And That's Why They Call It Home Economics

 I’ve been terrible about exercising lately, call it newlywed 9 or just plain ole lazy, either way my current work pants are a bit tight. Tecnically it hasn’t been 9 pounds, but I am squishier than I was a year ago when I was paying careful attention to every little thing ate before my wedding.

I work in a corporate environment and The Limited is my favorite store.  More specifically, the sales rack is my go-to source for my work wardrobe.  I don’t want to give the impression that I’m anyone of importance, just another well-dressed cog in the machine. I have convinced myself that this weight gain is just temporary and as soon as the weather cools off a bit; I will start waking up at 5:30am and go for a run.  Um yeah, let’s see how that goes. 

I do not want to pay full price for work pants.  I found a great pair of light colored sized 8 pants.  I find a fitting room to examine myself in the mirror from all angels, not bad except when I look straight down. I could practically seal the opening and turn these into footed work pants.  I don’t think the footsie trouser look will be gracing New York Fashion Week anytime soon. 

Original price was $79 and the sale price was $34.  I am willing to pay $34 for work pants that are a size too longer but not full price.  I could take them to my local drycleaner and have them tailored, but I felt inspired and decided to do this myself.  It seems simple enough; I went through this seamstress phase in High School.  I am proud to say I actually made a skirt (with a great deal of help from my crafty mom). It was settled, since I do not own a sewing machine, I would go buy a needle and thread and save myself some money.

I started browsing the aisles of Joanne Fabrics.  I only have those chintzy sewing kits that I snagged from hotel bathrooms.  They barely provide enough thread for a button, so I would need better supplies.  I had no idea you could spend $50 on a pair of scissors.  I wanted the cutting implement that more closely resembled a pizza cutter.  This was going to be more expensive than I thought.  I would need scissors, pins, pincushion, thread, needle, and probably something else.  It hit me; it’s called Home Economics for a reason.  My cheap solution to enhancing my work wardrobe was quickly blowing up.  My not so inner nerd starts to take over; what’s the ROI on this sewing project.  ROI stands for Return On Investment. 

I actually do enjoy economics and regularly listen to planet money.  So, to break it down in simpler terms; I was going to have a negative ROI if I didn’t scale down this shopping trip.  It would have been cheaper to buy the size 8 regular pants for 80 dollars.  I was going to spend about $30 if I bought all of these items individually.  I’m not sure how to calculate my cost of labor, but the tailor at my local drycleaners would have only charged me about $12. 

I settled on a more cost effective solution of an all in one cheap sewing kit.  I am stubborn and this was somehow becoming an exercise in principal and I will mud wrestle this project into submission.

I went home feeling like I had stockpiled my weapons and was ready to bunker down for the impending battle.  I needed a motivational soundtrack, a Rocky-theme to my needle work.   I needed Tim Gunn; I would make this work!  Two hours of Project Runway, and my home sewn hem work was completed.  I will never be on Project Runway, but I won my hemming challenge.