Brace yourself for some seriously tragic news – last week the zip in my beloved unicorn shorts finally gave out. NOOOOOO! After a summer of use and abuse the poor old zip had nothing left to give and ripped up alongside the teeth. Curses! So while those lovelies hang out in my repair pile for a ways (translation: wait for some new YKK zips to arrive in the post) a new pair of shorts was crafted in my epic new sewing room. Huzzah! Please say hello to my fun in the sun summer shorts…
These snazzy summer shorts are the Lander Pants from True Bias. The Landers are straight legged pants featuring a button fly, front and back patch pockets. There are three views available: View A makes up shorts, View B is an ankle length pant, and View C is a boot length pant. Given my recent shorts tragedy (RIP unicorn shorts zip) this lady went with View A to show off my rad recovering leg. Because when you have a newly reconstructed ankle you need to be showing it off!
I may have gone a little fabric rogue and made these up in a navy heavyweight milled linen from The Fabric Store. Now these bad boys have felt amazing on in the heat – the linen is super breathable with that awesome crinkle/wrinkle that I really dig. But let’s real talk – the main thing peeps (ok, I) would want to know with linen shorts is can you see your undies through the fabric? And a drumroll please…. the answer is no! The opacity is great and so far there have been no grunderpants on display. Woo hoo! Pretty much living my best linen life right now!
Construction wise these were super fun and fairly quick to put together. I found the instructions very clearly illustrated and explained. For those who prefer instructional photos there are is a very in-depth step-by-step sew along available but I found the written instructions easier to navigate. If I have one tip for new Lander Pants players it is to make sure you trim the appropriate amount off your pocket lining pieces to take advantage of turn of cloth. I didn’t do this well on one pocket and it ended with the sides of tiny cactuses being super obvious. Learn from my mistakes – trim it like its hot!
Fit wise, my measurements were pretty close to a straight size which made things heaps easier. When I basted ups the sides for the fit I ended up taking 6cm from the waistband and added 1cm to the top of each thigh for comfort. For next time I will redraft the waistband and make this curved to better fit my waist to hip ratio but it is totally fine as it currently stands and this is just a fit preference I have. Also, due to being distracted by Riverdale when cutting I totally forgot to add 1.5″ to the leg length so the hem line for these is not the fab deep hem but a dodgy micro hem. Oops! Note to self – save Riverdale for knitting time…
The Deets
Pattern: Lander Pants by True Bias
Fabric: 1.25m of navy heavyweight milled linen from The Fabric Store, cactus print cotton shirting from stash
Notions: thread, four jeans buttons
Size: 14
Adjustments: waist in 6cm, extra 1cm on the top of each thigh, hem overlocked and turned up by 1/4″
See also: Randomly Happy, Cookin’ & Craftin’, Merritts Makes
Overall, I seriously dig my new shorts. They are super comfy to wear and the pockets are all kinds of ace. Also, I feel like I am in Moonrise Kingdom with the fab button placket feature – though I wish my life was totally more of a pastel dream a la Wes Anderson! Will I be making these again? Heck yes! Though enquiring minds want to know- would a part of mushroom pink linen shorts be too much? I’m asking for a friend… >.>
These look amazing on you. Love those buttons!
Thank you, lovely lady! Yours are seriously ace as well – total holiday shorts envy over here!
Fantastic shorts! You have convinced me – I am off to buy the pattern. Though I do hope you are able to salvage the unicorn shorts. A girl can’t have too many shorts, though!
More shorts for all of us! And it is such a fun and easy pattern – having the extra ease on the side makes fitting a dream 😀
Love your shorts! Let me count the ways…navy is my favourite colour just for starters. I have totally fallen in love with linen… and for shorts? PERFECTION! I have summer around the corner (well that might a teensy exaggeration – here in Canada 🙂 ) and I’m liking the idea of linen shorts, capris, pants, tops…I discovered last summer there is no fabric on the planet cooler than linen even over cotton.
Thanks, Kathleen! I am totally with you on the Good Ship Linen – I did a big batch of blog photos on the weekend and all four pieces were linen or linen blends. Linen is what all us rad ladies are wearing! 😀
Oh Amanda! You have such a way with words 😀
Thank you so much for sharing…we are sad to hear about your unicorn shorts 🙁
Glad you were able to find something to substitute them for now until you can replace the zip. We can’t wait to give the Lander pants a go too!
I may need a minute of silence to mourn my temporarily retired unicorn shorts. Hurry up zips! The Landers are such a fun make – I can’t wait to see what stylish versions TFS team come up with 😀
Lovely post, as always! I have some heavyweight milled linen from The Fabric Store, and after I received it, I noticed that the care instructions on their web site says “Linen: Dryclean recommended to guarantee colour integrity. Do not machine wash, hand wash at your own risk. Dry coloured linens in shade (fading will occur in sunlight), hot/warm iron.” I have a hand wash setting on my washer, so in the past I’ve used that on all my handmade garments, including linen, and then hung them to dry. How are you washing your shorts?
Thanks, Susan! I am probably the wrong person to ask as I treat my me-mades pretty rough (like all my clothes). I have only done a pre-wash of my linen before sewing up and did that with a regular cold water wash. My shorts are waiting for a wash so I will report back – but I will be washing these in the machine as per normal 🙂
Those shorts look so good on you, Amanda! Amazing job!
Thank you! Am rather proud of my sassy summer shorts 😀
Loving your shorts, that colour is fab, and I hope you can get your unicorn shorts fixed soon!
Thanks, Lynne! I am really digging these but more importantly am hanging for those zips! Poor unicorn shorts!
UGHHH zips always fail on me too. I never learn my lesson and continue to buy cheap zips despite this.
I don’t know if it’s the sailor vibe or what but I kind of like your new shorts more. They would look fantastic in mushroom pink, go for it!
So glad I am not the only one with the cheap zips. I have a few dodgy ones still hiding in my stash that I need to get rid of… And yay for team pink – I am going to hunt for some rad fabric and make this happen!
Amanda I loooove these! I have been eyeing up this pattern and am now sold after seeing the shorts version made up in linen. Also whether you can see my pants through it is 100% the first thing I want to know about linen so thanks very much for the tip on these heavyweights! Haha!
The see-through test is so dang important! I did the old hold it up to the window trick and was so happy when it passed. All hail heavyweight linen 😀
These are lovely! In the past when I’ve needed a more generous hem but didn’t have the fabric I’ve made very wide bias tape and attached that with a micro seam allowance then used the bias as a facing with a nice deep seam allowance…. works a treat if you can be bothered retrohemming them!
Oh, that is brilliant!I was super bummed to loose the seam allowance and couldn’t work out how to make it happen. Huzzah!