Fat Pants

I have quite a stash of fabric purchased over the years in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, mostly batik and ikat. I also have a couple of pieces from Africa, given to me by one of my daughters.  I always intended to make use of this fabric. Although in the past I have used it for cushions and tablecloths, I no longer have much use for furnishing fabric, and intended to use if for clothing. After a recent reorganisation of parts of my stash, I decided to make an effort to sew myself some fat pants for summer.

A friend, with a similar stash, was also keen, so I went in search of a pattern that we could both use. Spotlight were having a pattern sale - three patterns for $12, or $18.50 each!

I bought two patterns with possible elasticised pants  (one pyjamas!) and a third pattern of a top I might use one day.

I selected two pieces of Malaysian batik. The softer of these I think, belonged to my mother.  The other I bought from a beach seller in Bali.

These were both sarong lengths.


I added a piece of Indonesian batik, purchased by the metre in Denpasar.








The pieces I really wanted to make into something wearable were two from Africa, a gift from my daughter.

One is from Ghana

and the other from Morogoro, Tanzania. This one is a slightly heavier, more open weave - exceptional quality.



I began with the largest piece, the Indonesian length,  and the largest pattern - the pyjamas.
 Because I like to carry my phone in a secure pocket, the first thing I did was to design a pouch pocket and attach it to the front left-hand side front. This meant I was not going to confuse the front and the back - in the making or the wearing.



This first one became my first prototype. It was VERY large.


I then made the largest size in the second pattern. This was Prototype 2 - quite wearable, but a little snug.

I then made a pair using Prototype 1 with a few inches removed.

and another of Prototype 2 with a couple of inches added.

At this point my friends tried them on for size, to determine which one would best suit them. Like me, they chose Prototype 2 with a couple of inches added as their preference!

 I used it to make my final pair from the Tanzanian fabric. I didn't have enough for the waist band and got the good idea of using stretch fabric rather than elastic.  While it looks good, the waist needed bringing in further than I could stretch the band, so it also has elastic.






I then removed the elastic from the original pair and inserted a 2" tuck all the way around below the waistband. They are still baggy in the legs, but comfortable and wearable.








The African ones are the smartest and my favourites - but I'm going to enjoy wearing all of these in the coming Summer.