Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Style Arc Barb and Still More Knits

I finally tried my first Syle Arc pattern and I have to say I'm a believer.

Front view
The Clothing Engineer very kindly pointed me to a joint promo by Style Arc and Threads Magazine offering a free PDF download of the Barb stretch pant pattern. I'm the kind of gal who does not look a gift horse in the mouth. I hopped on over and signed up right quick.

Side view
Style Arc offers their patterns in a single size only. I decided to go for the size 8, even though my hips would put me in a size 6. I didn't want the fit to be too snug. The 8 matches my waist (more or less).

Rear view
What a happy surprise to find they sent me the size 6 and the size 10 as part of my bundle! Instead of printing out the 6 and the 8 and trying to merge them, I just went with Plan A and used the straight size 8.

The PDF was set up differently to what I've seen before. The pages printed so that the pattern lines overlapped at the bottom and the right edge of each page and it wasn't necessary to trim the edges to match up the pattern lines. Does that make any sense? I could just lay the pages out and tape them together with no sicssors required. I had to be a bit more careful to line things up because the print lines didn't go all the way to the edge of the paper, but the whole taping part went much quicker.

Top tucked in so you can see how high the rise is
Looks like I've hemmed these a bit too long. I was traumatized as a teenager by a pair of too-short pants so I still struggle with hemming issues. Otherwise they came out just as I hoped they would; slim but not skin tight and really comfortable to wear. The waist comes up to my true waist, which is just the height I prefer. I could see myself wearing these pants with a shirt tucked in - something that is almost never the case for me with an elastic waist. The pattern calls for 2 inch wide elastic, so the waistband sits nice and flat.

I've admired StyleArc patterns for some time now, but hesitated to put in a order because I wasn't sure of how their sizing would work for me. With one size per packet you don't have much fudge room. Now that I've tried them out, I feel like I can order with confidence.

My pattern review is over on PatternReview.com here.

And, in other sewing news, I made a quick stop by Backstitch over the weekend and gorged myself on more knits. 

Deanna with my pile of goodness
I feel a tee shirt orgy coming on.

9 comments:

  1. Pretty cute, Nancy. And so wearable, if you know what I mean. I also jumped on that free offer and was pleased that they sent 3 sizes. I guess I'll just pick one and see what happens!

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    1. Let me know how it works for you! The Sewing Lawyer has also just done a review - check out her blog to see her tips!

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  2. great review of Style Arc....I have not ventured to the Indi patterns yet, But with your experience, may give it a try.

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    1. I've been loving them! Some of them design for a particular figure, and they'll usually tell you what that is. Sewaholic, for example, designs for a pear-shape, which I am not. Since she tells you that, though, I can figure out how I probably need to tweak things to make them work. Lots of fun!

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  3. These look great on you and I have just down loaded my pattern as well. Interesting about the printing, as mine (have checked the test square) are the same as other PDF patterns, you need to cut an edge to line up.

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    1. Holy cow! Maybe I did something bad that turned out good? I have to scrounge for a printer because I can't adjust the scale on the one I have at home. I'll have to investigate next time I'm over at my friend's house!

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  4. your pants look great. I went and downloaded the free pattern too.. Can't wait to try them..

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    1. Let me know how they come out! I'm definitely planning a version two in black.

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  5. Your pants look really good. I downloaded the free pattern too.

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