Jalie exercise skirt 2796 with Fehr Trade Steeplechase leggings

I made these exercise clothes just before the weather got too hot here to wear an exercise skirt with inbuilt leggings and promptly forgot to write about them, but yesterday, when I got out my clothing for colder weather, these went into my wardrobe too, so I thought I'd give them a mention.

The outside skirt is the terrific Jalie running skirt, made to the length of the largest size, because I have middle aged legs.
However, although I've made several of these skirts (mostly for my daughters), I've never been content with the inner shorts.
Previous skirt here  .
I don't seem to have mentioned the three or four other skirts, but they exist!

 The included Jalie  shorts pattern is only one piece, with no outer seam, and quite frankly, for my build, they are incredibly uncomfortable for running. My daughters are not big fans of this particular exercise shorts pattern either. Having no outer leg seam gives a lot of work to both the centre body seam and the inner leg seam, neither of which are in places that cope well with severe pulling during vigorous activity.

Melissa's Steeplechase leggings to the rescue.
These leggings have no outer leg seam either, but they do have other seams, into which one can insert some backside room, and best of all, no inner leg seam, so no chafing!

I've raved  written about these leggings previously, at some length, so I won't repeat myself.
Just so you know, I don't use any other leggings patterns for running anymore.
I attached the leggings, with an appropriate amount of the upper edge removed, to the skirt using the instructions in the Jalie pattern. The waistband is from the Jalie pattern.

 

The main fabric is strechtex titanium, a technical knit, (sourced directly from the manufacturer, Stretchtex) and the contrast fabric is a knit supplex.
 The top is another of Melissa's patterns, the VNA top, previously mentioned here

VNA tops

I made quite a few exercise clothes just lately, and now that it is extremely chilly at 5am in the morning (those who live temperate climates may scoff where I can't hear them, I admit that I live in a warm climate), I thought I would display some running tops of Summer before I start on cold weather exercise gear.
I made a VNA top for my younger daughter, because she had just about worn out the version that was made to test the pattern.

new one

old one

The test version was too big for her, although the size didn't stop her wearing it, so her new top is sloppily graded down by hand drawing a smaller size on Melissa's pattern. Fortunately for me, this made a nicely fitting top, other than a slight tightness at the bust. The top would be XXXS in Melissa's sizing scale.

I love the colour blocking options for this top. I had bought some "performance knit" from Spoonflower, in this very appealing Galaxy print, but as I foolishly purchased from a square representation of the print,  I had not noticed that  the 1 yard print included a break in the
panel that was unsightly to me.

 

However, by cutting the small upper front from the odd bit of the panel, the break in the pattern is not particularly noticeable, and makes a good feature for the top whilst only using a tiny piece of the pricey fabric.

 The back is plain old navy blue wicking polyester from Stretchtex, and the lower front is not-the-best-for-exercise-clothes cotton lycra, again from Stretchtex, as are the bindings, because this will do for short runs and also general wear, such as hiking in Carnarvon Gorge.

Naturally, having made one daughter top, another top was required. This one uses a more purple section of the Galaxy print,with different coloured cotton lycra for the bindings and bottom section,  and has been made to the same circumference as the downsized VNA top, but a little longer, (at the hem) for my taller daughter.

 

Lucky last, I made one for myself in an XS. Having noticed the modest amount of room at the bust for my daughters, I chose to enlarge the upper bust piece, then ease this into the curved seam at the lower front, as an FBA. I also made a square shoulder adjustment, which is a common adjustment for me (Did I mention that I really like this pattern).

 Mine has an upper bodice made from performance pique, again from Spoonflower, with a pattern that amuses me greatly. See those ninjas in amongst the floral? My husband hates it. Fortunately he doesn't come running with me. It must be my (very deeply hidden) inner ninja that puts him off.

The bottom section of this one is made from wicking "space dyed" Supplex, which is more comfortable to wear when exercising than cotton lycra, but the business I bought it from is no longer operating.

The back is the same wicking polyester from Stretchtex that I used for the other tops. Although this fabric is practical, hard wearing and very comfortable for exercising,  I find this particular colour is very difficult to sew, with constantly wearing thread and blunted needles. (The other colours were hard to sew too, but not to the same level as the dark blue) I bought 5 metres of it 6 years ago and I will be very glad when I've finally sewn the last of it!. I needed to mix it with these fun fabrics in order to have the fortitude to sew with it yet again.

The only change I made to the construction of these tops, now that I've made a few, is the binding of the v neckline. I don't like having to measure the neckline binding exactly before I sew it. I find the amount of stretch needed varies between fabrics, and I like to apply more stretch to the back neck, for example, than the lower front of the v. Melissa's instructions work, but I found them a bit fiddly, and not compatible with my ad-hoc neckline length preference. Instead I used Barbara's instructions here (except for the interfacing being ironed on- ironing and poly don't mix at my house), which were just as fiddly (v neck lines must be fiddly by nature), but gave me a neater result, and without having to get out my tape measure.
Disclaimer: Remember I got this pattern for free in exchange for testing? This is naturally not a completely unbiased opinion due to this exchange see Zoopolis, but you can see I've made many versions of this pattern now and all recipients are finding this a comfortable running top. The request cue is long. We like this pattern.

Stashbusting statistics, pitiful. About a metre each of blue wicking poly and cotton lycra, 30 cm of supplex print, and 50 cm or so of recently purchased performance knit, and performance pique

Fehr Trade VNA top

I am fortunate to be a pattern tester for Melissa at Fehr Trade, and her latest release is really fun to sew. It's a pieced top, with very interesting seaming, and a neat V neck finish both at the neck and the back armscyes.

Naturally, being pieced, and for athletic use (although it would work as a casual wear top too), it lends itself to colour blocking.

I made the test version from 3 different colourways of cotton/lycra knit from Stretchtex. This fabric is fine to use for short runs during winter where we live, although I would prefer to use a wicking fabric for longer runs, or in hotter weather. I was very pleased to use up an oddly shaped piece of my favourite purple colourway that was too small for a garment but that I was pat rackishly thriftily saving just- in- case. This pattern is destined to use up lots of similar scraps from the depths of the almost-unusable stash!

There are some very nice details in this pattern. There is no seaming directly under the arms (although the binding does join here, it would be easy to move this front or back) which reduces chafing issues. My favourite part though, is the back binding in the armscyes, this used a new to me construction method which is very exciting. (Fellow sewing addicts will understand this enthusiasm, I'm so glad I don't have to restrain myself on this blog - can you imagine the glazed looks if  I said this anywhere else ?) I found all the instructions beautifully clear and easy to understand.
I made the top using my conventional machine - with a narrow 3 step zig zag. I had planned to use the coverstitch for the hems, but the machine felt uncooperative, so it is finished with a wide zig zag instead, which is not terrible, but not according to the instructions, which suggest a twin needle for conventional machines.



My younger daughter, who is rather fashion conscious, went into raptures over the appearance of this top. I have been instructed that several more in different fabrics and colour combinations would be just the thing for the teenage exercise fiend.
She also fancies few fancy colourful sports bras so as to display the straps at the back. This serviceable white one is not up to scratch for the shoulder display of modern running gear.

Apparently having cool back details on a running top is an encouragement to overtake other runners (she was joking)

Something to be aware of is that the Fehr trade sizing is different to RTW in Australia, although true to the sizing measurements given. My daughter's XXS top is a bit too big for her in length and girth, for a running top, and she normally wears an Australian size 6-8 in normal clothes, an XS in running tops, and a 34 in Burda. I seem to be an XS in the Fehr Trade patterns, and this is not a size I have ever been called before ;). When I make this top again for my daughter, I will be scaling down another size, which I expect will fix the bra exposure issue in the armscye.

Melissa is giving a 10% discount on her patterns for people using the code "LASEREYES" until 30th June.