I've made a few of the StyleArc Barb pants which are recommended for bengaline, or stretch fabrics. I've had success making these in bengaline, stretch cotton sateen and ponte. They don't have any pockets though. StyleArc recently released the Airlie pants that seemed similar but have pockets so I was keen to give them a try.
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I swear I hadn't had a drop of alcohol, despite the drunken face!!!
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They do look very similar to the Barb pants. However when I made the Barb pants, unusually for me I had to shorten the legs by quite a bit. I stupidly assumed the same would apply to the Airlie, so didn't check the length. They are a bit short. I ended up hemming with a 3/8"hem and even so they are too short. I used the length of elastic recommended for the size I made, but find that they pull down when I sit, so next time I need to lengthen the legs and shorten the elastic.
The pockets were super fiddly. The instructions given were hopeless and refer you to their tuition on youtube. However the youtube video was terrible quality. The audio was hopeless, I just couldn't make out most of what they were saying. I gather the person sewing was the person who normally test sews their garments and is a professional sewist. However a professional sewist does not a teacher make. She went too fast, trying to figure out how the fabric was manipulated from the video involved a lot of replays. It took me an hour to do each pocket! However I am happy with the final result, albeit there is a tiny bit of puckering in the corner.
More shots
I should probably go up a size to get rid of those wrinkles at the back, but the fabric is so stretchy I don't think it will matter and it fits well across the butt. I may just add 1/4" to the thighs and see if that makes a difference.
The fabric was only $6 bought online from Backstreet Bargains so for a cheap pair of pants it is a fair result. I have some more bengaline in black so I'll make up another pair with alterations.
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