Mending celana oranye untuk bepergian

I last mended these cotton pants back in March 2021. They belong to a friend who bought them in Indonesia a number of years ago and used them as comfortable pants to wear when travelling (celana untuk bepergian) - particularly on planes. When they split, I offered to mend them, using patches of Indonesian batik, of which I have plenty. 

They are now patchwork pants and keeping them going has become an amusement, challenge and narrative. With another long flight coming up in a couple of months, my friend discovered yet another split.

Of course it's mendable, say I. 

I raided my container of cotton off-cuts for a suitable piece to reinforce the inside of the tear.

The tear was against a pocket. It didn't take much to undo one pocket edge to place the patch underneath.

I  zigzagged around on the outside, then stitched down the edges on the inside. This won't be seen.

I could then place a patch on the outside to cover the mend. This time I used a piece of Dancing Spirit Brown from the Aboriginal Fabric Gallery in Alice Springs. It fitted with the colour scheme, and seemed appropriate. 

I'm invoking protection for the wearer, rather than protection of the pants!

It was an easy matter to stitch the pocket back down.

So the pants can keep travelling, and protecting their wearer. There's a way to go before the orange disappears and the orange travel pants become batik travel pants. When that happens it will be time to introduce orange patches. 

Salamat Jalan!