, because I don’t have my epic wool clothing collection here, I could single out and choose as a matching material. (Usually I’d have to trawl amongst my mountains of old clothing, to find the right symbiotic garment to work with!)

The wool skirt was small, nicely-formed, funky. I could see it as a trouser bottom, immediately: beautiful kind of buckle detail and buttons down the side. It had a right-kind of size of circumference which would allow two leg-endings to be cut from it, also. And so I did.

The cut pieces had to be fiddled with, worked, a lot. They required re-edging, and some gathers to be sewn up; they had to be less baggy and more neat on the leg bottom, to give a nice effect versus the upper, more voluminous trouser leg. And they needed the buttons and buttonholes to be variously moved, closed up, and to have button-loops created from scratch.

It took a bit of hand-sewing and a bit of machine-sewing, and then the legs were ready to attach. Which I did with an effort: moving this relatively tight leg around the sewing machine needle was hard in places; the fabrics were overlapped a lot, and this caused the machine to get stuck.

They came together lovely! I love wearing trousers like this! They are so very practical and comfortable, warm and cosy, easy to pair with other woolens and accessories…

The only thing is, for our woodland photoshoot, I was waaaay too hot!! Hahahahah: it felt like Scottish midsummer rather than deep autumn in high altitude Italia! Sweaty photoshoot!

I hope you like the result! Do upvote my creative work where you think it has value: I Live In Gift under Natural Law!

PLEASE NOTE: Almost all my creations are available for ‘sale’, barter, or in return for Gift. Contact me via my website for more info: see below.

With Love!

www.claregaiasophia.com