Flour Sack Pants

My mom loves rummage sales. She works as a volunteer for one at a local church and gets first dibs on the goodies. When she spots potentially useful items it is practically impossible for her to pass them up. My great-grandma, intimately acquainted with the Great Depression, lived with her family and instilled in my mom the importance of reusing, saving, and not letting things go to waste. I am in complete agreement regarding items one already owns, but am loathe to introduce excess into my home in an attempt to keep everyone else's things from going to waste.

The result of my mom's frugality is a house that is brimming with her finds. I chide her occasionally regarding all her odds and ends (all nicely organized and hidden away in closets and attics, of course). I tell her how much simpler life would be if she had less - less to clean, less to organize, less to maintain. I have the right to do this since I am her daughter and, as we all know, daughters know everything and mothers know nothing (a baffling phenomenon that is developing a bit too rapidly for my taste in my own home).

But this is where my logical assertions are confuted: when I go home to visit, what is one of my favorite activities? To sort through my mom's bins of fabrics, buttons and old clothes. Why, you might ask? To help her organize them or mercifully convince her to let me throw things out? No; on the contrary I am searching for brilliant items to use in my own projects.

And so my patient mother politely listens as I tout the virtues of a clutter-free life, whilst simultaneously raving about the treasures I find in her boxes. Can I reconcile this behavior with my ideals? Not really. Instead of dwelling on my cognitive dissonance or worrying about the likely scenario of my own daughters growing up without a treasure trove to sort through, I will move on to the topic of one of my favorite acquisitions via my mom.

When she offered me the use of some flour sacks she picked up at the rummage sale, I was thrilled. These pants were the result.

I love the charming mixture of old and new fabrics. Best of all they are already pre-stained, pre-mended in threadbare spots, and ready for carefree wear.