Monumental Shorts

I'm back!We spent an amazing three weeks in the USA. It was crazy and a little bit hectic, but we saw so much and had a blast! I did a little bit of sewing before the trip, and managed to photograph two new garments. This is the first one, a very boring basic pair of shorts against a not-so-basic background:

Welcome to my blog, man on the right.

This is the shorts version of the Named Alexandria peg trousers, with a few modifications. I had a small piece of this textured linen in my stash and wanted something breezy with an elastic waist to take on this trip, since I knew it was going to get really warm (and there was going to be FOOD).

This is a very simple pattern that reminds me of those sporty shorts with the curved hem, but with a few special details. There are a few pleats in the front, one of which sort of hides the pocket openings (it's hard to explain but it looks interesting).

I made a few changes to the length and shape of these. When I tried them on before hemming the high-low hem was so pronounced it looked ridiculous on me, with the back almost reaching my knees (not a good length!). I shortened the entire thing and made the difference between the front and back a bit less obvious. This is not a garment that can be considered 'flattering' with all the extra fabric around my butt, but it was exactly what I needed for this occasion!

The waist is finished with elastic inserted into a channel and an added drawstring. I later used this to tie a rock to my towel to try and fish my hat out of a ravine. It has since been reinserted.

The pattern has you finish the hem with facings and I did cut them out, but after changing up the hemline (and eyeballing it) I opted to finish it with a bias tape facing.

I'm not sure if I'd make the long version of these, I think there is room for a looser-fitting pair of lightweight trousers in my life, but I'm not sure if I like the shape of these enough... I might make the shorts again in jersey to replace some pyjama shorts that have gotten too big/worn out!

These will be packed away until next summer now, sadly enough. I have one more really summery garment coming up!