Fleece Warm-Up Pants

Thank you so much for the compliments on the vintage shirt. I'm going to wear it tomorrow and see how it fares under an all day wear test. I'm glad you are enjoying the series, it should be fun to see how each shirt turns out.

***Jessica: I saw your comment and would like to take you up on the offer to help with the missing monogram! Please email me (I can't find an email address for you), using the link on the right, and we will work something out.***

My husband asked me a while back to make him some fleece warm-up pants to wear from the gym to the car to drive home after he works out, after work. No problem. I have a pattern, Butterick 3515, for elastic waist pants that would work and would take only a couple of hours to make.


At least I thought it would, until he asked for side zippers at the hem. Then we got into a discussion and it turns out he wants pockets (for the stuff: cell phone, keys, ipod, wallet) and a drawstring. Hmmm. By this point I knew this wasn't going to be a two hour pants project. I then suggested a waist/belt treatment as seen on quite a few of the pairs of hiking pants that we own between the two of us. There is a belt that is run through the waistband, like an elastic waist, but exits through holes under the belt loop:


So, armed with the pattern, fleece, a pair of lighter weight warm-ups, and a pair of hiking pants I started the project. First thing I noticed is that there seemed to be a lot of extra fabric in the pattern I was using. A little comparison of the warm-ups and pattern, confirmed this, so I folded out some extra from the leg pieces in the center of the pattern pieces. I suspected this as athletic/lounge pants have become a bit more narrow in the leg since this pattern was published in 1994.

I then started to work on the pockets. I wanted to attach the pockets to the outside of the pants, so as to create less bulk. Between the fleece and stuff, there would be plenty of bulk. I measured, cut, and lined the pockets. Once the opening edge was top stitched, then I attached the pocket to the front pant leg. The side where the pocket is attached to the leg was top stitched only in the waistband area. The pocket is only attached up to the point where the waistband will be. This allows for the top of the pocket to eventually become a very wide belt loop.


The next thing to make is the opening for the belt to pass through. I reinforced the fleece with some fusible interfacing and made the buttonholes. As you can see from the photo below, the belt will come through openings, but be covered by the belt loops. Trust me, there is a large buttonhole there, it is very hard to photograph black!

This is sort of how the front will look when finished:

I still need to attach the waistband facing. I cut this piece separate in cotton rather than doing a cut-on facing because it would be less bulky than two layers of fleece, plus belting and elastic. I should be able to get that done this afternoon and the pants finished enough for a fitting. I'd rather make sure these fit like he wants than to pick out a 4 thread serged seams!

Parting Shot: Very Close. This is about the closest I've seen two of the three cats. Wellie certainly has established himself as the man of the house and very independent, so I was surprised to see him sharing the space with Pix.