[Enbee]

I just finished my first pair of Field Trip pants this weekend, and I love them! They do illustrate why I should go through the effort of pinning down my (seriously unwilling) model to actually get his measurements, as they’re a good two inches too long, but I love them anyway, and they’ll fit him eventually. I love these pants so much I finally actually posted in the Flickr group.

I want to make him a pair that fits now, though, and while I’m at it, I’d like to add a waistband, as opposed to the facing/topstitching combo that’s there. Can I simply use one from another pattern (Sketchbook? Art Museum? Sunny Day?), removing the finished waistband width (minus a seam allowance) from the top of the pants back, front and pocket pieces? If it makes a difference, I plan to omit the belt loops, since I never put a belt on my toddler.

[Lightning McStitch]

Rather than using a different pattern, why not just cut two versions of the facing.
You’ll have a waistband with a top seam, but that can be a nice feature and help prevent elastic rolling.
Or, trim the seam allowance off the top edge of the facing piece then cut it with the length on the fold. That way you avoid the seam at the top.
Either way, yes you trim the facing width, minus seam allowances from the top of the trouser pattern pieces.
Definitely do-able.

[Enbee]

Thanks! I didn’t think about cutting two facings – that certainly makes sense.

[Enbee]

Well, I muddled through – I made life hard on myself by making these out of Taslon (slippery as all get out and hard to iron) and shortening the pattern in two ways (traced length a size down and took an additional half-inch out of the upper pieces. I trimmed the top pieces twice and did it wrong both times (ugh, sewing at night), so they didn’t quite line up, and then I sewed the waistband on wrongish, but it all worked out okay in the end, and they fit him perfectly. I’m only annoyed that I’ll have to trace yet a third copy of the pattern to fix the mistakes I made this round!