Ebony Woven Pants by Style Arc Patterns

Here is my post about the Ebony Woven Pants from Style Arc Patterns.

This is part two of my Inespiration post and you can see Part one HERE.

I changed to my Keely Knit Top so you can see the fantastic details on these pants better.

I bought this pattern when I saw Beth's (Sew DIY) amazing version in blush rosa on Instagram.

I never got around sewing them but the other day I realized that I had time to add some printed rayon pants to my Inespiration post, and that I already owned the perfect pattern.

When I decided to make the pants, I also decided it was a good idea to read a post beforehand by someone who had made these. So I went to Beth's Sew DIY blog to read her post. It turned out Beth didn't have a great experience making these and I love that she mentioned her problems in her post, because honest reviews, right! I realized that I had the answer to one of her problems, so I'll put that in this post further down in case it can be helpful to others too.

I made the size 12 and they are spot on for me! I only made two changes to the pattern. 

The first was to add 5 cm / 2" to the length of the legs but as you can see, I ended folding them up when wearing them with sandals. I think the length will be fine with sneakers though, which is what I wear most of the time. Second change was to tighten the elastic in the back waistband. That was a 100% expected change as my waist measurement is a smaller size than my hip measurement. And the hip measurement was the determination factor in choosing which size to make. If I was not making pants with an elastic waistband I would have had to make changes to the pattern but in this case, it was as easy a change as it gets.

Beth mentions that she couldn't find the finished measurements in the pattern instructions and I agree with her, they are more tricky to find than in other patterns. In fact I know others who have had problems with this info as well, so hopefully this will help.

All Style Arc pattern files contains a box that says: Pattern Measurements (size 10) plus (and this is the really important info) how much difference there is between each size. In this case 5 cm / 2". So if I want to find out the finished hip measurement for the size 12, I'll look at Pattern measurement, size 10: 104 cm / 41"....which means I'll have to add 5 cm / 2" to that measurement. So finished hip measurement for size 12 is 109 cm / 43". A size 8, finished hip measurement would be 99 cm / 39". And so on....

My hip measurement is 104 cm at the moment, so with a size 10 I would have had no ease. The size 12 was, as mentioned before, perfect.

Should we talk fabric? I think so! I originally bought this April Rhodes/Art Gallery rayon for the Charlie Caftan but then I got sidetracked. I'm pretty sure seeing Erin's Emerson shorts in this fabric indirectly gave my brain the idea to use it for these. Thanks Erin!

The fabric is really really soft but also thin. I have this little voice in my head saying: "Are you sure they are not see-through?" when I'm wearing them, ha. But according to these photos they are not. I'm still not 100% convinced. It could just be me getting used to the feeling of wearing pants in a different material than denim fabric. It's been awhile.

I changed to a brand new and thinner (70) needle before starting to sew these, and as you know I do NOT sew over my pins (and recommend you not to either because it can dull your needles in a second) but I still noticed tiny little 'ripples' in the fabrics. Like little white lines. This is my first time sewing with Art Gallery rayon, so I don't know if this is a general thing for their rayon but I'm not super happy about it, since the price indicate a quality rayon. But it's only something you notice very close up and the feel of the fabric is definitely high quality. It almost has a silky feel.

Now let's talk pleats, as they are a key detail in these pants. A rather fantastic detail if you ask me!

I'm going to claim that there is a small mistake in the illustration (the one to the left on the above photo). It's not the biggest deal since the pattern plus the actual tutorial illustration (to the right on the photo above) is correct. But it confused me for a second, so I thought I would mention it here, to avoid others having the same confusion. 

I'm talking about the long pleats on the left side of the pants, the ones that go all the way to the top of the waist. When looking at the illustration to the left above, it looks like the first/left pleat has its opening towards the left side and the right side pleat (that crosses over CF) has it's opening from the right. But then look at the tutorial illustration on the right above. I have made a red ring around that arrow going to the right, which means both of those two long pleats are folded in the same direction, not opposite like it looks like in the left illustration. The pattern file also contains a real photo of a sample in the making and that also shows the pleats folded the way I have folded mine, so I'm confident that I got it right.

Here is a close up of the infamous pleats. Two big long ones on the left side (partly spilling over CF to the right side) and then three small pleats on the right side.

The small left side front waistband piece requires that you can pivot but other than that, there are not tricky techniques sewing these as soon as you have the pleats figured out. The inside of the front waistband is finished with a facing. I'm deliberately saying a facing and not a waistband because it is not fully closed up at the bottom. I stitched in the ditch when possible but I obviously did not wanted to stitch over those two long pleats at the front. I did make a little three stitch fastening, hidden in the inside of one of the pleats to keep it in place and that works just fine.

Pockets! Don't forget to add a strip of interfacing on your pocket opening. If you sew with thin fabric like this, I'll recommend you add it to the pocket bag, as opposed to the pocket opening on the pants itself. Normally I don't care which piece you add it to as long as you add it, but in the case of thin fabrics it could make a difference. No risk of being able to see the interfacing that way.

Yes, I really love my new pants! And they were quick to make too which totally surprised me. I started around 9 am to cut them and by 2 pm they were done. I very rarely hammer out a new to me adult pattern, let alone pants, in one school day like that. It felt good though, especially because I'm so happy with the fit.

Get your own Style Arc Ebony Woven Pants HERE.

Thank you!

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