Pinstripe Pants! & A little back story.

Just another quick pair of slacks for my new work wardrobe. I purchased this wool in Sicily many years ago on my first venture out after my late husband passed away.

Within a month of hearing a terminal diagnosis, my company let us know they were going to "downsize and sell the business to a competitor. I was an outside salesperson and the other company did strictly telemarketing. So I had several major life changes within a very short six months.

In trying to decide what I wanted to do, I made lists of what I was going to do with my life. At that point, just a few months shy of my 50th birthday, I sat and though about what I'd always wanted to do and didn't have the time, money, or energy for. There were several items on my list, and one was that  I'd always wanted to go back to school and get some kind of degree. In order to determine if it was something that would work for me, I took an Italian language class. Towards the end of the semester, some of my classmates about my age were talking about a local club that had fabulous and relatively inexpensive group tours, and they had one coming up to Sicily. Ten days. I thought about it and waffled, and went back and forth.

Finally I decided I wanted to go. I called to sign up and found out I was on a waiting list. I figured that if I were meant to go, I'd be cleared, if not, the Universe was telling me to stay home.
It turned out I had about 10 days from clearing the waiting list to departure. I did some quick sewing, and some packing, and off I went. It was glorious! So far as I remember, it was October of 1998. I loved being back in school, and I loved the trip. In my youth I worked as a travel agent for about 10 years, and it brought back all the longing for travel and to see the world. The weather was great, and I was enthralled with the depth of knowledge and history the guides were able to impart. Overall very successful!

Moving on, while there I decided I needed to buy some Italian wool as my "souvenir" of the trip. . I had a friend go with me and we wandered through the market until we found the correct shop. In my first year halting Italian, I was able to let him know what I wanted. It has been in stash for so long, and I wasn't sure which piece of wool was which until I got it out and was doing the prep prior to cutting, I use Eucalan soap, soak the wool for about 30 minutes in cold water with the Eucalan, and then hang to dry. When I got ready to press, I found this on the selvage:

Winner! A few days later, these were ready for my first meeting at work on Monday:

So now I'm on to a muslin for a new blouse. I hope to get several long sleeved, woven, business like blouses made during the month of December, and maybe a couple more pair of slacks. We'll see how it goes!

P.S. The last post omitted most of the verbiage! It did say Happy Thanksgiving. So I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day.