Just because I am backpacking don’t mean I can’t make pants.

Recently I have been wearing the Mu Mu of Modesty as a dress but there are a couple of problematic, pressing issues.

The pressing being my sweaty, chubby thighs rubbing on each other. The problem? The resulting chafing! I tried talc.

In this heat it lasts about 5 minutes before being sweated off. The solution? Bloomers! Very light weight shorts I can wear under my dress.

I looked round the bazaars but all the shorts on sale were more knickers then bloomers. They were so short the thighs would have remained uncovered. Most of my butt would have remained uncovered come to that. And, though they say the fabric is cotton, I suspect synthetics are involved. It is like no cotton I have ever worked with.

So, enthused by my successful scarf making activities (it might not sound like much but I am backpacking), I decided to make some shorts. I invested in a tape measure – sadly I could only get a plastic one and bought some cotton fabric from Bangkok China town.

I used my loon pants as a pattern. I traced it onto newspaper measuring to double check. I tacked my newspaper pattern onto the fabric. No pins you see.

I cut the pants out with my straight metal nail scissors. It took forever and hurt my fingers. Found I had made a huge mistake and they were way to tight. Had to add panels to the side.

I sewed them using thread from the market – no idea wether it was natural or synthetic but it came unpackaged and on a cardboard tube. Needles I had with me – I find they come in very handy when backpacking. I used cotton ribben for the drawstring.

It counts as part of my Fair Share Fabric Project.

In 2015 I pledged to  use no more than my fair global share of fibres and they have to be sustainably sourced. Whats a global share? 11.74 kg per person of which 3.8 kg is natural fibres.  You can see how I am doing here.