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Saturday, 21 June 2014

Style Arc Elle Pants Revisited

After digesting all the helpful comments on my last Style Arc Elle Pants blog post, I have made some more. 

Teal Style Arc Elle Pants
I purchased this lovely teal stretch bengaline from Style Arc. It is very good quality and beautiful to work with. This time, I tried a large calf adjustment. I couldn't find any info on this adjustment in my fitting books so I asked Google and found a wonderful tutorial on Colette Patterns Sewalongs. 
Back Pattern piece with large calf adjustment.
I added 2cm width at the hemline (in line with the grainline) on the back pattern piece. This gives more room at the back calf area without changing the seam lines, so everything still fits back together OK.
Side view
This adjustment has really improved the fit. The pants aren't getting caught up on my calves every time I move now, making them even more comfortable.
Back view
There are still some wrinkles but not as bad as my first pair, now that the fabric can hang better.
Close up of front
The waistband sits lovely and flat. Style Arc recommend using 35mm wide elastic. I used 20mm wide non roll elastic which worked out fine.
Close up back view
I previously raised the waist by 5 cm, but for this pair I lowered it by 1cm just fine tuning the fit. (So for this pair the waist was raised by a total of 4cm from the original pattern). I found that the original pattern was quite low waisted which is fine for the young slim girls out there, but for us more mature ladies it just cuts the muffin top in half...not a pretty look.
Midnight Style Arc Elle Pants
When I joined the Style Arc Membership Club I received this Midnight Stretch Bengaline as a free gift. It was just the right amount to make another pair of Elle pants. These were made exactly the same as the teal pair. Midnight is a very dark navy blue. The colour has a lovely depth and the fabric, like the teal was great quality and beautiful to sew.
Back view
I have styled these Style Arc Elle Pants with my Style Arc Stacie Jean Jacket. I'm really loving these Style Arc patterns and I took full advantage of their great sale recently for Style Arc Club members, so I plan to make quite a few more of their patterns soon.
Happy Sewing
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17 comments:

  1. BeaJay21 June 2014 at 17:22

    Those Elles are looking great. Love the colour too.

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 21:43

      Thanks BeaJay. I'm really loving this quality bengaline from Style Arc.

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  2. Judith21 June 2014 at 18:09

    Great pants ~ I can see why you want to make more, and more ... J

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 21:45

      Thank you Judith. These are really filling a gap in my weekend wardrobe and they are so easy to make.

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  3. Debbie Iles21 June 2014 at 21:49

    Great colours and looks like you got the fit down pat. They look really great on you.

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  4. SewCraftyChemist21 June 2014 at 22:14

    Very nive pants! Love the fit and the cut on you. And the colors are pretty yummy!

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 21:48

      Thanks Nakisha. These are a bit different to my usual bootcut style of pants, but they are growing on me.

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  5. Anonymous21 June 2014 at 23:22

    Could you advise which direction of stretch you cut out your pants from the bengaline? I've read two opinions, that the stretch should go lengthwise and not crosswise and another that said to cut with the stretch crosswise. I have several pieces of Style Arc bengaline, but don't want to cut the pants incorrectly. Thanks.

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 21:55

      The stretch definitely needs to go around the body. With the stretch bengaline, the stretch runs parallel to the selvedges. So when positioning your pattern pieces, make sure the waistline and the hemline of your front and back pants pattern pieces point towards the selvedges. I hope this makes sense?

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    2. Anonymous23 June 2014 at 20:30

      Thanks for the response. I understand. I have limited yardage and didn't want to risk cutting the fabric incorrectly.

      Delete
  6. Debbie Cook21 June 2014 at 23:59

    Lovely pants and jacket! The colors are so pretty.

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 21:59

      Thanks for you lovely comment Debbie. When I chose the teal fabric I was thinking it would look great with a white top. Then I tried the purple jacket and they looked great together. Very pleased with my new outfit.

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  7. Anonymous22 June 2014 at 06:35

    Beautiful pants! So glad the large calf adjustment worked out for you! I heard about it on the Angela Wolf Craftsy class on jeans and have applied it to all the pants I've made and it's made the outcome so much better.

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    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 22:02

      Thanks so much for your suggestion. I had never heard of this adjustment and couldn't find anything about it in my pattern fitting books. So glad I found the info online. It certainly has improved the fit.

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  8. Megan O22 June 2014 at 10:32

    What a great alteration. I've never seen anything like it before and wonder about using it on my Jamie jeans instead of just widening the outer seams a bit at the calves. Love the pants too - great fit and very flattering.

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    Replies
    1. Sew, Jean Margaret22 June 2014 at 22:04

      Thanks so much for your lovely comment Megan. Isn't the sewing blogging community such a wonderful resource?

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