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| Fabric: Laguna stretch knit in emerald...the last of it!! |
Kind of quirky, but I always look up the name of patterns put out by Indie designers. Like the Aeolian tee shirt (Aeolis, western Asia Minor, populated by the Greeks before 1000 BC?) Now I've sewn the Style Arc Lucinda pants. hmmm. A tiny town on the north east coast of Queensland. A steam yacht commissioned by the Queensland government in the late 1800's. Neither of the latter?
I was drawn to the clean lines (and cute drawing) of these knit pants and decided to give them a try. Style Arc made it much more affordable with their Etsy site - this PDF version was USD $8.50, and included 3 sizes (I ordered the 10,12,14 option). The new site, which is PDF versions of all their patterns, has me back in the game. Just the shipping from Australia is USD $14, which made the printed patterns really dear.
This must be a very new pattern. I found only one post, by sewing on the edge - thank you, Barbara! And no pics on real people from Style Arc.
A few comments on the pattern:
- Sizing - Style Arc provides finished garment measurements for a size 10. Somewhere, and I cannot remember where or find it again, I read that they have 2" grading difference between sizes. I laid out the pattern in both the 12 and the 14. Sure enough, 2" difference, 10 to 12 to 14.
Caveat - these are knit pants. While the 14 has a generous waist and reasonable hip, I was concerned about the upper thigh measurement. Not the hip - on the leg, the thigh. The lower love handle place. Very few pattern makers provide this measurement. Yes, I'll share! On the 12, 4" below the crotch seam line, 24". On the 14, same place, 26".
- The seam allowances are only 1/4". I drafted my tissue with 1/2" seam allowances and sewed with a 1cm seam allowance, my favorite. The little extra allows for a nice clean cut at the serger.
Picture break...
- I could tell from the pattern layout that it has a very short rise, front and back - I calculated the total crotch length at 27", including the waistband. So I added 1 1/2" at the center front, cured out to 1/2" at the side edge. And added 1/2" across the entire back top edge. And needed every bit of the extra length in the rise.
- The inseam is generous - I'm 5'7" and took up a 2 1/4" hem.
- The pattern difficulty is rated as Medium. Actually, it should be Easy. But the instructions assume one knows how to sew a pair of pants. Pretty much 'sew the seams and add the waistband'. Nothing there for the beginning sewist.
How about another Hot Patterns Joyful T, done in lightweight cotton/rayon knit...
Bye for now - and goodbye forever, emerald blue/green Laguna stretch fabric from Craftsy!
Coco
Lovely pants. Lucinda is a town in Queensland, but I think they are using Lucinda as in a girl's name. Most of the patterns are named after people I think. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue. I think it's a girl's name as well...but it's fun. Lucinda, Queensland, it turns out, has a 6-mile long sugar jetty, the longest in the world! And in 2006, only 448 people. Fascinating!
DeleteThere's also Lucinda Childs, a wonderful choreographer :) These look great. I love the color! And I really like the idea of knit pants that look like dress pants rather than trainers. I too find the fact that style arc don't show their patterns made up off-putting. It makes me wonder if they test them out at all. That's probably why I've never tried any of their patterns.
ReplyDeleteI sort of grit my teeth when I choose to sew one of these...the Fiona cardigan was such a flop, I swore off Style Arc forever, but here I am again. I've started using my least favorite, oldest stash fabric for the muslin, as a defense!
DeleteVery nice outfit and well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bunny!
DeleteYou look nice...like a breath of spring air and that means these sub-zero temps and the snow is about to waltz out of here for the season, Yay! The emerald green is beautiful and I LOVE the top!!! OK, so you've inspired me to spend this afternoon sewing spring skirts. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judi. I really appreciate Florida winters. Sometimes I get homesick for northern fall and winter and spring...but it passes!
Deletep.s. I love the top as well...it took forever to work out, but it's really nice to wear. Hot Patterns patterns are a bit beastly to sew.
DeleteI have a few Hot Pattern patterns...haven't made any yet. I probably would have gotten frustrated with myself if you hadn't said they are a bit beastly to sew, so thank you!!!
DeleteI just found the Style Arc etsy store this week. I picked up a pair of workout pants and loved the price!! Your pants look lovely. The color and style reminds me so much of summer while I sit in a snow-filled world! The t-shirt is FABULOUS! I love the sheer fabric and will be looking up that pattern this morning!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vicki. March really is the time when spring and summer look inviting to folks knee-deep in yucky slush! I used to hate it when the snow got dirty! The lightweight knit on the top is really comfy and I like how it moves. It does tend to cling a bit to the jersey pants - would work better on top of ITY knit. I think it's the rayon in the fabric.
DeleteThey are really cute styled with this blouse!
ReplyDeleteCoco, these are nice. I am excited to see StyleArc on Etsy now. I am beginning to become well familiar with their cut in the pants. Working my way through the ones I bought last summer.
ReplyDeleteLOL! no response yet on my query about the 'new shape' in the crotch curve. Sewing pants can be so exhausting...it is fun, though, to see the patterns on Etsy. Another way to spend my penny jar money!
DeleteYour new Lucinda pants look great - I love the color.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteI had a giggle about the lower love handles. Know well myself, LOL! And I too, explore the choice of Indie pattern names. I do know that Sewaholic names her patterns after streets or neighbourhoods here in Vancouver and the suburbs.
ReplyDeleteI love how your pants turned out. Adding tucks to an elastic waistband seems like a great way to up the style factor!
Thanks, Sue. The tucks are nice - they add room to the front if needed. Out of curiosity, I basted them down for about 1.5" to see how they looked, actually very pretty that way. If one to were tuck in a blouse, the tuck feature would show even more.
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