Badass on the Outside, Party on the Inside - Style Arc Ziggi Moto

It's finished!

Actually, I finished the jacket, after a marathon of sewing, on Sunday around 1:30pm. I was planning to wear it to an event Sunday evening, but then I put it on and I'd sewn the sleeve linings in (by hand) so that they were twisted.

Oh well! I finished fixing the sleeve linings last night.

This is a beautifully drafted pattern.

I did have to make numerous alterations, as this was the first time I purchased a Style Arc for my upper body since losing weight. I ordered a size 10, based on my high bust, and it was too small through the bust (expected), large through the hips (expected), and narrow through the back (not expected). I had to do quite a few alterations in quite a few places, including the seams through the upper back, the collar, the front princess seams. I narrowed the shoulder by about 1" (typical), but I did not shorten the sleeves (atypical). I had to slightly widen the upper sleeve (typical). Next time I might order a size 12 - it depends on the garment.

I especially like the back peplum.

I quilted the shoulder yokes and the upper sleeves. It's extra work, but the effect is really nice. (Though the effect is muted against the textured fabric.)

I lined it with a wild print.

The resulting jackets fits and is comfy. I like it!

Related posts:

• Tutorial - Exposed Zipper Near-Seam Pockets
• Tutorial - Sleeve Hem with Zipper and Gusset

Style Arc Mindi Skirt

My latest Style Arc order arrived this week and, after mulling it over, I decided to start with the Mindi skirt. This pattern is designed for a regular woven fabric, but I used a stretch woven corduroy from my stash.

Because the fabric is busy, I left off the zippered patch pockets. The front features a Center Front zipper and I used a bold Riri zipper in red.

I purchased my usual Style Arc size for bottoms - a 6. The skirt was too small through the waist so I increased the waist and substituted a rectangular waistband for their curved waistband. The skirt was too big through the hips, probably because it is designed for a regular woven fabric. I removed 4" from the side seams (1" from the front and back pattern pieces). After the skirt was completed, I realized that I could have removed another 3" or 4" from the hips, but the waistband was already attached, so I am leaving it, for now.

The pattern is designed so that the zipper goes through the waistband but I don't need that feature, given my hip-to-waist ratio, so I simplified.

This is a great basic skirt! I am already planning another one, next time with the zippered pockets, but I don't have the necessary zippers in stash.

I have enough of the corduroy left to make a pair of fun winter pants. Those will be appearing soon. ;)

Pants That Fit! - Style Arc Barb

I've been suffering from a lack of well-fitting pants for awhile now. I bought a few pair of Not Your Daughters Jeans in a size 2 but, even those are big through the hips and baggy in the rear, though they are snug in the waist.

Some of my absolutely favorite pants are made from Style Arc patterns. For example, I have 5 or 6 pair of their Linda pants, but Style Arc come in a single size, so my size 10s are all too big on me. I've been waiting to buy more Style Arc patterns until my weight stabilized.

These pants are the Barb, which is an updated version of the Linda. They are a pull-on pant for stretch wovens.

About a month ago I attended a talk given by my friend Sarah Bunje, who used to teach sewing and fitting at Cañada College. The talk was on how to fit the crotch on pants and was especially targeted to those who, like me, have a flat butt. In my case, you need a microscope to find my butt, which is why, I guess, most pants swim on my behind, even if the front fits. (I used to use a smaller size in back, but that is harder since patterns don't always come in a small enough size for my rear.)

I used several tips from Sarah's talk on these pants. I removed a bit from the back crotch point, straightened the CB curve, and scooped a bit from the bottom of the back crotch curve. I think these minor tweaks were effective, though I might need further tweaking. It's a process.

The only other change I made was to shorten the pants. I cut off 3" and hemmed them at 1-1/2".

These pants are *so* comfy and fit me better than any other pants I currently own. I used a stretch woven purchased at Fabrix in anthracite (between charcoal grey and brown). This fabric washes and dries beautifully and resists wrinkling.

I love these pants! They will be a workhorse in my wardrobe and I can see making a lot more pairs!

I am really looking forward to ordering some Style Arc patterns in my new size. I generally only order 3 patterns at a time, so it will be hard to narrow it down! Not only have they added some wonderful new designs, but I need to buy some of my old favorites in my new size. For example, I can't wait to get a new copy of the Cassie pant, which is one of my favorite all time pants ever.

In typical San Francisco fashion, the weather has been sooooo cold, foggy and damp. It might be the middle of July, but I am full of fall thoughts and am happily browsing fall clothing on various websites. I live near the tallest mountain in San Francisco, Mt Davidson. It's covered with trees and has a giant cross at the top, but most people don't go up there, because the trees obscure the views. The following picture shows Mt Davidson, but you can't see it for the fog. I took this when I was taking my pictures at 10am today. I also turned on the heater in my house today. I try not to, but it was just so coooold.

Mt Davidson, somewhere behind the fog
Edgehill, also behind the fog

Flannel Lined Cassie Pants

On Christmas morning I took a walk. My initial plan was to make the 3-mile trek to Stern Grove, one of my favorite destinations, but it was a really cold day. I hadn't expected it to be that cold and I wasn't dressed properly. I felt the cold right through my pants, and everywhere else except my head since I was wearing my new hat, a gift from DD1.

I cut my walk short and decided, on the way home, that I needed a pair of flannel lined pants. I decided to use the Style Arc Cassie skinny pant, which I had made before.

I really love this pattern. However, I realized that it's a size too big - I can grab several inches at the hips on my first pair. But that made it perfect for this project for two reasons. First, lining with flannel means adding more bulk. Second, the 100% cotton flannel doesn't stretch and the pattern is designed for a stretch woven, so you need more ease.

The stretch denim is left over from my Katherine Tilton skinny pant. This fabric is so nice - it's soft and malleable like buttah. I can't remember where I got it, as it's been in the stash for awhile. The flannel is from FabricMart, purchased about a year ago and machine washed and dried three times to remove all shrinkage. I topstitched the denim with white Guterman topstitching thread.

I left these pants intentionally long, so I could fold them up at the ankle and enjoy the contrast plaid flannel. I only worried about matching the plaid at the hem - I don't care if the plaid matches anywhere else as it's hidden from view.

These pants are so soft and snuggly! It's like wearing a hug. These are just what I wanted. I'm sure these will get lots of wear in the cold months ahead.

Right after I took the backyard pics, I put on a coat, hat and boots and headed to Stern Grove for a New Years Day walk.

And now, here are a few pics taken at Stern Grove!

The entrance to Stern Grove is perfect for shadow pics! You can rent the Little Yellow House for weddings and parties. Throughout the summer they have free concerts at Stern Grove. Most people (like me) sit up in the trees, where the views are not so great, but it's still worth it for the music and the scenery. Pine Lake at Stern Grove Feeding the ducks. Proof that I'm wearing my new pants on my hike! My new avatar.

Style Arc Grace Coat

It was 45°F when I took these pics. Perfect weather for a snuggly coat!

I decided that I wanted a new winter coat. I started with the Style Arc Grace coat, which was released last month, but I made a number of changes. For supplies, I shopped my stash. Because I didn't have enough fabric for the coat, I used another fabric for the facings. Ditto for the inside - I used two lining fabrics. Most of the fabrics came from Fabric Mart, except for the wild lining, which I found at Fabrix a couple years ago. This was a very engaging project, with lots of hand sewing. It kept me busy for awhile.

Supplies:

• A Bensoni wool blend from FabricMart. This black and cream fabric has a weave and drape similar to a handwoven - the cream threads have loft. It is reversible, more black on one side and more cream on the other. I used both sides. The black threads are wool, the cream threads are not - they feel like a soft short staple cotton. I had only 3 yards, which is not enough, so I had to make some accommodations.
• Black wool coating, from FabricMart. I didn't have enough of the Bensoni wool for the facings, so I used a solid black wool. At the end, I had only a small piece of the Bensoni wool left.
• Black silk charmeuse lining backed with interfacing, also from FabricMart. Because it is backed with interfacing, it is extremely easy to cut and sew. I didn't have enough to line the entire coat, so I used it for the pocket and sleeve linings.
• Black and cream poly charmeuse from Fabrix. I didn't have enough to line the entire coat, so I used it in the body of the coat, but not the sleeves.
• Knit tricot fusible interfacing for the facings.
• 2 toggle-style clasps.
• 1" shoulder pads.

One of the two lining fabrics. Also, the contrasting solid black wool used for the facings.

Alterations and modifications:

• FBA, adding length only. (There was enough width.)
• Extended the closure to be asymmetric.
• Swapped out the collar.
• Did not want to use bindings, so added conventional hems.
• Drafted linings and re-drafted the front facing to accommodate the asymmetric closure.
• Converted welt pockets with flaps to curved welt pockets at the side seams. I used the curved welt pocket from the Style Arc Jacqui coat, and drafted a curved welt to replace the knit ribbing.
• Narrowed the shoulders by 3/4". This coat is designed to be off the shoulder, but I always have to narrow the shoulder of a Style Arc pattern by 3/4", so this alteration means that the shoulders fit as the designer intended.
• Because I was short on yardage, I shortened the jacket by 2-1/2".
• Omitted the sleeve cuff, but intentionally left the sleeves long so I could fold them back. In fact, I lengthened the sleeves by 1-1/4", but in retrospect this was a bit too much. Drafted a sleeve facing to accommodate the fold back cuffs.
• Instead of buttons, used two toggle-style clasps.
• The pattern did not call for them, but I used a pair of 1" shoulder pads.
• Used a double thickness of the selvedge to trim the right side of the coat.

The altered front pattern piece.

Details:

• Asymmetric Collar
• Curved Darts
• Curved Welt Pockets
• Selvedge Trim
• Toggle Closures
• Conclusion
• More Pictures

Asymmetric Collar

I really liked the collar used on the Vogue 8854 tunic that I made recently, so I made the coat asymmetric and drafted a similar collar.

Curved Darts

When I did the FBA, I added in length only, as there was enough width in the loose fitting coat. When I went to sew the dart, which I had placed in the side seam, I realized that sewing a straight dart would be problematic because it would end up too close to the armscye. So I sewed a curved dart. This was easy to do in this loosely woven, very malleable wool. I am very happy with this dart.

Curved Welt Pockets

Because of the curved front hem and the curved darts, I decided I wanted this coat to have curved welt pockets. I borrowed the curved welt pocket from another great Style Arc pattern, the Jacqui Sweater Coat. You can see the process I used to make those pockets here.

For the Jacqui coat, the welt was made from a rectangular piece of ribbed wool knit. For this version, I drafted a curved welt. Because the fabric is so thick, I used the lining on the back side of the welt.

Selvedge Trim

This fabric had a beautiful selvedge, so I harvested it. I layered one strip of selvedge on top of another with a slight offset - about 1/4", sewed them together, and used the resulting double selvedge as a trim for the right front of the coat and the hems of the sleeves.

Closeup of curved welt pocket, selvedge trim, and toggle clasp

Toggle Closures

As previously blogged, instead of buttons or snaps, I used two toggle-style clasps. I thought I would have to use snaps in addition to the clasps, but I found they were not needed.

Conclusion

This coat is absolutely wonderful to wear. It is loose enough and the armholes are wide enough to fit over most any garment. I love the changes I made to the collar - there are many ways I can wear it. It's a beautifully drafted pattern. It feels completely luxurious to wear and I can already tell that this will become my go-to winter coat.

Another thing I wanted to mention. I don't know if you follow Merche's blog, Aventuras de Costuras, but you should! She lives in Spain and posts in Spanish and English. I found her blog some time ago and she makes the most gorgeous clothing for herself and her children. She used my Cocoon Sweater instructions and posted (with permission) her own version, in Spanish and using metric measurements. She really rocks this design - check it out!

More Pictures

This is me, dressed for my eye appointment today. I am wearing my Style Arc Cassie pants, which I really love, and a black Sewing Workshop Salsa top, which you can't see. Collar worn up