Making Mompei trousers
Weaver Kaz Madigan of the Curiousweaver studio alerted me to a free pattern on her website for making mompei trousers, a traditional Japanese pattern. The pattern was originally published in Curious Weaver mag 25 years ago and is ideal for narrow widths of handwoven fabric.
A Japanese friend said her grandma used to wear them.
I ran up a pair on the weekend. They were really fast to cut and sew, and zero waste too.
The back and the front are almost the same.
The instructions are like a brief recipe, and because they’re so easy fitting there’s a lot of leeway with the measurements.
This is how I cut mine:
(This is one leg; I cut a pair like this.)
I cut the front and back together so there was no side seam.
Wasn’t sure if they were calf or ankle length – I made mine long (I’m 5’6″ with “average” length legs). I have a 3.5cm foldover for a waist casing and 1.5cm hem included in my pattern.
Note that there’s no height added to the back waist however they’re so loose they don’t seem to need it. I could put these on back to front and not notice.
It’s been stored folded and has faded on the folds – would that be called reverse Shibori?
The traditional closure for mompei trousers is to have ties at the waist. The ties can be wrapped around the waist and tied, or just tied at the sides. I made a waist casing and put elastic in mine.
As I cut mine with no side seams I can’t make in-seam pockets, but I have a strip of fabric left which I think I’ll use for patch pockets.
The verdict: they’re very comfortable! While I’m not an elastic-waist trouser wearer, I do wear pajamas and think this will be a great way to cut them from now on.
Thanks Kaz!
Cheers!
PS – Freya, here are some photos of how they sew together:
The triangle is stitched to the back to form sort of a square-cut crotch.
The centre front of the trousers continues straight from waist to ankle.
Fabulous! An Australian weaver, Chris Jakku, wrote the original article for Curiousweaver Journal some time ago… 25 years ago sounds ancient…maybe it is. Great pants with lots of flexibility. Thanks Liz.
Thanks so much Kaz, they were a lot of fun to make.
These look great. I need to make some kids’ PJ and play trousers, and these should be quick and easy. Always up for a good zero-waste pattern for basics.
How much movement does the gusset allow? I made a pair of trousers that were basically a lengthened version of medieval braies, and the point where the inseam attaches to the gusset is prone to tearing.
Movement is good, and the gusset is good but if it were narrower I can see there would a weak point where it joins. Also wouldn’t want the crotch any lower.
These would be great in a stretch fabric.
Very good, will try these when my mojo comes back.
Cheers Sheila, file this one away. Hope the mojo returns.
What a great pattern! How much do you think they could be shortened? I mean, I’m thinking about a more cropped leg, something like a Capri-length, but that’s also raising the gusset and the crotch too?
Hmm…they could easily be 3/4 length. I wasn’t sure what the length should be, but I cut my gusset triangle 5cm longer than the pattern (I would think you’d cut it half the length of the inside leg measurement). I don’t think I’d want the crotch depth to be any deeper on mine.
These are so easy-fitting there’s quite a bit of room to experiment 🙂
I love these kind of easy no waste patterns. I’ve never been very good at sewing from a pattern. Ive been searching for a comfy pyjama pants pattern – either with a low crotch or ideally a gusset – do you know of a simple loose pants pattern with elastic waist and a generous crotch gusset ?
Hi Joanna, there are two free ones on this website: https://lizhaywood.com.au/free-pattern-pajama-pants-shorts/ and one with a gusset https://lizhaywood.com.au/nailed-it-zero-waste-trousers-with-diamond-gusset/ which got updated for scrubs trousers https://lizhaywood.com.au/free-pattern-scrubs/ There are also potential pajama pants as part of Decode’s scrub set https://decodecodecode.com/ZERO-WASTE-SCRUB-SET.
The mompei trousers in this post were commandeered by my daughter and have been worn LOTS as pajama pants.
As a beginner sewer and and environmentalist, I have been searching for simple, easy patterns for comfortable clothes. I was excited to find your website and the really zero waste trousers with the gusset, exactly what I’m looking for. These mompei trousers look great too, but the links to curious weaver’s site don’t yield the pattern. Is there any way you can reveal how they go together?
Hi Freyda, I’m so sorry I didn’t see your comment.
I cannot find the mompei pattern despite looking and looking, but I’ve added some extra photos to the end of this post with text on them. I hope it helps, and very sorry for not replying before.
Liz, you are a darling! Adding those photos of the layout and how they go together made it so much more understandable! You certainly are much more than a celebrity of the Zero Waste design field. Your kind reply to a rank beginner shows how much you really care about changing the wastefulness rampant in this society. Bless you!!!
Hi Freyda, thank you for your very kind comment 🙂