It’s been a nice slow start back into my sewing. I wanted to do some planning and organise my sewing in this second half of the year. Sewing ad hoc can be fun and spontaneous but during Me Made May this year, I realised that I was short on a few essential items. Also, before my travels, I was madly sewing trousers so I could pack them. I want this second half of my sewing year to be calm and I want to be prepared before the season starts. Another part of my planning involved looking through all my patterns. I’m hoping to sew the unsewn patterns and to return to some which brings me to this Papercut Pattern classic, the Palisade Pants.
I made these about 2 years ago when I collaborated with Maai Design for their Lyocell Twill fabric. I get a lot of wear and have always meant to return to sew them. The unique pockets are the highlight of the design, and it is a popular pattern in the sewing community. The pants taper elegantly down to the ankles and is a slim fit but made comfortable by the semi elasticised waistband.
This version of the Palisade Pants is made with suiting linen. What’s the difference between linen and suiting linen you ask? Suiting linen is thicker and the weave is tighter. I didn’t realise the difference and have made trousers in the past from what I thought was standard linen, but they tend to lose their shape sooner and it isn’t as hard wearing as pants need to be.
When I first sewed this pattern, I toiled it using the shorts pattern. In hindsight, it wasn’t a good idea because the shorts are wider at the thighs. The pants are quite narrow fitting with less ease so I should have used toiled using the actual pants pattern. I remember sewing the size 4 with the original version but had to narrow the inner leg seams to make everything fit. This time, I cut and sewed the Size 5 without any modifications except to shorten the pants by 2 inches. When I re-read my previous blog post about the Palisade Pants, I said I sewed the size 5 but when I looked at my pattern pieces, they were the size 4 so I must have mistakenly thought I made the size 5. I reprinted and used the size 5 this time for my measurements of 33-inch waist, 40-inch hips.
The pockets are not the only unique feature of this pattern. Instead of side seams, there are centre front and back seams. It’s an interesting feature and I think it works well in making a clean, slim silhouette. It also helps with the pocket feature. In past toiles, I would baste the side seams and inner leg seams so that adjustments are fast to make but following the pattern, I couldn’t use that same method. Luckily, the size 5 was true to size for me once I had made the length adjustment and the waistband was easily adjusted because of the elastic.
I have sewn a lot of Papercut Patterns for good reason. I feel that so many items match my style, and the instructions and fit are always spot on. I really felt good about this sew and happy to tick another item off my handmade spring capsule.
Thanks for reading and happy sewing!
X Em
Em Sew Happy Blog 