A tale of 3 Arthurs
The Arthur Pants by Sew Liberated and Specks and Keepings are definitely my favourite make of the last couple of years. I bought the pattern the day it was released, after waiting eagerly from the moment the first teaser was dropped.
The Arthur Pants are a design from Specks and Keepings, turned into a home-sewing pattern by Sew Liberated. The design is a balloon shaped leg, with centre front and back seam and an elasticated back waistband. There are 2 options for the front waistband; fully elasticated or fixed waistband with zip fly and front pleats.
On all 3 of my pairs I opted for the fixed waistband and the zip fly. I love fully elasticated waistbands, but this option feels more put-together and I also love sewing flys!
The first pair I made were the light blue pair. I sewed these up as son as my A0 pattern arrived so they were complete within a week of the pattern release. The fabric I used was a viscose / linen blend that I bought from Patterns and Plains. It was quite a cheap fabric, under £10 a metre, and hasn’t stood up that well to the continuous washing and wearing that these trousers have had over the last 2 years. It still looks good, but is bobbling on the inner legs where there is wear on the fabric.
The second pair I made are the orange ones. These were made in the rust colour way of Stoff and Stil’s cotton linen fabric. This is a more sturdy fabric than the viscose linen and has worn better, though still a little bobbly on the inner legs and the colour has faded.
The third pair I made with a green ramie from Minerva. This fabric has been the most successful in my opinion. It is the heaviest weight out of all the fabrics, but has worn and washed the best. it has still faded from repeated washing, but this gives the trousers a softer, more lived in look that I’m very happy about. The fabric was initially pretty structured, but again has softened over time.
The Arthur pants are an involved make. They have a lot of seams, all of which are flat felled or French seamed, so essentially every seam is sewn twice and then topstitched. The fly adds more involvement too. I really enjoy a make that I can get stuck into that has details and good finishing, it feels a lot more satisfying than a quick sew (though I need to be in the right frame of mind for it!)
I feel like I don’t really need any more than 3 pairs of Arthurs in my wardrobe, because I can pretty much wear them on rotation, though they are so fun to make that I would like to make another pair for fun. Maybe a more neutral colour like black or navy would be a useful addition…?
If you have made a few pairs of trousers before and are looking for something more challenging or interesting, I can definitely recommend this pattern. All my pairs have had so much wear that they have been really worthwhile and the process of sewing them was very enjoyable. Win win!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my evolving hairstyles throughout this blog post too!
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