Not about tango but about ... pants!

Sacrilege? No tango talk? Indeed! There is life outside tango, who knew?

A very long time ago, I must've been in high-school, I really wanted a pair of white jeans (hey, it was the 80s!), but I lived in communist Romania and buying jeans required an act of congress and white jeans, well, even if I had the money, which I didn't, good like finding some in the communist stores... So I went to the fabric store and got some white cotton fabric, I think it was canvas or something like that, and then went back home and using the only pair of jeans I had as a guide, and using an antique Singer sewing machine I manufactured my first pair of pants. They didn't fit very well, and the workmanship was ... ahem, less then perfect, but I had a white pair of jeans. While I might've used that sewing machine later for small adjustments, I never made any other pants again.

Fast forward to December 2006. One thing about tango (well, I guess I could not stay away from mentioning tango after all), people tend to dress up, or dress down, or maybe I should say, dress ... special. The Nuevo tango dancers wear loose fitting or flared pants and I like the way they look when you move. That, and if I wear them, they conceal the wide gap I have between my legs even when my feet are together, which is good because you don't want to look like a cowboy when dancing tango ...

But, good luck finding flared pants in stores in US. US is a great country but the guys here are not exactly ... daring when it comes to fashion. And since stores cater to masses, finding flared pants in US in 2006 is just as easy as finding white jeans in communist Romania of the 80s. What to do ? ... Oh, wait a minute, this is after all 2006, we have internet and I have credit cards. So, after hours of search I find a store in England that sells "alternative" clothing, so ten minutes later I placed an order for two pairs of pants. They didn't have one of them in stock, so a week later I have in my hands a pretty cool pair of black cords. They look awesome and I wore them during my second trip to Montreal when I attended the Tango Rendez-vous festival.

So I'm hooked, I want more. But paying $100 for each pair of pants kind of stings. And, I have a bunch of shirts that I want to adjust (I like fitted shirts and, once again, good luck with that in US). So, it would appear that I'm either going to spend my entire income on tailors or ... I'll just have to do it myself.

So, thanks to eBay I'm now the proud owner of a Pfaff 1222 sewing machine and a Juki serger. At D's suggestion I purchased muslin (a very cheap fabric the resembles linen, that people usually use to try patterns before they cut really expensive materials) and I made my first (well, actually second if we count the white jeans) pair of pants. I still have to attach the waist band, but they are almost ready and they look good. I might even wear these as I kind of like the way the muslin drapes, but only after I dye them. I already purchased my first "serious" fabric, a beautiful dark red wool, and soon I will start working on the "real" pants project.

Pictures to come soon!