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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Pacific leggings (for all that exercising I do)

So I'm not the most regular exerciser, and if I do anything these days it's either walking or cycling.  I might not bother making "performance wear" (quotes required to indicate my decidedly lack of performance while wearing anything), particularly leggings, if it weren't for for a buy-one-get-one pattern sale at Sewaholic a while back, and recently purchasing too much dri-fit performance knit from Mood.  Tack on that I'm anticipating doing some serious hiking this weekend at Big Trees State Park and in a couple of weeks in Alaska, and this project skipped to the head of the queue.

Okay, wow.  First off, I made leggings!  Second, they are awesome!  The pattern (Pacific leggings by Sewaholic) is easy and interesting, with the seam that wraps around the leg and the optional back pocket for your phone, chapstick, or FitBit.  I went with view C, with the pocket from B.  The main body of the leggings are size 0, grading up to 2-4 at the waistband. They might be a touch tight, but I guess that's what keeps them up!
The wide waistband makes the waist pretty comfortable, with an extra layer to hold stuff in.  In the future, I might lengthen the rise of the tights, since I'm an old lady.  However, these leggings are yet another stellar pattern from Tasia at Sewaholic.
Back pocket!  Brilliant.  It perfectly fits my moderately sized phone, and while it's a bit bulky back there, the blame can fall squarely on the phone.

For the construction, I wanted the look of decorative topstitching on the seams, but I'm not sure my coverstitch machine would do it properly.  So, I sewed all the seams on my serger, wrong sides together.  Then, I pressed the serged edge to one side and stitched it down with with a straight stitch.
It's important to be symmetrical with the direction in which you press the seams, since it's so visible!
Here's an inside shot of the crotch gusset (above).  I was able to serge the edges in two passes, which worked well.  Since all of the seams are sewn with the seam allowance on the outside, the inside seams are super smooth and lovely (see below)!
 I might have to go out and actually exercise in these babies!  




7 comments:

  1. So the seams that you sewed down with the straight stitch didn't pop? I like how you did it, especially if the seams are not popping.

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    1. I haven't run or done any yoga/ acrobatics in them yet, but I've pulled them on and off a bunch of times and the seams haven't popped at all. Since they are mostly vertical seams, there is less of a chance of that, but even the waistband seam has been holding strong! I'll update if I hear it happen!

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  2. I like these a lot! You are always motivating me!

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  3. They (and your legs) look great. But this blog post suffered for a lack of any demonstration of what you can do in them! :) pose down time!
    I've got a couple of leggings patterns now, and just need to find the right fabric. As for an activity requiring leggings: Have you seen the Optus ad featuring Anna Meares (Aus track cyclist)? Look for it as she has some serious leg power!!

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  4. Clever girl....note: girl, not old lady! Have you ever tried that technique where you serge the seams together and then somehow spread them open and flat?...so hard to describe...

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    1. I think it's called flatlock. It can be tricky, as you need to cut your fabric seam allowances really narrow and then run it through your serger so that the fabric runs inside the knife (so the knife isn't cutting the fabric). Use only the two loopers, no needles (I think, can't remember exactly). The width of your seam allowance is half the width of the serging, so you can pull the two pieces of fabric apart, and the two seam allowances then lie flat next to each other within the Serging. Takes practice, which I've never had the patience for, but can look really good.

      Great looking leggings! I really like that fabric.

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  5. I'd exercise in those too! And agree on the higher waist. I love a high waist legging! Lovely work!

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