Will's Funeral Pajamas with the L-Shaped Rip

On the Mend of a favorite black linen outfit

1. What are the pants?

When my grandmother died last fall, I decided to make an outfit to wear to her funeral. I went to the amazing Gaffney Fabrics, on Germantown Avenue here in Philadelphia, and bought some very soft, linen-y black fabric, which I used to make two patterns that I’ve made many times before: Elbe Textiles’ Fremantle Pants, and Wardrobe By Me’s men’s tunic shirt. I love these patterns, which produce garments that are free-flowing and comfortable while still feeling serious enough that you can wear them in a formal occasion. I accented the pants with a delightful floral print that I pulled from our bin of fabric scraps, and which I positioned so that each pocket would show off a bird. This felt appropriate because my grandmother loved flowers and, as far as I know, she didn’t hate birds.

I wore the outfit, which I dubbed my funeral pajamas, to my grandmother’s services and to a friend’s wedding the following week. They quickly became some of my favorite clothes, both together and as separates. A few weeks ago, I was sorting clutter on my office floor when I scooted forward and caught the seat of the pants on one of the protruding nails that are one of our old-ass house’s prime features. The result was a massive L shaped rip.

2. How’d you fix them?

I’ve only been sewing for a couple of years and I’d never attempted to mend such a huge hole. If the pants had been less formal—or if the rip had been anywhere besides the butt—I’d have thrown on a big garish patch and been done with it, but for these I wanted to do it right. I started mending the rip by hand darning, but I’m a lousy hand sewer and the mend looked awful, so I ripped out those stitches and darned it with the sewing machine, sewing back and forth across the right side of the tear with matching black fabric—first taking care of the horizontal gash and then the vertical one. When that was finished, I flipped the pants inside out and reinforced the mend with iron on interfacing.

Only then did I notice—there was a second rip! The seam running up the middle of the seat of the pants had opened about an inch. I couldn’t tell if it had happened when I’d snagged my pants on the nail or if it had opened all on its own, but it was easy enough to sew it shut.

I was pretty pleased with how the mend turned out. It’s not invisible but it’s definitely not obvious—I don’t expect anyone to be looking close enough to my butt to notice the imperfections.

3. Why’d you bother fixing them?

Because I love these damn pants! They’re cool and comfortable and will be fabulous to wear in the summer. Add in the connection to my grandmother’s funeral and I’d have been heartbroken to throw them out. But more than that, I wanted to start learning about mending—now the next time I snag on a nail, I’ll know that all is not lost!

The bird pockets and the full set in action