I myself am 78 atm and I'm going to start crafting them around lvls 81-82.

Arhat's Hakama doesnt actually look like that big of a loss because all the materials except for Sheep Leather can be obtained by desynthing white mitts.

Theres a vendor in lower jeuno @ the equipment shop that sells white mitts for 4830 gil each.

for desynthing white mitts you get
NQ:Saruta Cottonx1
HQ1:Silk Threadx4
HQ2:Woold Threadx2
HQ3:Gold Threadx1

Use all the first silk thread you obtain to synth ALOT of Silk Cloths then either sell your wool thread(usually around 40k a stack) to buy Cotton Threads(usually 25-30k a stack) to make the Velvet Cloth with silk threads you obtain after making your silk cloths.(can also synth your saruta cotton into cotton thread.)

To make Velvet Cloths it takes
Earth Crysta
Silk Threadx1
Cotton Threadx2

OR

Earth Crystal
Silk Threadx1
Woold Threadx2

Either way, you can use the saruta cotton & Wool threads you obtain to make the velvet cloths, and SELL ALL the gold thread you get to break-even/profit. On alexander server atm(3-1-06) a stack of Gold Threads sell for 600k which isnt that bad considering it costs way LESS than 600k to obtain a stack through desynthing! :)

Edited, Thu Mar 2 13:40:20 2006

just hit 88 cc and can finaly stop making these...for any of you weavers that are about to start...dsynth each one...i got a sh*t load of silk back from doing it sometimes 8 at a time! was even lucky enough to hq one while skilling up...helped pay for a level or 2..good luck

they are used primarily as lvl ups for clothcrafting from lvl 82-88, enjoy a good loss during this lvl margin and plenty of leftovers