Creative Thrift Shopping

One of my favorite thrift store in Philadelphia is Thrift for Aids. With its creative and witty staff, shopping there is always entertaining even if I don’t find anything. Case in point: their new trash receptacle outside the store.

For me one of the best forms of therapy is retail therapy in a thrift shop. There is no thrill like finding an item like a pair of Talbot’s Silk pants for $4.00 or a an Ann Taylor sweater for $7.00. Unless you are shopping for new fashion trends, are a Wall Street Trader or work for Big Law, a good thrift shop can be your go-to store most of the clothes you’ll need, not to mention a source of fabric for quilts, a source of yarn for sweaters, and all kinds of household goodies. But what to do when you see a pair of Eileen Fisher pull-on pants in a soft and dreamy Italian knit that you must have but they are much too large? If you are like me, you buy them and keep them for a year before you get the courage to take scissors to them. You search your sewing books and on line tutorials and then you come across a video on YouTube which is as simple as it can be watch it and get the courage to alter those pants so they fit! I was so surprised at how well they turned out that I had to share the results and the video with you.

I don’t have any “before” pictures, but these are the pants after I took in the legs and crotch, put in a new waist and shortened them about 6 inches

New hem

New waist

Here are another pair of Eileen Fisher pants made of linen which will be perfect for summer. These don’t need a new waist so much as slimmer legs and a crotch that’s not in the middle of my thighs. And now here’s the video to which I owe my new pants.