There are some terrific summer pants showing up in the shops this year.  Most are from soft fabrics that drape nicely, are slim in shape but are not fitted, and have elastic waists.  Sounds good to me!  I paired the StyleARC Darcy woven pants pattern with some rayon from Spotlight to make these pants.

Things that I like about this pattern:

• The faced waistband, that allows for an elasticised casing. Much nicer and flatter finish than just turning over the top edge and topstitching down a casing.
• The pretty much invisible side seam pockets – that I actually inserted.  I often skip pockets, but in summer pants they are handy for a hayfever hanky.
• The shaped hemline. These are faced, and sadly I made my pants a little too long and it’s not that easy to shorten them.  They would look much better ending just on my ankle instead of part way down my foot.

I think that they’re a little tight over my rear – that centre back seam looks as though it is going where it shouldn’t! I should possibly deepen the rise of the crotch seam. Will think on that one and pull out my fitting books. I don’t think it will take a look of work to fix in the next version.

So, overall verdict? Very happy with these as a wearable muslin, although I will only be able to wear high heels with them. I did shorten them through the leg just below the knee, but clearly it wasn’t enough. I need to take another inch out of them at least.  I went up to size 12 in this pattern – I usually use size 10 for pants in StyleARC – because I have put on a fair bit of weight this year and the fabric doesn’t have any stretch.  I do like the pattern and will use it again, after shortening it and altering the bottom area at the back.  Actually, I have some printed viscose just waiting to become the next pair!

But before I do that, I want to make up the Lekala pants pattern that I ordered recently, and see how it fits me. Although it will be made to measurements in terms of my overall height, waist and hip measurements, most of my fat is carried on my front, so it’s not distributed evenly around my body. Looking forward to that experiment!