Works for Me Wednesday: Frugal Tip Edition
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This month’s themed edition of Works for me Wednesday couldn’t have been more timely. The theme is “frugal tips” and I just recently discovered a great frugal tip that has really worked for me — homemade (well, sort of) Capri pants!
I needed some new Capri pants for the summer, but my favorite place to shop for clothes recently went out of business. That, along with the fact that our budget is tight, made me start thinking about other alternatives besides paying $20 or more, each, for new Capri pants. I’d checked my favorite local thrift store several times, but wasn’t having any luck finding any in my size.
Then, I had a stroke of brilliance! (In my own humble opinion, of course.) I went back to my favorite thrift store and picked up a couple of pairs of like-new jeans for less than $6 each. Then, I took them home, got out my measuring tape and pair of scissors and went to work.
Within minutes, I had two new pairs of Capri pants for half what I would have paid for one new pair at the store. I had intended to get a friend to put a hem in them for me (since I can’t sew at all), so that they wouldn’t fray, but I wound up deciding to leave the one pair long enough to roll up a couple of times and have a cuff. The other pair looks fine as long as I trim the strings off after they’re washed. I know they look fine because I have a teen-aged daughter and she told me so. Teenagers are quick to tell you when things don’t look fine, so I feel completely safe wearing my string-trimmed Capri pants in public.
My Capri pants idea worked so well that I may go back and pick up a couple more pairs of jeans this week. Visit Kristin at We Are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
Okay, this is a fab idea. Totally never thought about doing it before!
My aunt does this with little overalls for her granddaughters. She embellishes them and they are seriously cute!
But thanks for the idea for idea for grownups!
What a great idea! I just saw Wal-Mart had capris on sale so I was going to check that out tomorrow – if not I may be stealing this!
My WFMW is about Feeding the Freezer (with food that is on sale of course) so check it out!
I just did this with some of McKenna’s jeans – they had huge holes in the knees and were too cute to throw away!
Clever!
🙂
So cute! What an amazing idea. And, checking with your teenage daughter is a good idea, too. 🙂
~Erin
Well d’uh! Why didn’t I think of that. What a great idea. So glad there is someone else who is a sewing phobic string trimmer 😉
Great idea!
It doesn’t take a teenager to know that I cannot pull off capris. They are just not my look. I have calf-envy of those who can pull it off.
And I think Clinton and Stacy would agree with me never buying any. 😉
@ Darcy: *snort* There is nothing enviable about *my* thighs. However, I live in the South. It gets hot. It’s either Capri’s or you get to see my knees in shorts. Trust me; I’m doing the world a favor. 😉
Great idea! I’ll have to remember this one. Thanks!
I came upon your blog from WFMW… glad I took the link! I am a homeschooler too… so I’ll have to browse your blog a bit.
Amy Ellen from HealthBeginsWithMom.com
Such a simple idea…why didn’t I think of that one?
Heh – most of the jeans from the previous winter become shorts here. *grin* (or capris) …though my 12 year old is starting to get a bit fussy with the mom-made clothes LOL