OK I guess I'm doing a little write-up about my monpe pants!
So many people want my pants, and trust me: you can have them!!
Caveat: this is a traditional Japanese garment with a long history and made to be worn with kimono. I'm not Japanese and know nothing about the history of monpe or the crafting techniques involved, I literally just looked at the diagram @/prince-rosalium posted, looked at some monpe other people have made, thought well that's not hugely different from the European medieval clothing I know how to make, and went from there. I have altered - westernized! - my monpe to be worn without kimono, so they do look different from true monpe, but still have all monpe advantages, which are splendid and manifold.
I’m splitting this post into two shorter ones, to preserve my sanity.
Part 1: Pattern and sewing
Part 2: Adjustments and finishing
Ok, here we go. Monpe write-up part 1 after the readmore:
Monpe pants part 1: pattern and sewing
Here's how monpe work: You cut four mostly identical rectangles, fold over the upper outside corners, join the rectangles in the middle front and middle back, add a square gusset to add to the crotch depth, close down the legs, and add ties. Optionally, the legs can be tapered to be narrower. The front piece is tied in the back, the back piece tied in the front, and the waist is adjusted to your true waist circumference with pleats, darts, or elastic. Theoretically, you don't even have to make any other cuts beyond those four rectangles / gusset / ties, which makes this a fantastically low waste pattern.
I made my specific monpe from midweight wool fabric and lightweight linen, added tailored pleats, and hid the slits in the side seams with further lining, so they're a bit more engineered beyond "stick rectangles together". This is fairly heavy fabric, so I wanted to reduce bulk around my waist as much as possible and wanted the wool to drape nicely. I could have added pockets, but... forgot!
People have asked about fabric recommendations, and as far as I know, you can use basically anything. Linen. Quilting cotton. Wool. Denim. Handspun handwoven hand-dyed fabric, obviously, and I'm totally not glancing at several of my mutuals here. Each fabric will behave a bit differently - with thick wool, you might want to cut off the triangles at the top and not just fold it under to reduce bulk; with linen, that would be unneccessary. I lined my wool monpe with linen because the pure wool would have been a bit too scratchy otherwise.
These can be sewn completely by hand, if you prefer - it's exclusively straight seams. It's very easy. All fabric edgs in this can be finished however you want - I serged all my edges on both top fabric and lining, because both are rather fragile and I wanted less bulk. You can also make french seams, or felled seams, or just zizag the edges if you've got stable enough fabric.
Here's the basic pattern diagram for monpe.
And here's how I have adjusted it according to my own measurements:
I really do advise making a mock-up version from cheap fabric first, because you will likely have to fudge around with the gusset a fair bit to find what works for you.
You need these measurements:
waist (the narrowest part of your body)
hip (widest part of your body)
waist to ankle (leg length)
crotch depth (length from front waistband, between your legs, to the back waistband)
Check if 1/2 of your hip width (= one trouser leg width) actually fits well around the middle of your thigh! If not, add a few more cm, so your trouser legs sit comfy around your thighs. You can also add a cm or two to your basic rectangle width, for more roomy pants. If you're fat this is a neutral term, measure your waist and hip width while sitting down - more soft tissue to move around means your tissue will behave differently between standing / sitting.
The rectangles are cut like this:
2 x front: 1/4 of your hip width x leg length
2 x back: 1/4 of your hip width x (leg length plus ca. 2 cm)
The back pieces are a little bit longer than the front pieces to add more room for your butt. :) You can also ignore that, like I did, and make four fully identical rectangle pattern pieces.
Remember to always add seam allowances.
Optional: Mark the following points on your fabric, to make variations to the mock-up easier: edges of the folded-under corners; start of the square gussets on all legs; start and end of the leg taper.
Ok, once you have your fabric cut, we can start:
Fold over one upper outside corner of each leg rectangle - my folded triangles are about 25 cm by 5 cm. (If you use really heavy fabric, you can also cut them off and finish the raw edges.)
Close the middle seam in front and back, in a straight line from waist to wherever your gusset should start. Where is that? About half of your crotch depth minus a few cm. Don't worry, we'll adjust this later.
Ok, add the square gusset:
Gusset size: around 20x20 cm
I cut my gusset 21x21 cm and placed it 31 cm away from the top edge.
Adding square gussets is a bit complicated, but here's an excellent video by Morgan Donner on how it works: Watch it. Trust me, watch it, then it will make sense.
Close the inside leg seams:
Here, you need to decide if you want to taper your legs, and how narrow you want them to be. I started the taper at around my knees, tapering down to a 43 cm hem circumference. If you're making a mock-up, you can simply make one leg tapered and one leg straight, and compare the difference directly.
Close up the outside leg seams, from where the folded corners start, to the hem. Add the optional taper at the same place you started it on the inside (that's why marking it ahead of time is a good idea).
Congratulations, you have the rough approximation of trousers! Go take a break and drink some water.
Edo period types of hakama pants, fantastic chart by Edo-lover Nadeshico Rin. You can see here from left to right, top to bottom:
Fundomi hakama 踏込袴 - pants with a narrow bottom hem, a type of nobakama (see below)
Tattsuke hakama 裁付袴 - pants tight below the knee, sometimes refered as "ninja pants" (= Iga hakama). Those were worn by many, from samurai to servants and craftmen.
Umanoribakama 馬乗袴 - lit. "riding pants", wide hakama with high gusset split legs for confortable horse riding.
Nagabakama 長袴 - formal trailing hakama worn by samurai from late Muromachi era.
Andonbakama - skirt-like hakama worn by Meiji period female teachers and students (hence why it's sometimes called onna bakama). A boy version appeared after mid-Meiji.
Yamabakama 山袴 - daily-life work pants with narrow legs and sometimes a gathered bottom hem. Name greatly varies depending on areas and time. A direct descendant of this style are women's monpe もんぺ.
Nobakama 野袴 - shorter hakama with black velvet hem, worn by travelling samurai. It was also part of firefighters' gear.
Hirabakama 平袴 - the "classic" ankle lenght men hakama pants, with a low gusset which means it looks nice when sitting (tailoring is hence different from the umanori, see above). Also called hanbakama 半袴, those were longer than the ancient kobakama 小袴 and shorter than formal trailing nagabakama (see above).
As soon as I saw @prince-rosalium's awesome and informative post about monpe, I knew I had to make some eventually.
Then I went to the fabric store and found canvas printed with poison flowers and dragons for just $4.99 a yard, and knew I had to make some immediately:
...Okay, so sewing pants by hand isn't what I'd call immediate, but the point is that I dove right in, and I think they came out really well!
Here's what they look like on! I decided to make them tie on the sides instead of wrapping around, just because I figured that would be less of a pain to get in and out of. I also took my own measurements instead of going strictly by the instructions, just because I didn't want any weird surprises. They still came up a little shorter on me than I expected, but I'm honestly not even mad? They can show a flash of cool socks depending on the shoes I'm wearing, and the shortish tapered legs are actually better for me specifically, because I ride an ebike everywhere and it's nice to have them up and out of the way.
The slits on the sides might be a problem for some people, but as a Skirt Person, I'm already used to bike shorts for modesty/leggings for warmth layering situations, so it doesn't really register. And if you are also a Skirt Person, let me just say that these are a Skirt Person's Pants! The gusset makes them easy to move in and the ties make it easier to get a perfect fit than most conventional pants fastening situations.
Best of all, if you can thread a needle and understand a simple-ish diagram, I'm pretty sure you can make these! I know I'm saying this from the perspective of someone who has been sewing casually for over a decade, but consider:
The sewing in question involved small items and decorative alterations. This was my first time making large garments from scratch!
I'm dyscalculic. Like, "I have to squint for a bit to tell if I'm looking at four objects or five" dyscalculic. "Operating a calculator presents its own set of problems" dyscalculic. "Righty tighty lefty loosey means nothing to me" dyscalculic. (Caveat: I am also "visual/spatial skills are intact and in fact overdeveloped due to compensation" dyscalculic. I'm a champ at eyeballin' shit!)
I do not own a sewing machine, and the only time I've owned an iron was a half-broken one that I thrifted to put transfers on something once like a decade ago.
...And yet, I made my own pants! I think they look especially cool with hoodies and boots:
In fact, they are so cool (and seriously comfy) that when canvas went on super-sale again, I couldn't resist getting more:
Sometimes I dream of buying a super old traditional Japanese house in the countryside and live away from all the commerce and stressful crap 🤪 It sure will be freezing in Winter and full of bugs in Summer but - haven’t you dreamed of it too? #yukata #monpe #kimono (at Sado Island) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZwqIxmpZGj/?utm_medium=tumblr
Here is a pair of re-worked vintage Japanese monpe (farmer pants) that I did for my pal Michiyo @lilwoodsvintage I sewed the sides up and added a large pocket on either side made from vintage kimono. Added a drawstring waist made from vintage indigo Chinese futon fabric, added some other vintage Japanese fabric scraps for a patchwork design and did a little (amateur) sashiko stitchwork. I think they came out well. #horseandanchor #sashiko #monpe #katazome #indigo #vintagetextile #drawstring #boro #lilwoodsvintage #japanesefabric #chinesefabric #ethnictextiles
Now it's time to add closure so you can figure out the waist and make adjustments:
Pin or tack some temporary ties to the top of your trousers, where the folded-under corners are. Now add little pleats or folds or gathers to the top of your trousers, where the waistband will sit, until you reach a little bit more than half your true waist circumference. I put in two pleats, but you can put more if needed. You basically mold the waist circumference of the pants to your actual waist, with a little bit of overlap. Pin or tack those pleats down. Do the same for the back piece.
You could also simply add channels for elastic to your waistband, and skip this step.
Put on your trousers! Tie in back, tie in front. Or the other way around. Look at the square gusset and your folds. Look good? Look bad? You can adjust basically everything here, and see how it changes the fit of the pants.
Gusset:
If the square gusset sits too low or is too small, you won't have enough room for your butt to move around; if it sits too high or is too big, you'll have too much fabric bunching between your legs and the pants legs might be too narrow for your thighs.
Pant legs:
Tapered? Not tapered? Too tapered? This is mostly about personal preference and proportions, so maybe take a photo from a bit away and check how the silhouette looks on you. You can also keep the legs straight and add elastic around the hems.
If the legs feel too tight way below the gusset, open up the leg seams and make them a bit wider.
Folded under corners:
More fabric folded under means more room for movement, larger range of adjustment; but also a larger gap in the side seams. Less folded under fabric means less of a visible gap, but less room for adjustments.
Also check how it looks like sitting down - is there fabric sticking out at uncomfortable angles? How much of that gap is visible when you move around, and does it bother you?
Waistline pleats / folds / gathers:
Move the pleats around on the waistband until the fabric sits snugly around your waist. Decide how much overlap you want between the front and the back piece, if you like the size of your side triangles, and how much variation in body size you might need to cover. Remember that your belly and your back are a different shape, so they will likely need pleats in different places and of different depths! I only put pleats in the front, and none in the back.
Play around with all of these things a bit, and see what you prefer. Walk around a bit. Sit down. Have a snack.
At this point, I decided to close up the side seams higher, redid the square gusset five times and decided to added lining underneath the gaps in the side seams. I also gave those edges of the folded under triangles a slight curve to follow the curve of my hip, because my wool was malleable enough to allow for that. That's why mock-ups are helpful!
Once you are happy with everything, remove the temporary ties, sew down your pleats, and add the waistband.
Cut out waistband and ties: The waistband plus ties are two rectangular strips, each long enough to cover half of your waist circumference plus some length for tying, and as wide as you like. Mine are 16 cm wide (= 4cm wide ties, folded over twice) and 144 to 150cm long (= 44 to 50 cm waist plus 2x 50 cm ties). Center the waistband on the upper edge of the fabric, right sides together, sew it down about 3.5 cm away from the upper edge, fold over twice to fully encase the upper edge of the trousers in the waistband. Fold the overhanging fabric strips the same way, pin down, and sew down that open edge. Do the same for the back piece.
You're done! You have made pants!! Show me your pants!!
Addition 1: pockets!
a - add simple patch pockets before closing the leg seams
b - put inseam pockets in the edge of the folded under triangles. This only works if you first tie the back piece and than the front piece (so basically the wrong way around), so the visible knot sits in the back, and the edge of the triangle of the front piece sits outside the overlapping trouser edges. I haven't tested this yet, but it should be feasible.
Addition 2: lining!
Cut the leg rectangles and square gusset from both top and lining fabric, and sew them up exactly the same way. Then combine lining and top fabric the way it should sit in the finished trousers, and finish the upper edge with the waistband, holding both fabric layers together.
Addition 3: lining to hide the gaps in the side seams!
a - for lined pants: cut out two pieces of fabric the size and shape of the triangles you have removed from your fabric, plus seam allowance. Cut those pieces on the bias to encourage it to fold under nicely. Fold over the upper straight corner twice and sew it down - so the lining doesn't interfere with the waistband and ties. Layer it between top fabric and lining, sew it down by hand, about three mm away from the upper fabric edge. Iron it down so it lays inside, under the fabric of the pants.
I'm going to try and add a video here to demonstrate the effect, let's see if Tumblor allows it.
b - for unlined pants: I haven't tried this yet, but I would: cut triangles on the bias, the size of the folded down corners, finish the upper edge. Then I would add them before closing up the outside leg seam: sew one long side of the triangle to the front pant leg, then the second long side of the triangle to the back pant leg, and at the same time close the rest of the outer leg seam. Then iron it inside, and maybe add a tiny second seam, set back by three mm, attaching the lining to the seam allowance to really make the lining stays inside. I think I'll have to try this out soon!
Addition 4: inseam pockets AND lining AND lining to hide the gaps in the side seams?
Yes. Sure. Just do all three of the above, at once.
