Stylearc Jamie Pants

I have been wanting a pair of green trousers for a while now.  There are so many shades of green that "green trousers" isn't really enough of a description.  I was thinking of a darker green that could be considered a neutral.  So I was pretty excited when I saw the EmmaOneSock listing for fern green viscose rayon garbardine   (I'm thinking about buying the loden colour next).  Good quality plain fabrics just doesn't seem to come by often enough.

For the pattern, I went with the Stylearc Jamie Pants, which are just choc-a-bloc with details.  There are patch pockets, knee patches, an interesting cuff that is folded at the front and elasticated at the back, drawstring, back welt pockets and on the inside, the fly facing has a really lovely shape.

I was all set to cut these out, wanting to get them made as quickly as possible, when I observed that the crotch shape looked quite different to my usual trouser patterns.  I am still fairly new to Stylearc and haven't worked out the fitting changes I need, so I put my scissors down and went hunting for some calico to make a muslin.  Lucky I did, because I couldn't actually do these trousers up.  The pants are pretty close fitting, and combined with my own fit issues, the zip wouldn't close even though there was sufficient fabric to go around me.

I didn't mean to set out on a pants fitting journey, but it took me 3 muslins to get to a point where I was happy.  Clearly, far from perfect, but I don't know how to make them better and now I can do them up.

I would love to get help fitting a pants block, but I don't tend to live anywhere near a pants fitting workshop.  I'll put it on my bucket list for when the kids leave home.

Now some close-ups of the details.

Lovely cuffs.

I used grommets for the drawstring waist.  The gathers at the top of the pocket are due partly to lousy ironing, but also took a fitting dart in the trouser underneath and just eased the pocket in to fit rather than put a dart in the pocket.

Patch pockets.  I put the pocket facings on the outside of the pockets.

Knee patches.  I shortened the legs of the pattern, but if I make these again with knee patches, I think the patches need to be a bit lower on my legs.  I must have shortened in the wrong place.

Back Pockets 

The fabric care was for dry-cleaning, but I don't get my regular clothes dry-cleaned.  The fabric does shrink  or tighten up in the wash, and then relaxes with ironing and wearing.