In a previous article, I recounted the “carrot cut” pants we used to tailor make.
Some of the well-to-do boys like Warner had his school pants tailor made too. They were all carrot cut, of course. The other boys also wanted the same style pants but did not have the money to do so.
So, we got creative. I have already recounted the story about how we boys could sew. Now, we would bring our sewing skill to the next level! We experimented with altering the design of our school pants.
The store bought school pants were old fashioned. The trouser legs had plenty of room, too much for our liking. So we bravely tapered the pants ourselves.
(Source: AliExpress.com)
Godfrey told us he picked apart the stitches along the side of the pants leg. Then he folded the cloth in to narrow the pants leg. He used a ruler to control and balance both pants leg sizes.
When he showed us his pants, we were amazed at how he managed to alter his school pants into the carrot cut look.
Encouraged by Godfrey’s success, I asked my mother to buy me a new pair of school pants. My old ones were due for replacement.
I figured, I could outdo Godfrey. I bought a pair of pants that were much too big for me. When I tried them on, I had to use a belt to hold them up. The pants folded at several places around my waist! But I only saw how the oversized pants looked much like a “carrot cut”.
When I got home, I went straight to my mother’s sewing machine. I turned the pants inside out and folded the outside leg from the knee area to the hem and sewed away. I did not bother measuring it with a ruler or otherwise. I just gauged the fold by eye.
Within a few seconds, the sewing machine had done the job.
When I turned the pants out again, I was astonished to see how much it looked like a carrot cut! In my mind, I imagined myself getting pats on the back from my classmates for having a pair of stylish pants.
But all that came crashing down when I tried them on. I could not get my feet through the leg openings! I had sewn them too narrowly.
My childhood friend, Peter Chow, told me how his friend taught him to roll his pants to give it a carrot cut look.
I am sure my classmates did that too. I should have learnt this technique and not be a hero and machine sew my pants.
Pepper's World. Notes to myself. 