Trousers: style arc willow trousers

I have actually managed to sew for myself this year.  Though the results are rather mixed.  This pattern however was an eventual success.  I want to sew a few more trousers for my wardrobe and fill some gaps as well as use up a bit more of my stash.

I started with a fairly basic non-stretch woven pattern from Style Arc - the Willow Trousers in size 18.  It has a small waist bannd and side zipper with a slim fit leg and a hem split. 

Based on my measurements (and experience drafting for woven pencil skirts), I removed the darts.  I  measured the crotch and leg width against a relatively well fitting RTW pair and it was fine.  However, my calves are quite large so I wondered if that would be an issue. I overlocked all the raw edges so I could play with the seams later.  The pattern has a 1cm seam so I stuck with that.

So draft one was sewn up in stash fabric - I would have been happy to wear these if they'd worked out but it wasn't to be!  The length was about an inch too long, and I needed to raise the front by 1.5 inches to account for my tummy.

There was also quite a bit of excess fabric in the bum area - not surprizing as I have a rather flat bum.



The side seams were falling quite straight until the mid calf.



Version 2. I redrafted the front and unpicked the front and recreated the trousers.  Much better but the seams were a little rough so I didn't trust them to stay together so moved on to version 3.  And they're wearable!!! Woo hoo!!!!  Colour feels a little like a police uniform but I can live with that!



I used wool purchased last year in the Fabric Warehouse pop up shop (for $3 a metre!).  This time I got a little more adventurous and added pockets.  I used the Itch to Stitch woven joggers as a base for how I drafted the internal pockets but then also extended the pattern piece to the centre front seam so I had a bit of extra support in the front.



Not sure exactly what I did wrong but the piece didn't fully line up when I added them altogether.  There was about a 3/4 inch difference.






I remembered to reinforce the pocket seams and everything!



Fit is good but pulling to the back of my calf is more obvious.





I used an invisible zip and added a cute button and job done!







The hem slits are nice and I got a wear out of it before the seriously warm summer weather hit.



Pattern: Style Arc Willow Trousers - rather significantly amended
Size: 18 with a lot of alternations
Fabric: Wool from the Fabric Warehouse
Notes for next time: maybe do something about the calf pulling.  Use different fabric for the pocket guts so there's less fabric to be sewn into the side zipper.  I think I might try a front zip the next time.  I have a burdastyle pattern I can use to help draft the changes to this pattern.  I also have some stretch denim I might turn into a pair of trousers too.