The Amber Trousers from the Get Away Capsule

Back in May Kat got in touch and asked if I’d like to join in something new for Indie Pattern Month. In return for being given a pattern bundle I was asked to make one or more of the six garments and tell you all about it.

It was a tough decision choosing from the 6 patterns in the Get Away Capsule.  I really wanted to make the Islander Jacket.  I’ve been wanting to make it for ages and even have all the pieces traced off but I knew I wasn’t going to have time to do the pattern justice.

As I’m trying to make garments that I’m likely to get more wear out of I decided first up to make the Amber Trousers from Paprika Patterns.  Too often I slave for hours over my sewing machine and produce something amazing but doesn’t see the light of day!

Previously I’ve made quite a few Yasmin Yoke skirts from Maria Denmark and I love how the yoke smooths out and hides any tummy fluff, so I was hoping these trousers would have the same sort of flattery.  They did!

I initially thought I’d make the wide leg version (and take them in later if I fancied a change).  I only had 2m of my chosen fabric from my stash and thought I’d be able to wangle the pieces on somehow, despite the instructions saying i need 2.2m for my size.  Unfortunately for me the instructions are quite correct and I had to make to narrow leg version, as there was no way I could get my pieces to fit!

 

The Amber Trousers – a bit about them before I waffle on about my version!

They have a fitted yoke on the back and front. Below the V shaped yoke at the front there are inverted pleats. The are slash pockets either side and the pants close with an invisible zip at the side seam. The are 2 views – a tapered leg and a wide leg. Both styles would made fab shorts and with wide leg would make really cool culottes.

The trousers are sized from 1-10. I like that type of sizing – you HAVE to measure and can’t just assume you know what size you are.

They suggest drapey fabric for the narrow leg version and fabric with more body such as linen for the wide leg version. To be honest there won’t be many fabrics that these couldn’t be successfully sewn in.

The PDF was straightforward to put together. I’ve used loads of different companies for PDF patterns and some have minor alignment problems, but none in this.

When I stuck the PDF together I cut out with wide leg version in size 6 which was just a bit smaller than my waist and just a bit bigger than my hips.

If you’re one of those sewers who suffers from trowphobia (fear of making trousers or pants), don’t be!  Mostly this phobia is contagious and sadly is passed easily between sewing blogs.

Sewing pants is generally not difficult and these would be a great place to start.

There’s a blog post about how to fit the Amber trousers. It explains how to make a mini muslin just using the yolk, as that’s the only bit that needs to fit properly.  It’s take you about 10 minutes to do this and definitely worth the effort.

My yoke when sewn up fitted perfect so I just went straight into making the trousers.  Don’t forget to stay stitch the top of the yokes if you choose to do this!

The fabric I chose was a stable jersey with a small amount of stretch.  To give some stability to the waist I used a cotton for the inside of the yokes.  I used the cotton yokes as my mini muslin.

 

When finished I added 3 rows of topstitching to the top of the yoke to give a little stiffness,  and interfaced fully both the inner and outer yoke pieces.

 

Are you liking my Sunshine!?  I centred it to the back and front pieces of the yoke, but so far I don’t have a top to wear that doesn’t cover it up 😦

It wasn’t sunny but seen as I was making the get away capsule I thought I should get in the mood wearing sun glasses and flip flops!

Maybe if I loose a few more pounds I could wear a cropped top, but then the trousers would be too big on the waist and fall down!

The yoke is definitely flattering, both at the back and the front….

On the website it suggests they could be made as shorts, and also the wide version as culottes.  I did have a bit of an experiment with the length of mine before I decided to hem them and leave them full length.

At least I’ve still the option to roll them up on the beach!

Will I be making these again??

You bet!

Would I do anything different??

The only thing I will change is to add a centre back seam and zip to the yoke.

When I make my Yasmin Yoke skirts the backs and fronts are completely sewn up and more or less finished, including inserting the back zip. This then allows for basting and tweaking the fit when sewing the front and back togethers at the side seams. It also allows for any future fit alterations if my measurements change.

I’m hoping to get the Southport dress sewn up in the next few days. I started cutting out but the fabric was a really shifty crepe and I’m thinking I’m going to change my mind and use something less challenging in the hope I’ll finish it before the deadline for this pattern bundle.

Just to say as I mentioned earlier I was given the pattern bundle free of charge, but all opinions are my own.

If you’ve enjoyed reading my post and want to see other things I’ve made for TMS click HERE, and also HERE if you want to head over to my blog and see what else I get up to!