RANT Pants
•Posted on June 05 2024
Over the past year we have been running out of our best Rant pant styles and we have received many requests for these great wardrobe basics. I have been behind the scenes testing out fabrics and finding the best options for our favourites, and of course I ended up choosing Japanese made cottons for them.
So it made sense that the winter RANT collection would be simply named 'RANT Pants' because that is what the collection is all about. I picked a few essential shapes, wide leg, slimmer leg and a cropped Culotte shape to make the selection of Japanese fabrics in.
The Helen Pants - We have been making these since 2017 and back then we made a denim version which is still being worn and loved 7 years later, but it was time to do a 2024 version of the denim Helen pants. The denim I chose is a lighter weight than most of the denims I have previously used, this Japanese denim is a black one with a nice soft handle. It looks great in our classic wide leg shape and so so so comfy, I have lived in mine lately and in this denim I will be able to wear them most of the year.
We have a new fabric for our black Helen pants, it's a Japanese textured suiting fabric, the surface is a matt finish, no sheen at all which makes them a darker black, and they are a soft handle not a crisp fabric. I have an extra roll of this fabric so we will be running them as a basic, so if we run out of your size, email us.
RANT Pants has a limited run of garments in a nice yarn dyed check fabric, which is a dark blend of green and ink colours in a small check. As a subtle contrast I used a tartan check fabric, also yarn dyed, and using the same colours as the small check.
This fabric was used for two styles of pants and the Carrie Vest. In the pants I went for the wide leg Helen pants and the slimmer leg of the Sigrid pants. I used the tartan contrast for the pockets on both pants. The Helen pants only have front pockets and they are trimmed with a cotton ribbon and stitched in black thread. The Sigrid pants have their front pockets trimmed with strips of the awesome selvedge from the fabric and both the front and back pockets are stitched in a silver contrast thread.
Hilda is here again but a very different feel in this new Japanese denim, the same fabric as the denim Helen pants. The Hilda offer the slim shape (same shape as Sigrid) and has front and back pockets, stitched in silver thread and with raw edges so they fray nicely. I love this effect, that is why the Helen, Sigrid and Hilda all have raw edged pockets.
All those three pant styles have my stretchy organic cotton waistband on them and I have done a few tweaks for these new versions. I found inconsistencies between batches of fabric made the sizing hard to get the same each time. Each batch would shrink differently and a few people gave me feedback that some were a little more fitted than others. So I have had a new batch of our organic cotton stretch fabric knitted and dyed so this should keep me going for waistbands for a few years, so each will be cut from the exact same fabric. The new waistband has a bit more stretch in it, from 8% spandex to now 14% spandex, and the fabric is a little thicker, from 220gsm to now 265gsm.
All this info may not mean much to some of you but I like to 'geek out' on the intricacies of textiles, small changes make a big difference to the end result and performance. I think this new band is great, loose enough to be super comfy but fitted enough to hold your pants up without having to adjust them. I would love to hear feedback from you if you purchase one of these new pants, have I got it just right?
A year ago I purchased this beautiful Japanese printed corduroy. It's not a heavy cord fabric, this is a shirting weight (150gsm) and is a fine wale cord printed with this cute floral emblem. I decided to have a roll of the black and an olive green colourway, enough to make one style from. I originally thought of making a skirt from it but as my collection was 'RANT Pants' I thought a pant style was more appropriate. The fabric just had to be be made into a wide leg cropped length culotte style I thought. The Cord Culottes are the same shape as the Whisper Culottes from summer, with deep front pockets, elastic and drawcord waist and a cropped length. They look great with knee high socks and boots, with any top shape, fitted, or loose and boxy.
To go with all these pants I knew we needed some tops and it would be the perfect time to use a fabric I have been waiting to use. I found this awesome stretch cotton jacquard that was 'deadstock' fabric from the Italian label Moschino. The surface pattern reflects the light differently adding to the texture and I wanted to work with this to put it in two very different styles.
I wanted to have a simple boxy tee style top, something to wear over a long sleeved top or on it's own, something with a loose sleeve and the right length to sit over your pants. I added a bamboo neckband to the highish scoop neck and simple roll hemmed sleeves and hem. This became the Mia top (shown above).
The Freya Vest is the opposite to the Mia top. It has 10 panels to create the shaping, where it's semi fitted over the bust and lightly flares our over the hips to sit over the top of your pants. The centre front seam is stitched open then has a decorative zig zag stitching across the open seam, which looks even better after being washed as the edges are raw. The funnel neck gently scoops up and splays out making it sit nicely either up or scrunched down. The neck edge, armholes and hem are all raw with a line of stitching to control the fraying. I love this look, but I actually love everything about this vest, it's my new 'go to' garment to add to outfits to elevate it to something dressier.
These are the main pieces from the RANT Pants collection along with a black version of the Carrie Vest and some essential bamboo pieces. The Subtle top is back, in black and ink, and we have made more Multitude tops in black and ink also. I styled the range with two bamboo pant options, a wide leg with the Cleo pants, and narrow with the Nellie pants. I also added the Lynne tunic as a longer top option which works perfectly over any of our pants.
To top it all off I added some warm cosy knitwear pieces to match the collection. These are by Luna gallery who custom knitted this beautiful Fir Green colour in the Roll Neck Jumper and Rib Sleeve Cardi. I also have those styles in a dark ink colour. These colours look so perfect with the Japanese yarn dyed check fabric of the Sigrid and Helen pants and many others.
We are only making very small ranges these days and recutting certain sizes as we can if fabric is available. This collection we made in most styles, 4 of each size in S-XL and 2 in size XS. They are all made with love and care.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Sarah
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