My First Experience with Style Arc Patterns | Thoughts & Reviews

[@susieallen5757]

Thank you for your honest and useful review. I do like Style Arc designs and have sewn one to date. I agree that the instructions leave a lot to be desired and found a video sew along was more helpful.

[@ErinSews]

I think the drafting is phenomenal but I definitely don’t recommend them for new sewists, ESPECIALLY if there isn’t a good sew along 😬

[@AvrilBrown-ld6gm]

I have to say that the first pattern I bought on my return to sewing was a Style Arc pattern. Then I started watching KZbin and like you was intimidated by the reports of sparse instructions. The pattern is still languishing in my pattern box as I haven't found the nerve to even look at it! But well done to you - you found your way through. The blouse looks amazing and I'll be looking up Stacey J. On the subject of gathering, a vlogger - Sewsarahstyle had a tip which is amazing. If you zigzag over a length of dental floss you can then just pull the floss and it gathered up the fabric perfectly. I haven't tried it yet as I haven't had to do any gathering but it seems like a great shortcut.

[@ErinSews]

Definitely check to see if there’s some sort of sew along/tutorial available for the pattern you have! I think the sparsity of instructions may lead to some really GREAT tutorials for style arc patterns. Stacey J is a hoot! Her videos are very chill and it’s like hanging out with a friend in her sewing studio. I’ll have to check out that gathering tip! I’m intrigued by the idea of using floss!

[@AvrilBrown-ld6gm]

@@ErinSews she's someone who hates gathering with a capital H so I've laid in a stock of floss for when I need it.

[@dianewilliams7931]

Erin, you summed up my experience with Style Arc very well. I like their designs but that first time with their instructions had quite a learning curve.I've sewn four different Style Arc patterns so far and once I'd made the first couple I knew what to expect. The first one I made had some gathering but when I got to that step it directed me to the pattern piece. It took me a bit to realize 'Oh, that squiggly line along there indicates the gathering line!". I've liked them all when finished. They do like a deep V, though!🤭

[@ErinSews]

Yes! The squiggly line!!! I haven’t seen that on another company’s pattern before (granted I haven’t sewn a lot of Indie) but I giggled a little when I realized what it was 😂 I don’t love how the instructions want you to keep referencing the pieces because I don’t have a ton of work space so I tend to put my pieces away after I cut. I’ll definitely be making more Style Arc though- I really like the designs!

[@evelynr7069]

@@ErinSews I've come to appreciate the habit of leaving the pattern attached to the fabric piece until I'm ready to sew it. I havent sewn Style Arc yet, but I would think that might mitigate seeing what's next, rather than hunting through all your pieces for the next set of instructions.

[@sewingseamswithdeb]

Hi Erin, the Francesca fits you beautifully. Very well done. I really enjoyed your explanation of what you did, how you adjusted the pattern and your final comments. I agree, Style Arc are beautifully designed and create a lovely garment, once you get the correct size 😀

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! I’m so happy I made the toile. I’m glad you appreciated the break down- the video ended up really long but I wanted to be thorough. I’m looking forward to trying more Style Arc for sure!

[@Avotts]

This blouse turned out GREAT! I've never seen a dress patters with multiple seam allowances. I hope to soon make a tiered dress. I will pay close attention.

[@ErinSews]

I learned a few months ago that it’s a common practice in professional sewing and it made a lot more sense once it was explained to me. Some seams need more seam allowance for insertion of zippers or fine tuning fit and making alterations. This was the first time I came across it myself though!

[@ChristineSewsALot]

The Francesca is really cute on you! I love the ruffle. Style Arc is really missing the boat in regards to instructions, noting the SA, and making us have to hunt the body measurements.

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! There is definite room for improvement. It feels like they omitted all of that to keep the instructions compact, but they could do of long-form instructions and then keep the little card as a “quick reference” type of document.

[@jenniferewart]

I love Style Arc patterns and tend to buy them from Minerva or Amazon. I agree that their instructions are sparse but there are lots of tutorials on line which I have found easy to follow. The Montana dress is my ' go to ' summer dress, an easy sew in both cotton and viscose fabrics but also works well as a pinafore in winter using thicker fabrics such as corduroy . I’m not an experienced sewist , so I would encourage anyone to start out with a simple pattern such as the Montana, I have recently purchased the Fifi trouser pattern but have yet to try it out !!!🙏

[@ErinSews]

I recently picked up the Porter woven pack during an Amazon sale, so apparently I’m also becoming a Style Arc lover. I think with the sparse patterns, more people make tutorials to “fill the gap” as it were, which I appreciate. A friend of mine has made the Montana and also really likes it. I didn’t even think of it in heavier weight fabrics for the winter! I love that idea. The Fifi trousers are cute! They look very comfortable for the summer especially.

[@michelle.z]

Hi Erin! Very thorough and informative video! I have never used a Style Arc pattern. I love the neck ruffle on the shirt and I need about 5 of those dresses to wear for this summer!

[@ErinSews]

Thanks Michelle! I tried to be super thorough so I’m glad you found that it was! The dress has already been well worn here in TX. How is it already so hot!?

[@RunningWithScissors-th8jo]

The Francesca is gorgeous! I have not sewn a style Arc before.

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! I’m so happy that I put the effort in to make a toile and fit adjustments. Now it just needs buttons 😂 I thought both patterns were really well drafted and I think with your experience you’d be able to figure anything out unless it’s SUPER funky.

[@brendalindsay5419]

I Love Style Arc patterns, love there newer kids patterns. Have been sewing for years and hardly look at the instructions but the things i need are usually in the instructions.

[@ErinSews]

I really like the look of the kids and teens patterns! A lot of companies seem to kind of skip the teen years and go straight from ~12/14 to adult sizing. It works for some people but not everyone, so I’ll probably be trying out some of the teen patterns when I hit that stage with my daughter.

[@LaraSchiffbauer]

Look at you becoming the fitting queen! Now I've got ABBA singing in my head... 😄 Both garments are gorgeous and all your hard work definitely elevated the patterns. I appreciate hearing your experience with the patterns, because I've seen several designs I really liked, but haven't felt confident enough to try. :D Thanks for the thorough review!

[@ErinSews]

I’m definitely going to be singing that to myself next time I make a really good toile! 😂 Thank you! I’m so happy with both of them! I definitely think you should try sone Style Arc patterns!

[@LaraSchiffbauer]

@@ErinSews Ok, I just thought of it. "I am the fitting Queeeen. Look at me and how i fix my thiiiiings."😁

[@ErinSews]

YES! I’m stealing this little jingle for all future fitting efforts

[@Heyreneesews]

I have the Francesca and the Montana. I have Not made them yet. Thank you for the heads up!❤

[@ErinSews]

I’m so glad the review was helpful for you!

[@kgflcreations]

Hi Erin, I love this blouse on you! It fits you well and that ruffled neckline/collar is perfect 🤩. I don’t own a Style Arc Pattern, so there’s no judgement from me 😆😆. Thanks for sharing 💕💕

[@RunningWithScissors-th8jo]

The Francesca is gorgeous! Love the ruffles! I have not sewn a Style Arc before.

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! The toile was definitely worth the effort, and I really like the different look of the ruffled collar. Definitely pick up a Style Arc pattern if you see one you or your daughter like. I think you have enough experience to figure anything but the craziest things out, out even if the instructions are lacking.

[@SewNotes]

I've tried 1 style arc pattern. I have a couple more but haven't gotten around to it. Your 2 makes look great!!

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! 😊 which pattern did you make? And more importantly I guess…did you enjoy making it? lol

[@rebeccagrace5753]

Both of your finished garments look great on you, Erin. Thanks for the detailed review and for taking the time to link those other tutorials as well. I'm about to start my Nova Midi dress and I'm going a size smaller based on your recommendation. Your Francesca blouse is beautiful, but I'm wondering whether you'd consider trying a size 14 Francesca with a FBA/Full Bust Adjustment if you ever made it again? I took a pattern fitting class once and the biggest takeaway was that it's easier to get a great fit in the upper chest and shoulders (if you're a C cup or bigger) if you start with the smaller size and add to the bust area versus picking your pattern size based on your full bust measurement and then trying to alter the upper chest, shoulders, upper back etc. Only mentioning it because you said your Nova Midi was too big in those areas and you said you sewed both patterns in a size 16. Like I said, your blouse looks great on you in the video, just curious if you considered sewing a size 14 with a FBA instead. Thank you!

[@ErinSews]

Thank you Rebecca! Let me know how your Nova turns out. I’ve been wearing mine SO much since I made it. I hadn’t thought of doing an FBA with a size 14 but it could be a good way to go. I only have 2” difference between my HB and FB, so it really doesn’t even cross my mind 🫣. It makes sense though, since the busy is easier to modify. I think the looseness of the size 16 on the Nova is because of a lot of design ease. The Francesca fits well in that area in the size 16, but it’s designed to be more fitted. I’m looking forward to hearing about your Nova, and thank you for your suggestion!

[@DarHarper-i8o]

Enjoyed your video. I have a Style Arc pattern but haven't used it yet. Do you cut on the solid lines for your size. You may have mentioned it but I missed it. Thank you again for the video.

[@ErinSews]

I cut a straight 14, yes I haven’t had to do any grading for Style Arc patterns, but did make a lot of adjustments to the Francesca to really nail the fit.

[@dizzyquiltsandsews]

I absolutely love your Francesca and I’m seriously considering sewing along with Stacey when she does the Celeste this month. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on both patterns. I might have missed it (and if I did, I’m sorry), but did you have to do a FBA on the Francesca at all?

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! I’m so happy I put the effort into making the toile. It was really fun to sew “with” Stacey and see what other people were saying in the comments, but there was no pressure in terms of finishing anything by a certain time. I’ll definitely do it again in the future so I say go for it if you like the Celeste! (And have time for an extra garment). I’m a B cup so I didn’t feel like I needed an FBA, but Stacey did if I remember correctly. I made lots of little adjustments so it’s almost surprising that an FBA wasn’t one of them 😂

[@karen-zb7pu]

I agree I always buy the multi size patterns. I also but pdfs so I can make changes without tracing the pattern first. When I need another copy, I can print it.

[@ErinSews]

Yes! I’ve found that I really like layered PDFs and they’re so much easier to adjust on printer paper than anything I trace on. I think some of the Style Arc patterns are layered, but not all of I recall correctly.

[@karen-zb7pu]

I love that the patterns are well drafted. A well drafted pattern can go together intuitively compared to a poorly drafted pattern. They are expensive though and I don’t know why they don’t just have five or six expert style arc fans make better instructions… the expertise is there, so this baffles me

[@ErinSews]

You’re very right about the importance of drafting! I’ve struggled to make notches line up before that were just NEVER going to line up, and it’s such a waste of time and effort. The price is higher than other companies, and in some cases I understand it, but not others. For example, I recently got the Porter Woven Pack at a slight discount, but it felt like a good value because of how many options there are. In other cases though, they’re charging a lot for what is typically just one or two views of a basic item (e.g. $13 for the Blanche Knit Dress). It almost feels like they’re sticking to their guns and refusing to update their instructions at this point, because I’m also baffled as to why they won’t make more robust instructions. The internet clearly has identified a problem and wants it fixed!

[@karen-zb7pu]

I buy a lot of my patterns from Stule arc. But I do see it as a flaw that they don’t have better instructions. They are selling patterns to home based sewers after all. What I find inexcusable is that they don’t allow their legion of fans to help w making the instructions better.

[@karenkeith7558]

I would like to offer a little more information, from a different perspective. First, there are some historical issues to consider: you all seem to have come to sewing from internet exposure. I am from an older generation, one where most girls had a middle-school class in "home ec(onomics)", which at least acquainted one with the mysteries of patterns and sewing machines. Not the best intro, but most of us had mothers or aunts or grandmothers who had made it through the Great Depression and wartime rationing in WWII, and were accustomed to sewing for family wardrobes, not as a hobby. And the '60s were the time that the economic boom started to show up across a goodly swathe of the American population, and the rest of the Western-led world. Less and less need for home sewing, and a great shift to a more youth-dominated domestic market. And as the home sewing market began shrinking, the remaining practitioners became more sophisticated in what they were sewing, and wanting to learn more high-end techniques and styles. If you have any interest in historic retro sewing, you've probably run across what the earliest home sewing patterns wee like - no seam allowances, holes for most markings, and no instructions. Because the expectation was that the seamstress was already familiar with the steps, and order of execution, and anything fancy the seamstress should learn from a practicing seamstress. American commercial patterns began adapting earlier than European pattern companies, and the European companies actually began aiming at more economically advantaged home sewing - i have a few Burda magazines, from at least 20 or so years ago, that carried special patterns for home sewing from Karl Lagerfeld. Sorry for the length, but i hope this helps you understand a little better what i'm saying. All of you who came to wardrobe sewing from an internet intro, welcome. But i must tell you that sewing is not fundamentally a book-learned skill, starting from the most basic steps all the way up to pad-stitching a lapel. You already know that - i do think that learning to use a sewing machine is greatly enhanced by having well-produced, detailed videos! But you can't produce much without a lot more guidance. It is not wise to ignore the characteristics of fabrics before you start - but how are you going to do that? Directional sewing? Difference between steaming, pressing, and ironing, and when to do what? Bias can be used so nicely - there's more to it than cutting out the fabric correctly. I have discovered how much i know from reading so much about problems people have because they don't have the background to know when they just lack a little more information. And fitting is so contentious, even among people who know how to do it. Why do you think it's the job of the pattern companies to teach you how to sew? Not to be rude, but there is a wealth of information on many successful pattern company websites offering a staggering number of how-to videos. There are also quite a few vloggers who have patreon accounts where they teach even more. But none of this should you expect to access for free, and there are no guides as to which ones are helpful and aimed at a level you can learn from. People have been sewing even longer than we've been planting crops, and there is a vast amount of knowledge. And what they offer is not cheap to have acquired, but by asking a small amount from all of us they can afford to do this. Style Arc is an Australian company, and i do not know the story about home sewing in Australia, but their instructions are fine, from my point of view, fine - in fact, they're even printing more explicit instructions than they used to - these were not produced by talented fans but by experienced, professionals who get paid for what they do well. I add that i admire the way they use diagrams to show which pieces go where - that's a great tool!

[@karen-zb7pu]

Thank you for that educational and informative answer! I love it when I learn something. And you are right, I learned from patterns rather than people and I guess I missed out! I do think sewing has the potential to make a huge come back though. People are interested in sewing and do-it-yourself in general. I would love to hear that it is brought back to schools along with cooking and auto mechanics. But this time around, let’s make it for all students.

[@ozicats]

I tend not to choose many Styl Arc patterns because to me a lot are like the dress you sewed, very oversized which is not something I like. I do like your Francesca top a lot though. It's lovely. Re the cost though, upu do seem to have that a little wrong. Single size pdf patterns are usually a few AU$ cheaper than the multisized. The Francesca for instance is $19 multi or $16 single. That's in Aussie dollars because I'm an Aussie. So thank you for your review of Styl Arc. I have to be honest and admit I found it a tad negative which surprised me but interesting. I might even buy the Francesca pattern now.🙂.

[@ErinSews]

Yes their style is definitely more of an oversized look but I’ve found that the way their drafted keeps the upper body/shoulders pretty well fitted and then I don’t feel too much like I’m being swallowed by the clothes. I recently made. The porter dress and really love it. Oops! I definitely thought the pricing thing was weird when I made the video but I must have written it down incorrectly. Thank you for the clarification! I do think Style Arc has phenomenally well drafted patterns (I’ve made 4 or 5 now? Including the Porter which I’ve made 4 times alone) but I want to make sure that my reviews are always an honest reflection of my experience. I’m glad you found it helpful! Did you buy the Francesca? I’m excited to pull mine out more now that my weather is cooling down.

[@suesmith6679]

I did a style arc dress and the instructions were practically nothing. I made facings instead of double bodice and added pockets.

[@ErinSews]

Yes the instructions are definitely sparse and I don’t recommend the patterns for beginners I continue to be really impressed by the drafting though

[@rootytootymailbox2043]

I really like the shirt you’re wearing in this video. What is it?

[@ErinSews]

Thank you! It’s the Francesca woven top by Style Arc, in a shirting fabric from JoAnn’s.

[@gericase7513]

I ordered the wrong size, so I had to email them and get another size, I’m used to having the pattern in my email once I paid for it like the other pattern company

[@ErinSews]

That's frustrating! My PDFs from them came right away, but I ordered multi-size. Did you order the PDF or the printed copy? I have heard of people having some issues when ordering single sizes

[@pjejjacques5185]

I am a confident beginner sewist and Style Arc instructions are awful. I bought one pattern and struggled to complete it. The designs are beautiful but I will never buy another one again.

[@ErinSews]

It’s such a bummer that the designs are so beautiful but the instructions are so sparse. It would be great if they had a more robust set of instructions, and then had the smaller set for “quick reference.”