When it comes to clothing, one of my greatest frustrations has always been pants. Often, if they fit on the waist, they are too tight on the hips, and don’t even get me started on the inseam! In addition, I have over the years developed a love for super-high waisted pants. They fit me much better, make my legs look longer (at least to me!), and they are ideal for tucking.
For this reasons, one of the first things I wanted to sew were pants. The ability to fully realize my vision – plus or minus some tragic mistakes – has been very powering.
This brings us to today’s make: the Style Arc Teddy Pants. I made these pants 2 (two!) years ago, but they did go through several modifications over the years, and I am now finally happy with this incarnation.
I liked the style of the pattern, but I somehow thought they would not sit on my natural waist. I chose to increase the rise by 1 million centimeters, and they ended up closer to harem pants than anything else…haha! Despite that, I still wore them. A few months ago I decided enough was enough and chopped off a good 5 cm. Much better!
I used a very lush and soft linen. Let me tell you, this fabric is so soft it feels like butter! It was not called “soft washed linen” for nothing. It also presses very well, and doesn’t wrinkle as much as any other linen I have worked with in the past.
I also really like the silhouette of these pants. They remind me of a pair of Sou Sou pants I tried on the last time I visited Kyoto. The are soft and roomy at the hips, and then taper quite significantly at the ankle. This is mostly achieved thanks to the very deep knife pleats.
The only issue is that, of course, the knife pleats open and tend to loose shape with wear. This results in bagginess at the knee, which I am not a huge fan of. I have tried everything, including a full soak in starch, but I yet have to solve this issue. Thoughts?
Today I am pairing these pants with a self drafted summer top, made in some breezy linen leftover from a pocket square. I whipped this top up in just over one hour, and I am wondering if you guys would be interested in a tutorial, so you could make your own? Let me know in the comments.
See ya soon!
E
