Buckskin Knickers

My most-viewed post on this blog is how to make buckskin pants. They're absolutely awesome and I wear them all the time. However, they get a little hot in the summer if I need to be more active. So over the winter I made some shorter pants, or knickers as some people may call them. They still cover my knees for protection but let in a lot more air and they've been great on hikes around the valley.

I was hoping the shorter pants would require only one large hide but due to the weird cuts around the crotch I still ended up having to use two of them. Also, the hides were a little thinner than the ones I had used before, so that they were less hot. Of course, making these knickers is pretty much exactly the same as making longer pants and you should definitely refer to the hyperlinked post above to get more complete information.

However, with these buckskin knickers I was hoping to simplify a lot of the more time-consuming details that made the pants such a big job so I will share those features with you here.

Buckskin Knickers

First the pockets. I love the way I made my front pockets on my buckskin pants. However, they require two layers of buckskin and I thought it would be a little too much as I wanted to minimize the amount of material to keep the knickers as cool as possible. So I opted to add two pockets on the front in the same way that I had made the back pockets on the pants, with just a squarish piece sewn directly on the outside of the knickers. They work fine but I think it looks a little weird, as if I was wearing my pants backwards. Maybe they'd look better if the opening was not the full horizontal length at the top but just in the outside corners. Still, they're very functional.

I was also hoping to do away with the belt, using a button instead. So I have a one-inch seam at the top to have two layers of materials, which I thought would prevent too much stretching. For the button, I cut a cross section of deer antler, about a quarter inch thick, and I drilled two holes in the middle to tie it  to the knickers with a buckskin thong. I also made a slit on the other, slightly overlapping side for the button to go through. Make sure to make that slit as small as possible to start with and force the button to go through it a couple of times; it will naturally stretch quite a bit.

Antler Button

I was pretty happy with the results but, buckskin being naturally stretchy, it didn't hold on my hips very tightly. So in the end I kept the button where it was because I liked it and it still served a function but I also added a belt. However, I made it as simply as possible.

Unlike the more time-consuming belt loops I had made for the pants, here I simply took a few lengths of thick buckskin thong, punched two holes vertically into the seam, threaded the thongs through and tied the ends into a knot. The knots are on the outside so that they don't cause any discomfort on the inside.

And as for the belt, I just used a thick strap about half an inch wide, twisted it on itself a little bit, and that was it. It works just as well as the more fancy belt I had made for the pants.

Belt through Belt Loops

And now for the most innovative part. Though the fly I had made for the pants is ok, it did take a relatively long time to make and it became just enough out of shape after being washed that the buttons tended to pop out of their holes by themselves. So I decided to try something new and I have to say that, so far, I'm pretty happy with the results, both in how well it works, and how easy it is to make.

Closed Fly

All I did was punch holes about an inch apart through both overlapping sides along the edge. Then I threaded a buckskin thong, about twice as long as the fly area itself, through all the holes, tying a knot at the end and making sure that the thong would go to the inside through the top hole. Here's how it looks on the inside:

Inside of the Knickers, Fly Area

To use the fly (this is designed for a male obviously) I just pull on the middle of the string like so...

Pull on String to Open Fly

... and then separate the two layers to create a hole.

Open Fly

To close it, I just pull on the string on the inside! Simple, easy to make, and effective.
But there are a couple of adjustments I would make to what you can see on the pictures. First, make sure that both sides of the knickers overlap a couple of inches for the whole length of the area. You can trim it later if needed but it's a good place to start. Second, punch your holes about an inch from the edge and not just a quarter of an inch like I did; it will prevent the fly from cracking open a little when you sit down!

Have a great summer!

You may also be interested in making other buckskin clothes to go with your new knickers so check out my posts on how to make a simple buckskin summer shirt and how to make a buckskin pullover.

If you need more guidance on how to sew with buckskin, check out my new post on the subject by clicking here.

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