The Pietra Shorts by Closet Core
- December 11, 2021
- 2:39 pm
I’ve been meaning to try this pattern for a while. I’m a fan of Closet Core patterns in general and have made many different pants and shorts from the Jenny Overalls pattern. Every time I went to make something new I kept going back to my old fav, but when I got my hands on some watermelon pink linen, I decided it was time.
And the verdict is: the style and fit is great like the Jenny but these are way easier to make and perfect for summer. I wish I had tried them last summer. The combination of the flat front with elastic on the back of the waistband means hardly any faffing around with fit is required. I would highly recommend this pattern as a first pair of pants or shorts. There are no tricky things like zippers, patch pockets or buttonholes where you can end up with dodgy finishing.
Comfy, cool and very practical. What I like most about this pattern is the pockets, they are big enough to hold my jumbo iPhone but don’t add any bulk.
Fit and fabric choice
I made these up in a size 14, my waist measurement is 89/90cm, and I probably could have gone with a 12 and just added a teeny bit more elastic as this design is very forgiving. A slightly smaller size would have reduce a little volume in the front that caused some slight ballooning. However, they are totally fine and fit better than 99% of the ready to wear pants and shorts I’ve ever purchased.
The fabric is Watermelon 100% Classic Finish Linen from the store. It’s on the lighter side of mid-weight and I chose this, rather a heavier weight linen as I wanted these to perform well on hot days when I was out walking with the dogs or playing in the park with my little girl and her friends. The fabric has been just perfect in the sticky weather we’ve been having and I’m really happy with it. I wouldn’t recommended using anything much lighter than this as you do need a bit of structure to manage the front details and pockets. My next pair will be pants version in a heavier 185gsm linen for a less casual look and to show off some of that detail in the front.
Joan’s top tips
1. If you’re new to sewing pants, make use of the fantastic resources on the Closet Core site. They cover the trickiest element in these pants; sewing the pockets, in a good amount of detail and their pants fitting guide is a brilliant, simple resource to help you easily understand how to correct the most common fit issues.
2. Use decent elastic. I find the non-roll ribbed stuff works best for me. If you are just using something you already have lying around, that’s great too, and you might find the tutorial on finishing elastic waistbands gives you some handy tips: I particularly like the one for how to use skinny elastic if that’s all you have!
3. Get the clapper out and don’t skimp on pressing! It might just be because I got a lovely new clapper recently and I was trying it on everything in sight, but I found taking the time to press all those seams in the front and the pockets really well resulted in a very respectable finish. The edge on my pockets is so perfect it could slice bread.
