A Great Piece For Your Fall Wardrobe

I made the Style Arc Estelle Ponte jacket last week and I love it! It’s a great piece for your Fall wardrobe or your transitional wardrobe. I also like that that this ponte knit jacket has pockets, which you don’t always see in knit clothing.

The Pattern

Style Arc Estelle pattern and line drawing

As you can see, this pattern is rated “easy” to make. There are only four pattern pieces (front, back, pocket, sleeve) so it’s also a quick pattern to put together. The styling, like many Style Arc patterns, is modern yet classic all at the same time.

The Fabric

For my jacket, I used double-faced interlock in the color Auburn/Blue. It is one layer of fabric that has two “good” sides. I got this from https://www.angelawolfpatterns.com/. But I don’t believe there is any more available.

Double-faced ponte knit fabric

This is a medium weight fabric that has a bit of stretch, but not too much. It washes and dries great (always prewash you fabrics).

My Jacket

Because I only had 2 yards of this fabulous fabric, I really wanted to make sure that I would have enough. The yardage chart does show 2 yards for the size I made, but I usually like to have a bit more just in case. I shortened the jacket by about 1.25 inches. The sleeves I shortened by about 1 inch. Sleeve on patterns are often a bit too long for me. And, this pattern doesn’t have hems, so you will want to make sure that you don’t have to hem it if you don’t want to.

Style Arc Estelle-a great piece for your Fall wardrobe

I did use my serger to make the majority of this jacket. If you don’t have a serger, then use your regular machine with a zigzag stitch. That will work just fine!

Style Arc Estelle jacket back

Since I used blue thread in the serger, I used that to serge all the edges once the jacket was complete. So, from the back it shows contrasting thread. This is a great jacket for your Fall wardrobe because it can be very versatile. If your fabric is a solid color, then your jacket will simply be the same color on both sides.

Here is another project I made with a different ponte knit. It’s a stable knit fabric that is very comfortable to wear.

If you are a beginner to sewing with knit fabrics, be sure to sign up for my knit sewing checklist. I give some tips to make things easier.

Style Arc Estelle front-a great piece for your Fall wardrobe
Style Arc Estelle jacket back

Style Arc Preston Knit Sweater

This was one of those patterns that as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make it. This Style Arc Preston sweater is made from a heather gray knit blend (I cannot, for the life of me, remember what it is). But the fabric is most likely a ponte knit. It doesn’t have a tremendous amount of stretch, but it has enough and it keeps its shape.

Style Arc Preston Knit Sweater pattern

The Pattern

I was intrigued by this Style Arc Preston knit sweater because it has a sweatshirt look but with pockets. The raglan sleeve design makes it an easy wearing and comfy top. I see this as being something that’s very versatile.

Heather gray Style Arc Preston knit sweater front

Because I’m at home most of the time, it’s important to have something comfortable to wear.

As far as sewing this, it went together fairly easily. The only thing that I did have some issues with was the pocket construction. The pockets seem to be a bit smaller than they’re supposed to be. You can read about the pattern here. If you’ve ever used Style Arc patterns, they don’t have a lot of explanations/instructions with their patterns. But, the illustrations are very clear.

Style Arc Preston knit sweater back

The comfort and style of the pattern reminds me of the toaster sweater I made a while back. I definitely see this as a pattern to make again. One thing that I really like about Style Arc is that I don’t have many if any fitting issues. I can base my pattern size off of the sizing chart.

Also, what I have is a PDF pattern. I think there may have been shipping issues for paper patterns due to the pandemic. I put the pattern pieces together in less than 30 minutes. Because I wanted this as a weekend project, I didn’t care about it being a PDF.

Relaxing in my Style Arc Preston knit sweater

This is a great weekend project and great to wear on the weekend (or any other day)!

I hope you all are well. I appreciate you.

Let me know in the comments what projects you’re working on.

I have many more Fall sewing projects to make!

Style Arc Kerry Cargo Pants

I have had this pattern for quite a while (so many of my posts start out with those words. That’s what happens when you buy patterns all the time). I wanted a pattern that would give me the traditional look of a cargo pant, but still be stylish. this was the one I chose. I used a lightweight cotton blend for these pants.

Style Arc Kerry Cargo Pant

If you’re not familiar with Style Arc patterns, they are out of Australia. They used to sell only single size patterns, but now I believe they offer multi-size patterns as well. This particular pants pattern was one size and fit (almost) perfectly! I made my usual adjustments of a wedge in the center back seam to lengthen it about 1″. Then lengthened in the front about 1/4″. I also narrowed the pants legs (they seemed really wide) from the knee down. Basically from the bottom of the side pocket down to the hem was taken in 1-1/2″ on each side. I did this after the pants were made because the muslin I made was a shortened version.

Other changes I made were not related to fit. I decided to use elastic in the waist rather than the drawstring. I also used Velcro on the pockets instead of buttons. I did not add the leg straps (to roll up the pants legs) on this pair.

The construction process was very easy, although as with many independent pattern companies, the instructions were minimal. That’s not a problem for me and shouldn’t be a deterrent for anyone wanting to try one of their patterns. I believe you only improve by practice and stretching yourself beyond what you think you can do.

This is what happens when you take a picture on a really humid day and you come from an air conditioned place!

I love that these pants have 3 sets of pockets – inseam, side, and back! I can definitely see myself making these from cotton twill (the recommended fabric) for the Fall. I could wear this with a jean jacket (which I don’t have but have a pattern and material for). This is a pretty easy and quick pattern to make.