21: Burdastyle 01/2016 112 track pants or lounge pants

I decided when the January magazine arrived that I wanted to make these:


They are 01/2016 style 112. They are lined so very warm and cozy.

I had this four-way stretch crushed velvet which I had bought and loved and thought would be good to make these in. With Hindsight maybe velvet was not my best choice. I wore them to work yesterday and decided perhaps they are best left for lounging around at home at the weekend. Despite this I do love them. Probably if I make them again it will be in normal cotton jersey not velvet though since they remind me of the velour tracksuits that were around about 10 years ago. The style is much looser than the velour tracksuits of ten years ago though.

Well I made them up as directed in the Burda magazine and I actually fall between a 36 and 38 in the Burda sizes. I tend usually to make the larger size but these looked big on the picture so I went down a size. The lining I made from a cheaper  stretch white fabric which could be polyester. I made them mostly on my overlocker but did the basting round the waist to keep the lining joined to the outer, in order to attach the waistband which you need to stretch to get it to fit, by normal sewing machine. I also used the normal sewing machine to stitch two rows on either side of the waistband side seams so I could do the gathering as directed in the Burda magazine.

Both sides of the waistband are gathered and then you stitch stay-tape on to secure the gathers. Then I used a zigzag to attach the 1 inch elastic to the inside stitching line on the waistband and put them on only to find they were absolutely huge. They were far too big to simply take in without destroying the shape. At this point I should have taken a photo to show the hugeness but I just got on with taking everything appart.
I then spent several hours unpicking my overlocking. I must be progressing a bit sewing-wise though because this is the first time I have had the patience to do this. Normally I just chop overlocked clothing and hope. And usually wreck it!

Well this time I did everything properly and carefully stitch ripped and deconstructed completely. So then I am left with the outside velvet layer with pockets attached, the inside lining layer, the waistband and my circle of elastic. I now decided to go with my own ideas and put the waistband on to see how big it is. My conclusion was the fabric is very stretchy being a four-way lycra stretch so I chopped around 4 inches off the waistband and then remade it. This time though I did not bother to redo the gathering on the side where I had rejoined the waistband into a circle so my finished garment has only one side of the waistband gathered.  This does not matter since now the waistband fits better and forms natural gathers - although the side I did not cut still has the gathers made as directed by the Burda magazine directions. Anyway having put them back together they are still very large but not so voluminous I cannot wear them. They are also perfect for lounging at a weekend although not really any good for sport since they are too big for that. All in all I will wear them but it will be round the house I think or to go to the supermarket rather than for sport or work. If I was to make them again it would be in cotton jersey or sweatshirt fabric in which case I wouldn't bother to line them although the velvet is lovely and warm and it is very cold right now in the UK. Actually that is another thing I feel I am progressing with - lining. I have never before lined a pair of trousers.


These are easy to line being so loose fitting but even then its a step closer to making "proper" well made clothing and that is ultimately what I want to aim for.

My only regret is I do not think these trousers do my fabric justice and I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before I rip them appart and make something else out of them. Still I made them, I will wear them and enjoy them for this winter at least. They do look like the Burda picture too. I just expected them to be useful for sport-wear and really I would not recommend them for sport at all. I think they will be too warm for yoga and far too loose for any more active sports.
Thanks for reading
Bracken