I’ve put on quite a bit of weight over the past year. So much so that many of my pants are not comfortable any more. Much too much muffin top!  Of course, I could try losing weight, but instead, I made new pants. I turned to my tried and true slim leg elastic waisted pants pattern, the StyleARC Elle. And made them in grey ponte.

This is Japanese Ponte from Spotlight. It is their “premium” ponte. Only time will tell in that regard – we’ll see how well they wash. They are a rayon/poly/spandex blend, so I am fairly hopeful. It is a good bottom weight thickness. I made size 10, as always, assuming that the stretch in the ponte would deal with any fitting issues in what really sit somewhere between leggings and tracksuit pants.

All good so far (despite those back leg wrinkles). I have pretty much figured this pattern out for me now. It has been shortened in two places, one above the knee and one below, in order to keep the shaping right as I make them the right length for my lack of height. I used a twin needle for the hems and around the waistband seam. The crotch depth is just perfect for me in these pants, and they are cut with the back nicely higher than the front and the back leg wider than the front leg. Success in ponte – my previous makes were in stretch woven. So I made them again in black ponte.

And I’ve also made them AGAIN in dark chocolate brown ponte, but I don’t have a photo of that pair. Think exactly the same as the other two pairs, only dark brown. These are super fast to make – less than an hour, including cutting time – and work really well with my wardrobe of long tops and tunics. I wore them a lot on our holiday, and they were comfortable and warm, and easy to wash and dry. Definitely a TNT pattern for me.