Let's Sew Embroidered Lederhosen! Or, The One Where Rebecca has Lost her Mind

Strange Men in Lederhosen, photo courtesy of Google  ;-)

So my kids' school is doing a production of Willy Wonka Jr. in a few weeks, and they sent an email out to parents with a list of props and costume items they were hoping someone could donate or loan for use in the production.  One of those items was lederhosen for Augustus Gloop.  We have a pair of lederhosen that belonged to Bernie when he was a child, so I brought them in...  Alas, our Augustus Gloop is bigger than Bernie was when he fit into these leather shorts.  Then, because I am that rare combination of an insane person who is also a showoff, I heard these words coming out of my mouth: "I'll bet I could make him a pair of lederhosen out of some brown microsuede fabric that I have sitting around in my sewing room."  There were witnesses to this lunacy, and now I am officially responsible for costuming Augustus Gloop.  In lederhosen.  With no pattern, and no experience sewing any kind of shorts or pants, EVER. 

Bernie's lederhosen weren't embroidered; they were just decorated with leaf-shaped leather appliques, but my internet search for photo inspirations turned up quite a few embroidered versions.  Embroidering microsuede is sure to be a nightmare, which is right up my alley.  Fun, fun fun!

Here's the plan: I'm going to attempt to make a muslin pattern from the existing lederhosen by turning them inside out and tracing along the seamlines.  Then I'll add an inch or two to the length and width, sew the muslin together, and have the Augustus actor try them on for fit.  If the muslin fits, it's my pattern.  If not, I tweak it until it does fit.  I'm going to raise the waistband a bit, like the lederhosen dude on the right, so I can use the straps from Bernie's real lederhosen instead of having to mess with buckles etc.  I just have to put buttons on my shorts that fit the buttonholes on the lederhosen straps.

My microsuede fabric is soft and drapey, not stiff like the leather lederhosen, so I'm going to try to interface it with some Pellon stuff.  Can you fuse interfacing to microsuede?  I don't know -- but I'm going to find out!  The embroidery will be the fun part...  Here are some of the things I found online:

I am NOT going to attempt to put pockets on my lederhosen, but the shoe lace ties on the green pair might be fun...