Before I made my Parfait dress, I ran up another pair of StyleARC Elle pants and gave the StyleARC Tilda top a go.

This time around I made the pants in a stretch bengaline, as recommended. It is much lighter weight than the fabric I used last time, and I think that I have a better overall result. I still basically consider this pair to be a muslin – skin coloured pants aren’t really the best option, but the fabric was on sale at Spotty for around $2 per metre – just perfect for trialling stretch woven pants!

Once again, I made size 10. There is plenty of stretch in this fabric. I shortened the leg length around 9cm, but possibly could have cut a little more.

This time I altered the pattern a little by cutting the front crotch curve around a quarter of an inch larger, but I shaved around a quarter of an inch from the side seam of the back leg piece through the hip and upper thigh. I think that it’s improved the fit, but I’ve still got some bagging throughout the upper thigh below my bottom.

I’ll keep on making up and tweaking this pattern – I love a pair of skinny pants and these are so fast and simple to sew. So, now on to the top!

There were a couple of issue with this top. Firstly, the instructions need a little more work, although the diagrams were useful. Secondly, the front sleeve and back sleeve were labelled incorrectly. It took me a couple of goes to realise that they were not going to fit into the bodice pieces unless I swapped them around. I have emailed StyleARC about this and they have rectified their error. Thirdly, this needs a softer, drapier fabric for the unusual sleeve drafting to fall correctly. You get a better idea of the sleeve shape in this next photo.

I used a crinkly jersey remnant from Rathdowne Fabrics. Although I love the vibrant colour, and the fact that this fabric doesn’t need ironing – it’s already wrinkled! – next time I’ll use a rayon or bamboo jersey that has more drape. I do like the v-neckline, and the neck band fitted perfectly. The curved hemline is also attractive, although it appears to be more pronounced from the front.

So, the verdict? I’ll make the top again, in a more suitable fabric. I love a loose top like this with skinny pants. Just beware with StyleARC patterns that the instructions are not what you are used to when you generally sew with Vogue/McCalls/Simplicity/Butterick etc patterns. It’s good to have some reference books on hand, or to be a confident sewer. But the drafting and the currency of the styles is marvellous!