Although I sew most of my clothes, I follow a few fashion labels on the socials. One of them is Motto, and over winter they had some great stretch pleather pants. I figured that stretch pleather pants could fit nicely into my lifestyle; all I needed was to find some fabric to sew them in!

I found this plum stretch pleather at Super Cheap Fabrics, and bought enough for the pants and a jacket. I don’t think that this fabric is still available. I used my trusty Style Arc Misty jeans for the pants, and the Style Arc Harper pattern for the jacket.

Shall I start with the pants? I’ve probably said all of this before…I eliminated all the front detailing – the faux pockets and the fake fly. Rather than the exposed elastic waistband in the pattern I fully enclosed wide elastic in the same fabric, and overlocked that on.

I did keep the Misty back detailing, with the yoke and pockets. I didn’t bother about any fancy stitching on the pockets though; the stretch pleather really wasn’t amenable to that!

I sewed my usual Misty size; I think it’s a 12 but could be a 10; the pattern has been used so much over the years that it’s hard to remember. It’s very creased and has all my shortening alterations built in.
The overlocker coped okay with the fabric, but the machine needed a very new sharp needle and the teflon presser foot. Most of the construction was on the overlocker; the machine was just for topstitching and hemming.

The Harper jacket pattern is designed with raw edges. When I’ve sewn this in the past I’ve added an allowance to the hems and turned and stitched them, but this time I left everything raw as designed. So this ended up being super fast to cut out and sew – just a back, two fronts, and the sleeves! There is a little bit of machine sewing to secure the back collar, but otherwise it’s all constructed on the overlocker. I sewed size 12.

Obviously, this is a relaxed and casual piece, without any tailoring or much fitting. I rather like the overall ensemble that I have ended up with! The sleeveless pleated top I am wearing underneath was a $10 sale item at Sussan a year or two ago that I hadn’t really worn and was about to send to the op shop, but it’s staying in the wardrobe now to be worn in this combination. Boots are from Django and Juliette via my fave eBay sample size seller.  I will be reachhing for this outfit when I need to feel a bit dressy, but relaxed – for the theatre, a restaurant with my friends, or similar.