I feel like Etta James….
AT LAST a pair of me-made pants that fit really well! Here they are, the Style Arc “Jasmine” trousers:
To understand why this is such a big deal, remember my three-muslin doomed effort earlier this year?
I decided that instead of trying to adapt any pants pattern to my body – with its heavy forward thighs, wide hips, ample butt and small waist – instead I would seek out a pattern that is as close as possible to some decent RTW pants I own already. I have this pair of Calvin Klein stretch gabardine pants that fit pretty well. They work for me because of the angled front pocket, fly front, darts in back but not in front, curved waistband, and tapered legs. A long search uncovered the Style Arc Jasmine pants, with the same pocket, fly and dart sitch:
The pattern calls for stretch gabardine or other bottomweight woven fabrics. As a bonus, the Jasmine trousers have a yoke in the back, kinda like jeans. This seemed to offer good fit options for my rear and waist. I had some really nice wool gabardine in stash. Let’s roll!
I have not used Style Arc much because they can be hard to get in the US, the patterns are only one size, they use a 1 cm seam allowance (I prefer 1.5 cm, especially for pants) and their directions are … shall I say … “minimal” and “open to interpretation” (or, to be blunt about it, “crappy”). I also think Style Arc has less ease than Big 4 patterns – the two Style Arc blouses I’ve made were a little too close-fitting. So I ordered the Jasmine pants a size larger than I thought I would need.
The first fit was encouraging. They were too big on the sides but pretty good along the crotch curve and butt. So far, so good. I widened the back darts 1/4 inch, took in the waist 1 inch on each side, tapering to 1/2 inch from the belly to low hip, then graded out again to 1 inch from just above the knee to the hem. Viola!
These pants are not perfect. But they fit better than most RTW pants I can find, and I am very hopeful for future pairs. For the next iteration, I will deepen the front crotch curve a tiny bit and pinch out a tiny bit of fabric at the hip crease in the front to remove that little bit of whiskering.
In the back, I will pinch out that bit of extra fabric under my rear, and I will grade the top of the yoke up 1 inch so to remove that little dip down at center-back.
I really want to try these also in denim, a full size smaller since I can wear jeans tighter. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I hope that I have found a true TNT pattern for dressy AND casual pants.
By the way, I am wearing the blouse from La Mia Boutique that I made earlier in the year. I keep hoping I will love it, but nope. Note the awful distortion of the back stripes because of my scoliosis and shoulder issues. (A topic for another blog someday.)
Oh I feel ya! I feel like Etta James too whenever I got fitting right 😀 The trousers look good already, bravo!
I am somehow not tempted by Style Arc (this is going to sound silly), simply because they have so many patterns to offer. I get overwhelmed! I like the carefully curated small collections that smaller companies offer. 1cm seam allowance? Oh no! The Ottobre magazine also uses 1cm SA, but because the pattern pieces don’t include SA and you need to add them yourself, I used 1.5cm – I’m a rebel, haha!
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Thanks for the encouragement! I know what you mean about Style Arc’s selection – they have something for everyone, it seems.
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Hooray! They look great. I really like Style Arc’s pants draft – they seem to require very little alteration.
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That’s what I heard, and based on my body type, I’d agree!
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Better than RTW is a big win! I had missed these in the Style Arc catalogue – nice style lines.
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Thanks! I’m very happy with them.
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Those are so nicely made- kudos!
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