White and such things

Now that summer is in full swing, white is all the rage again.  (Don't you just love it how fashion discovers white all over again every summer!!!!  But it's good no matter what time of year!)

Anyway, there are some things that go along with white that a sewist must remember.  White is transparent.  More than any other color in the spectrum or in your fabric stash.  I had to learn that certain colors on my watercolor palette are transparent - greens, blues, but my reds, yellows and oranges were all opaque - why cause the cadmium in the warmer colors was opaque....why?....I dunno. 

Why is white fabric transparent?....it just is, don't ask - just accept it as law!

Here's why!!!

No matter how well you sew or how great your fabric is (or how thick your white fabric is), the pockets, fly, seam allowances and anything else underneath will show.  And although they are spectacular for summer, white pants must be lined.

Actually, I'm not really a fan of white pants, and only on certain occasions will I wear them - when I do it's usually with a jacket, tunic or other longer top garment over my bum (as the Brits would say!)

Well, this is a big much, but makes my point.

  
Lining your white pants completely solves this problem of seams and "other things" showing through.  If you can't stand lining, but are obsessed with wearing white pants, you can half line the pants - to the knee, after this, the pants are usually loose enough not to show the lining hem.

And in case you are still not persuaded, then view the following - of course at your own risk, and please remove the children from view of the computer screen.  I won't be responsible for blindness or severe emotional damage.

My point made - enough said!

Comments

[Theresa in Tucson]

Threads had an article several years back on this and their solution was to make the pockets and innards out of fabric that matched the wearers skin tone. Can't do anything about seam allowances but for fly front pants with slant pockets you could certainly do a full tummy panel. Cidell over at Miss Celie's Pants uses quite a dark color for her pockets under white. Of course there's always SPANX :).

[ClaireOKC]

@Theresa - you are so right - you can use a nude color. I just have had such great luck with white under, and it does solve the problem of fly and seam allowances showing through. This is sort of a basic technique, but I was surprised how many folks don't use it - and particularly how many white pants on the runway don't use it!

[Kathi s]

I once attended a wedding where the bride's panties were clearly visible through her slip and very expensive gown in the bright sun. She was clearly unaware of this and no one wanted to spoil her day, but she sure would know when the photos were developed!