Ethel on Holiday

I've been procrastinating on a lovely dress I'm sewing, worrying about whether it's going to fit the way it should, and it got to the point where all sewing stopped.

Not good.

So I decided I should do something useful instead - like taping together A4 pages, in case I get inspired to sew one of the PDF patterns I've bought but don't feel like the tape job.  I started the boring job with a couple of my most recent PDF purchases, the Ethel pants and the Edith top from StyleArc patterns.

And you know what happened, don't you?

No, NOT amateur yoga! No, my sewing mojo came back - I just had to sew the pants! 

My stash didn't have any suitable linens that weren't already earmarked for other projects, so I made a beeline for Tessuti Fabrics, keen to find myself some summery black linen.  

But the fabric I fell for is a double sided Lithuanian linen in two neutral colours from the opposite end of the colour spectrum to black.  The fabric is a beauty though - two layers of linen in slightly different colours that are sewn together with nearly invisible threads, and a divine crinkly texture when it's not ironed. I'm really tempted by the dark blue version of the same fabric BUT I'm trying to only buy fabric when I have a very definite plan in mind, and there is no dark blue double linen plan around here. 

Because the weather has been gloriously hot, after a quick machine wash, my double layer linen dried super fast on the balcony in the late afternoon sun and was ready for cutting out while the sun was still out. Hooray! The cutting out was very straightforward - there are only a couple of pattern pieces, and everything is on the straight grain. I cut out the size 12 (my RTW size in bottoms) and used 1.8 metres of fabric, which after washing was probably more like 1.7 metres of fabric.  I couldn't really have gotten away with less yardage without sacrificing length, so that's something to note: StyleArc's fabric requirements are realistic!

That evening I sewed like a demon, and finished all but the waistband and the hemming, for which I wanted natural light.

A little more work on Sunday morning and taadaa - new pants!

These super wide-legged,

drop crotch,

elastic waist pants

are ridiculously comfortable.


I'm not sure if it's a good look - it seems too comfortable to possibly look good - but this combination of a loose style and a soft fabric makes for even more comfort than my nasty tracksuit pants (NOT shown!).  To be honest, these pants make me feel like I'm on holiday, even though I'm obviously just padding around my own little garden. What more could I want from a pair of pants?


See you soon


- Gabrielle xx