Style Arc Barb pants...

with a couple of design alterations. 

OK, so I bought this fabric last year at Fine Fabrics in Harrogate, and got 1.5 metres to make a hoodie.  The fabric is fabulous stuff, it has a wonderfully deep, white coloured pile on the back, all plushy and furry and soooooo soft and warm.  The dog likes it too.  As you can see in the photo, she has dragged some of the left over pieces into her basket to lie on.  :) 

When I laid the pattern out to check the layout I found I could squeeze some trousers out of the fabric alongside the hoodie even taking account of the with nap layout that was necessitated by that lovely plush backing.  Rather than buy yet another pattern, I figured I could use the Barb pants as a basis for my design.  I added pockets and used ribbing for the waist instead of the waistband provided in the pattern, but they are otherwise just as designed. 

The ribbing was sourced from McCulloch and Wallis in London and, very annoyingly, my two metres turned up as two single metre cuts which meant there were silly length leftovers.  To use them for a future project I'll have to seam them together.  However, it is some of the nicest ribbing I've used.  The attachment edge is longer than the finished folded edge, making it much easier to apply and to get it to fit nice and smoothly.  The colour is close to my fabric colour, and the two little stripes in the ribbing give a really professional finish. 

For the waist treatment I used the ribbing that matched the hoodie and some two and a half inch elastic which I seamed into a circle, set up inside the ribbing (which I had also sewn into a circle with the top edge fitting my waist) and then applied the ribbing to the top of the completed trousers.  As the ribbing had the longer attachment edge, this went on reasonably smoothly.  I say reasonably smoothly because my overlocker decided to choose that particular weekend to pitch several epic fits, one of which naturally occurred whilst I attached the waist ribbing.  The tantrums turned into serious illness and its now gone off to the sewing machine hospital, leaving behind it a half completed hoodie.  

The pockets are from the Burda yoga pants that match the hoodie pattern I was using. (from BWOF 11/2006).    The pockets fit on the Barb pants really well with no alterations required.  The seam allowance is turned in on the bottom and the side that will be applied to  the trousers and top stitched into place, then the top and the side seam edge of the pockets are tacked to their respective edges and then caught into the seams.  Super simple, but the pockets are a nice size and I'm pleased with the look.

I had planned to put some of the cuffing on the bottom of the trousers but they looked so smart without that I just hemmed them up by hand with a straight hem.

I can't tell you how pleased I am with these trousers.  They feel wonderful with that lovely furry backing and are so warm and I think quite smart as sweat trousers go.  I plan to wear them with the hoodie as exercise wear for my morning work out that at some point I plan to re-start... you know, sometime, when it seems right, but maybe not actually today, or even tomorrow... or on a cold day... 

When the hoodie is done I'll take some shots of me actually wearing them both.