Often I feel as though I have been blogging for so long that I am saying the same thing over and over.  Sorry about that – but this is my sewing/crafting record, and I do refer back to project information from time to time.  Repetition becomes a little unavoidable!  This time I am being repetitious about my love for comfortable clothing, especially my love for pants with elastic waists.  Shams recently mentioned that she prefers an elastic waist, because for a figure like hers where there is little difference between hip and waist measurements, an elastic waist provides comfort and doesn’t become bulky.  Those are exactly the reasons why I like my elastic waists too!  Less muffin top, more comfort.  Whereas the reverse is possibly true for people with a small waist in comparison to their hips – they are possibly better off with waistbands, darts and zips if they are looking to minimise bulk.  My latest elastic waisted pants pattern is the StyleARC April pant.

I made my usual alterations to the pattern before cutting, shortening the leg at two places (one above the knee and one below the knee) by taking a 5/8 inch fold in the centre of the top leg piece and the same in the centre of the bottom leg piece. This keeps my knees where they should be! This pattern has a contrast strip down the outside leg, and one down the inside leg, with feature seaming across the front and back of the pant at around knee level.

I used grey ponte from Darn Cheap Fabrics as the main fabric, with the contrast a leather-look fabric also from Darn Cheap. The pattern gives measurements for the contrast assuming that you are cutting it with the grain running lengthwise – I cut this with the grain running crosswise, hoping that the ponte would accomodate any needed stretch, and it seems to have worked just fine, If you are doing that you don’t need a great deal of contrast fabric at all – maybe around 30cm should be adequate. The contrast that I was using was left over from another project (not yet constructed or blogged) so I had to work with what was available.

The waist is very straightforward – elastic cut to the measurement of the pant waist (which is actually smaller than my waist, so it all stretches to fit and stay up), joined into a circle, overlocked onto the wrong side, turned to the inside, then stitched down with a zig-zag. The hems are twin needled. As talking about repetition, here’s another pair!

And oh, how many of my sewing “friends” laughed when I assembled these and tried them on at Sewjourn! There was many a cry of “beam me up”. From here on in, these will be known as my “Star Trek” pants.

The pattern and alterations are exactly the same as the other pair (which were actually constructed after this pair). This time the ponte is from Rathdowne Fabrics, as is the silver contrast. Lots of fun! You can really see the inside leg contrast best in the next photo.

These would be interesting in a reversible jacquard, or in two fabrics that are the same colour but a different texture. There’s lots of room for playing with the contrast!  Although the pattern is described as a pant, it’s very close to being a legging.  It’s worth using a substantial fabric.  Because as we know, leggings are not pants!  And at the risk of repeating myself yet again, you will never see the waistband of these pants, because I will always wear something over them – and usually something that also covers my rear.