Oh, the difference a fabric makes!  I sewed the Style Arc Cassie pants earlier in the year, in a stretchy jacquard woven from Super Cheap Fabrics.  I was very happy with how these pants turned out, so gave them another go in printed stretch bengaline, also from Super Cheap Fabrics.

I had already modified this pattern to give some extra belly room. They’re size 10 (there’s no way my mid-section would fit into an Australian size 10 in the shops, by the way – but my hips and legs do. Thank goodness for elastane and elastic).

So comfy, easy to sew, and with interesting details.  The green top I’m wearing with it is the DIBY Club Adrianne sweater (blogged here) and I crocheted the Fishermen’s Scarf from a ball of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn.

But hmmmm, did you notice something in the above photo? Let’s take a look at the pants without the waist being obscured. Both front and back.

SO baggy around the thighs! Remember that I have sewn these before, in exactly the same size – without this being an issue. So let’s take a look at the fabric. Both times I sewed it in a stretch woven. The first time around I sewed it in what Super Cheap Fabrics described as a textured bengaline, with the following specifications: Composition: 95% Cotton, 5% Spandex GSM: 255 GSM (Medium Weight fabric). This time around I sewed it in what Super Cheap Fabrics described as stretch bengaline, with these specifications: Composition: 65% Polyester, 35% Cotton, 5% Spandex GSM: 200 gsm. So, both fabrics have the same spandex/elastane content, but the rest of the fabric composition is different. This second fabric is a slightly lighter weight, with a significant polyester content. As it turns out, it relaxes significantly during wear (as well as creasing). When I first put the pants on the fit is good, but it doesn’t take long for them to get looser and looser as I move around and sit and stand. So I took them in from hip level to knee level, both at the inside and outside leg seam. So how is the fit now?

That is much better. It probably took me half an hour or so to take them in, and was well worth it. I generally don’t like making alterations after a garment has been completed, but it really wasn’t difficult.

And thanks to my Mum for my lovely warm cardigan! There’s nothing quite like a hand-knitted gift. I am pretty sure that the yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Tweed 8 ply, in the colour Blue Haze (and the pattern is possibly from Bendigo Woollen Mills as well).