Palisade Shorts with a Twist
I happened to travel right after making the Palisade Pants by Papercut Patterns and they were so perfect for flying that I called them my airport pants. The pockets are exactly right for keeping things handy like tickets and ID without risking losing it.
These pants were a staple in my wardrobe throughout the entire year. They are comfortable without being loungewear. A great pant for days when you want an elastic waist, but still look put together. And don’t forget the compliments, you can’t wear palisade pants without being stopped in the street asking where they are from.
Last year I made a pair of Palisade Pants and I fell in love.
So why haven’t I made more you ask? Well, I tried to make a pair of palisade shorts last summer. We were going camping and to the Grand Canyon and I thought these would be a perfect fit for that trip. Unfortunately, I was still in the stage of my sewing journey where I often had the issue of wrong fabric wrong pattern. We’ve all been there, right? You know enough about sewing that you feel confident in making most things, but you still make bad choices especially when it comes to fabric. Although frustrating, it’s a necessary stage because you learn a lot. Well, I made the palisade shorts out of canvas. The reason this didn’t work is because these pants were made for linen, they need some drape and loose-ness. Especially with the crisscross pockets, that’s 5 layers of fabric on top of each other and I tried to put 5 layers of canvas on my legs. They were stiff and uncomfortable, the elastic waistband also looked so awkward with all that bunched-up canvas fighting for space.
But still why didn’t I try them again you ask? So, like I said these are pants that a great for linen, but I wasn’t yet at the stage in my sewing journey where I make everything out of linen. That’s another stage, right? I have now discovered a love for linen, but for me it’s a little more specific than just linen. When I use linen, I like it to be soft and have a little more drape. So far, my favorite kind of linen is a viscous linen noil. Recently I purchased the washed linen from Blackbird Fabrics and that was another perfect linen choice for me. When this linen arrived, I knew I was finally ready to make another pair of palisade pants.
Unfortunately, when I was fabric shopping I read the pattern wrong and didn’t buy enough fabric. I was one pattern piece short of having enough, it was a bummer, but I decided I would try my hand, again, with shorts. After having spent a year wearing these pants I wanted to make a few changes. I really loved the style of the Clyde Work Shorts from Elizabeth Suzann so I wanted to make my shorts inspired by those.
Changes I made:
No Faux fly, just a flat front seam. To achieve this I just folded the fly out of the way and drew a smooth line following the general curve.
One single scoop pocket on each side. This process took the longest, but wasn’t that difficult. For this I omitted pattern piece 7, then I redrew pattern pieces 2 and 8 to have a scoop instead of a diagonal line.
No front panel, elastic waist all the way around. For this I just added the needed length to the waistband piece.
Less tapered on the legs, straighter leg style for extra ease. From the point of the crotch curve at the inseam I just went straight down to meet the hem instead of curving inward.
Added 2 inches of length to the hem. I wanted more length so that I could decide desired hem at the end.
I made a size medium, but adjusted the elastic to fit my waist. For reference my waist is 27 and hips 40.
I followed the sewing directions given and the only part that was a little different was how I attached the pockets and the side pieces. I made a little video to share that process:
Overall I love how they turned out and this fabric was perfect for this project. The pocket worked out well and it’s just a simple hack that adds a bit of variety to my wardrobe. I think if I made another pair I would take out some ease in the waist, but these are a great comfy pair of shorts for the summer.