Some of my favorite items of clothing or accessories that I own have been acquired during trips to foreign countries, or as gifts that family and friends have brought back from foreign counties. I love incorporating the styles of other cultures into my wardrobe to mix it up a bit and also to evoke nostalgic memories of my trip there (or if the item is a gift, to evoke lovely daydreams of what traveling to that place might be like.)
When my sister studied in Southeast Asia in college, she brought me back all sorts of goodies to wear. A favorite item she gave me was a pair of green Thai Happy Pants made out of a light weight material (likely a rayon because that's what this website uses for the fabric.) They're very flowy and comfortable, a life saver during the humid summer days in the midwest. I liked the pants so much that I wanted to figure out a way to wear them during cooler temperatures.
So...you guessed it...I made some for myself! This project does require a sewing machine but you only have to sew a few basic lines so it takes a pretty minimal skill level of sewing.
Here's what you'll need:
- 4 to 5 yards of fabric
- thread
- rope, ribbin or other material for tie (if desired)
- sewing machine
- scissors
- pins
TOTAL COST: about $10 to $20 depending upon the price of the fabric
Start by measuring how long you want your pants to be. Keep in mind that these pants are generally tied pretty high on the waist and that you'll need to leave a few inches on either side of the fabric for hems. Next, determine how wide the pants need to be. Hold the fabric in front of your body and the pants should be as wide as your waist, plus about 5 inches on each side. The pants are made up of two big pieces of fabric (pretty much giant rectangles) that are sewn together on one seam that goes under your legs and then tied on a bit like a diaper. I know...I'm really selling these pants right now. Giant diapers! Who wouldn't want to wear that?!
Cut two pieces of equal size and lay them on top of one another. Then determine how low the crotch area needs to hang (they should hang pretty low...that's why these pants are so damn comfortable) and then draw a "U" on the fabric where the crotch seam will be cut. See the photo below to see what the shape will look like.
Fold over the fabric about 1 inch all the way around the edge and pin into place. You'll then sew this line all the way around the piece of fabric to make the edges of your pants neat.
Once you've sewn around each piece of the pants, pin the two pieces together in the "U" shaped area. You'll then sew these two pieces together. In the picture below, the green dotted lines are there you'll sew a hemline and the pink dotted line is where you'll sew the pieces of fabric together.
Then, figure out what sort of tie you want on the pants. For this pair I just used pieces of the same fabric, but on the next pair I'll show I bought a nylon rope-like material to use as the ties. You need to attach your "tie" material or rope to the top four edges of the fabric (one tie to each top side of both pieces of fabric.)
Now...to put them on!
The seam which you've sewn in the "U" shaped area will go down the center of your body. Take a tie-piece on either side of the seam, hold the pants either in front of or behind your body and wrap the tie-pieces around to the other side and tie them together.
Then pull the pants through between your legs and pull them up on the other side. Take the remaining ties and wrap them around your body (whichever way you didn't wrap before) and tie them together. This sounds rather confusing as I type, but hopefully the pictures are more helpful than my instructions. I promise they're not that tricky once you get them on the first time.
This is the how this patterned pair looks on. Keep in mind that these pants are just two flaps of fabric tied around your body, so your legs can be exposed on the side (depending upon what you're doing.) When you use a heavier fabric you don't have to worry too much about flashing your legs everywhere...the lighter fabrics may flow in the wind a bit more and allow you to show off your gams if you so desire.
The next pair I made is all black (so photos might be a bit difficult to see) and I used a silky rope-like material for the ties. On the front panel of the pants I made the ties very long (probably 4 feet long) so that I could wrap the rope around my waist several times.
On the pack panel of the pants I attached three ties on each side, each about one inch apart.
And...here's the final product!
These pants are more of a Spring/Summer item, but if you're bored this winter you can make them while you dream about warm summer sun! I often wear my Thai happy pants to the beach because they're so easy to just untie and dip in the water. You can also throw them on with a tank, some ornate silver jewelry, a patterned scarf and some gladiators or moccasins and rock out the boho-chic style. Anyway you wear em, you can rest assured that you'll be super comfy and feel like a bit of an international traveler.
Song to get you going: Dengue Fever - Seeing Hands
