Black and Gold. Warm and comfy. They used to be Mer-Mer’s favorite pair of sweatpants, until several small holes grew into larger holes, making the sweatpants unwearable. (If you’d like to know where the holes were, just ask Mer-Mer.)
Where some might have seen catastrophe, Mer-Mer saw opportunity. She decided to use the abundance of fabric from her sweatpants for two sewing projects: a draft-stopper and bag for grocery bags.
Making the draft stopper was like making a pillow. Mer-Mer cut off one leg of the sweatpants starting at the crotch point up to just under the waist (Here’s a diagram of all the parts of a pair of pants.) Then she turned the pant-leg inside-out and sewed it shut, leaving an opening for stuffing. After turning it inside-in, she filled the leg with stuffing and made the final stitches.
You can also use the draft stopper as a body pillow.
After a few months of trips to Walmart, JoAnn’s Fabric, Goodwill, Martin’s, Giant Eagle and the Dollar Tree, the plastic bags start to pile up. That’s why Mer-Mer decided to make a bag to hold them all using her sweatpants’ remaining leg and waist band.
Like the draft stopper, she turned the leg inside-out and sewed the open areas shut. She used fabric from the crotch area of the draft-stopper leg to cover the exposed elastic from the waist band of the missing leg.
The last step involved taking the plastic bags scattered about Mer-Mer and her roommate Molly’s floor and stuffing them in the bag holder.
Pulling a bag from the bag holder, now hanging from a hook on the door.
Formerly retired to Mer-Mer’s sewing box, it’s safe to say that these sweatpants are happy to be back in action.
Sewing With Mer-Mer 