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

No inseam! Steeplechase exercise leggings

I pattern test for Melissa at Fehr Trade.That's my disclaimer about these exercise bottoms, as my testing pattern was free to me.

A good thing about pattern testing, is that it makes you sew,. You might have noticed that there has been a long blogging pause here. I have sewn a bit over the past few months, but increasing time demands in my real life have led to blog writing neglect and also blog reading and commenting neglect. Thank you to the lovely people who sent blog-missing messages. I hope to post more regularly again now, things have calmed down elsewhere!

 Melissa has a 10% off coupon at her post about these. Excuse me for gushing, but her latest pattern is possibly my favourite yet (although I have a soft spot for the VNA top, more about the new ones later)
There is no inseam in these leggings.
Not only does this completely eliminate chafing (for me, in running, your mileage may vary), but there is very flattering curvy seaming everywhere else.
There are only minor fitting changes for these for my daughters (an XXS and an XS).
My main problem was working out how to draw attention to the very cool, curvy seaming.

One  pair has contrasting coverstitch (the pair in the top photo). This looks fine, but not sufficiently bold for my taste in exercise gear.

This pair has stretch knit "piping" (I just folded over the fabric, no cord) in red cotton knit with lycra, and I was so pleased with the effect that I made the next pair just the same, but with purple. I had to hand baste the crotch seam where the "piping" meets to have it line up nicely, but otherwise this was an easy addition to the pattern.

All of the pairs for daughters are taken in at the waist - for one daughter by actually doing some fitting changes, which were included in the pattern instructions, and for the other by just having a smaller elastic circumference at the waist.
I also made myself 2 pairs (S). My pair needed enlargement at the backside and taking in at the waist, but no surprises there, this is what I usually do for trousers - usually more painfully.
All the versions I made are at the capri length. There is a "biker" length above the knee, and a full length version also included in the pattern.
I used a heavy supplex woven called "Titanium" for all the leggings. I bought it at Stretchtex. I used a walking foot and a stretch needle in construction on my conventional machine, with a narrow 3 step zigzag.
Steeplechase Leggings

 This is a unique and interesting pattern,that was quick to sew, providing beautifully practical and, of their type,flattering garments, and making these has really fired up my sewing mojo. What more can you ask from a pattern?

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.

Fehr Trade Duathalon shorts

I have long been an admirer of Melissa's wonderful sewing at Fehr Trade , but I was quite surprised (and pleased) to be asked to take part in her pattern testing. My rather cynical impression of blogger pattern testing is that it is primarily offered to blogs with high readership and most often, no doubt for wise marketing reasons, to those including a cute young model guaranteed to look terrific in a hessian sack. Melissa, let me tell you, is standing by her writings on diversity by including not only those with wonderful athletic shapes, but such mature and trouser resistant figures as myself. She is a very brave woman!
Duathalon Shorts .
To be fair to Melissa's excellent pattern, first let me show you these visually appealing and useful shorts on one of my very own cute young models.

 

These are the booty shorts, quickly made up for an initial trial in cotton/lycra with wicking poly for the side insert, with inbuilt pocket.
No adjustments were required for this version, other than a little tighter elastic for the slimmer waist of the model.

We did find that it is vital to use 50% stretch fabric as described in the pattern. The wicking polyester, at 20% stretch, does not have sufficient stretch to accept a smart phone in the perfectly placed side pocket.

 I have made a lot of athletic gear.  It is unusual to find a shorts pattern with so much thought to the details. This side pocket placement works beautifully for both running and cycling, whereas the sacral pockets seen in much cycling gear can cause problems whilst running (perspiration into the pocket and also upward push on the contents of the pocket) and the inner waistband shallow pockets that work well in running are quite uncomfortable when pressed against the waist in a forward cycling position.



The shorts are shown worn with one of Melissa's XYT tops (I will get around to writing about these when I have some better photos) to give you an idea of how these garments work so well as an exercise outfit - no front gaping!

Melissa has included an increased back rise in the shorts to allow for full back coverage whilst leaning forward on the bike. This early version does not include the increased back rise.


In the interests of truth in advertising. Here are the first version of the shorts I made for myself, (the official released pattern) which would unfortunately have to be described as stage one of a journey in fitting I do not feel quite up to at the moment. This is not the fault of the pattern. The pattern is excellent - well drafted, with very sensible and practical inclusions for athletic use and beautifully detailed instructions that the novice seamstresses in my house felt would be easy to follow.


I am quite keen to make these shorts work, as they will be very useful. Twice a week I ride to a friend's house on my mountain bike (shown), as she lives on a dirt road, and then we run. I've been wearing Ottobre exercise capris, but am not entirely happy with them on the bike, although they work well for running.
If you've read my blog very much you would know that I always have a lot of trouble with trousers until I work out the adjustments for any particular block.

Melissa and I are not the same shape, so I need to make a lot of adjustments to wear the shorts that fit her perfectly. I also used a different fabric from the cotton/lycra shown in my daughter's version - a poly compression fabric, which has a greater stretch.
I found that for this fabric, I should have decreased a size all over, in addition to making my usual myriad of adjustments for trousers.
Fitting so far
1. Shorten biker length by 6cm to fit my shorter legs (that means I chopped off the hem and did it again, there was nothing so accurate as measuring here).
2. Increase curve of front crotch as there was some weird wrinkling most unsuitable for sitting on a bike (again, note there was none of this wrinkling in my daughter's pair)
3. Take in waist
4. Take in side seams by 3cm at the front and 2 cm at the back - hence the narrowing side strip, and the shorts are still too big.
5. Decide I should make something else for the sake of my mojo and post the horrid-so far version to get the monkey off my back.
6. For the sake of my vanity assure all readers that the enormous stomach in the photo is actually my loose top swinging forward.
Here is an unauthorised photo of how I prefer to think I look on the bike. Note, that would be small and far away ;)

Swim wear, summer retrospective part 1.

One of my sewing goals is to become accomplished at sewing swimming costumes. Unfortunately, I am definitely in the happy hands at home group when it comes to the inner layer - my coverstitch control is very poor on nylon lycra binding!
However, after 2 months of enforced practice, I am feeling pretty happy with my work on rashies. (Sun protective swim tops)
Daughter the second's rash top became suddenly transparent and shapeless in the alarming manner of this fabric when the lycra wears out. Naturally this occurred whilst we were not at home, on December 23, and I was faced with the unappealing prospect of buying RTW on Christmas Eve in order to keep her un-sunburnt. Fortunately, I had previously cunningly arranged to desert my family (in-law visit) and to meet  the delightful Sharon in the Surrey Hills fabric district, and there just happened to be a nice piece of remnant nylon lycra at the Fabric Store. This was my only purchase at the Fabric Store, but I did find rather a few nice things at Tessuti that may make an appearance later.
Clearly I was energized by meeting with such an accomplished seamstress and possibly by eating Portuguese custard tarts, as that afternoon I braved my mother-in-law's sewing supplies (I must buy her myself a new quick-unpick to leave at her house) and made my daughter a new rashie. I drafted the pattern myself because I had none with me (how did this happen?) and made the whole thing on a very basic conventional machine without even a stretch needle.
Amazingly, this worked. I didn't even get tunnelling on the hems.

 

(I hand basted to attain stripe matching).
The rashie was well recieved, and a form fitting version to wear to swim training was requested.
Swimmers for my nieces' new children were also requested - a Christmas  afternoon project accomplished by tracing the new dollies' existing nether garments and winging it for the tops.



Originally, I used elastic and zig zag for the leg and waist openings, but this was very fiddly. For the second and third pairs I used a doubled piece of the nylon lycra as waist and leg bands, which was not only easier, but gave a neater finish. Niece the third pronounced the garments to be "just like real swimmers", so I am hoping for a new sewing convert.


 

Once home again, I used my TNT rashie pattern,



For the first version I added racing strips up the side and undersleeve to minimize chafing (and so I didn't have to trace out the next size up, lazy seamstress that I am).
There is not a photo of this particular version, being royal blue with lime green accents and seemingly never out of the swimming bag/washing machine, but I got a bit carried away and made her a few more versions, adding piping and contrast as the fancy took me.



My favourite is this pink one with piping in addition to the colour blocking.



The solid colours are all chloroban fabric from Stretchtex, and the brown on blue print is a scrap aged about 4 years orginally from Lincraft in Brisbane city. It is the same print, and seems identical quality to a Speedo fabric that was available in RTW swimmers that year. I visit this shop with a hopeful attitude about once every 3 months, but I've not seen any good nylon-lycra there since.

This abundance of swimwear made daughter the first's wardrobe appear substandard, which clearly meant that I should make her some new things too.



She now has a new set of active wear swimmers to co-ordinate with last years' retro bikini.



The swim pants are from Butterick 5551 (must be OOP as I last used it about 5 years ago and it was old then)

They have piping in the side seams and a printed fabric waistband that is invisible in this photo but rather cute. The pants are unlined as the  black chloroban fabric (Stretchtex) is very thick. The printed fabric is from the Remnant Warehouse 2012.



Her second version is to co-ordinate with some RTW board shorts - it has white piping,  a white stripe up the side in chloroban, and the main fabric is again from Remnant Fabrics in our 2012 Easter shopping trip.



After all this success, I had another go at swimmers for myself. This was an interesting and less successful experience, so I will leave it for another post.

Stashbusting statistics - pre 2013 fabric around 4 meters for 5 garments.

Birthday sewing shirt Vogue 8096 etc

Apparently, I bought my husband a plasma cutter for his birthday.
Although I have been assured that  this is a highly desirable birthday present, it was a somewhat unsatisfying gift giving process. This may have had something to do with supplying only the $. (I had to Google plasma cutting, looks nasty to me,  other peoples' hobbies can be incomprehensible...)
This has displayed to me that in my case, sewing a gift has selfish elements, mostly to do with giving myself warm fuzzies.
Being rather partial to thinking well of myself, I sewed my husband a proper birthday gift, being something handmade and one-of-a-kind.

See the nice shirt? It is my usual Vogue 8096 pattern, made according to David Page Coffin's Shirtmaking book, flatfelled to within and inch of its life, and with topstitching via my handcranked Singer circa 1933, which has a perfect straight stitch. I am so lucky.


It has lovely parallel stripes at the front yoke seam....

....leading to a satisfying stripe intersection at the back yoke.



I fiddled about to make fancy back pleats, which is a nice change for me.

I lined up the plackets so the stripes matched, a bit like jigsaw puzzles.I can almost see why patchwork is appealing.

Look! a contrast inner collar stand and amusing initial labelling ;)

He bought this fabric himself, at Global Fabrics in Wellington, New Zealand, whilst he was hanging about pretending he didn't mind me admiring every single thing in the shop- 2011. He is a very enabling sewing supporter.

Did you notice there is no man inside this shirt?
I have given up on photography torture of my husband.
Is it a bad thing that this makes me less inclined to sew for him? Blogging definitely influences my sewing.
 

Here is another thing I sewed for him, on special order, which is much more virtuous sewing. Just imagine that this on a man's head instead of charmingly applied to a paint tin. I know you all have excellent imaginations.

 I am patting myself on the back for this one. This strange object is a merino jersey under-cycling-helmet  head warmer and sun protector. He asked that I make it for cold morning rides  - to replace his anti-sunburn caps worn during summer cycling.I made it about 2 months ago, actually I made 2 of them, and he has been promising to model it ever since. Hmmmm.

We might as well get lots of dull sewing done in one post.
New ironing board cover

Elastic drawstring cord and old towel for padding, untrimmed because I had not got the overlocker set up.

It is prettier than the last one, but I'm glad I have some fun sewing coming up.



Stashbusting statistics
Various merino jersey scraps
2m of cotton quilting fabric about 2009
3m of cotton shirting 2011

Kwik Sew 158, retro swim wear

We interrupt our intense formal sewing activity for other social requirements.
A certain daughter was invited to a pool party, to take place on Friday night, and somehow had failed to consider that her swimming costume had reached a state of disreputableness involving actual holes in the fabric.
There were plans in the pipeline to replace this swim wear, with nylon lycra fabric earmarked for this project purchased in April (Remnant Warehouse), but due to unusual sewing demands in the past few months, the annual September Swimwear project had only got as far as my own togs and a rashie for my son. (I do get to the top of my own list sometimes)
On Thursday, my daughter said she would wear her old swimming costume to the party. This was a threat.
On Friday, after work, I made this swimming costume. My daughter was a bit late getting to the party.
She did mention that the lateness was not ideal, but I mentioned that she was welcome to buy herself a swimming costume at 5pm on a Friday (after which all shops in our town are shut), or indeed at any time before the party, and she became rather quiet on the subject. She also agreed to model the costume, (the next day) which was rather kind of her.



I am not 100% happy with the swimming costume, as my coverstitch stopped working when I introduced it to wooly nylon, and the application of the binding is not stellar.
However, if you don't look closely at the binding, I think this is a terrific looking bikini, and pretty easy to sew, even in a rush. My original, and natural trepedation at making a bikini that was pictured as so awful that the model had to wear a waste paper basket on her head was unfounded.



The bikini is lined with nylon lycra swim wear lining from Strechtex and bound with white cholorban, also from Stretchtex.  I used the binding instead of the elastic finish used in the pattern, and the bikini bottom is actually a cut down (lower waist) version of our old favourite Ottobre 02-2011-20, which I used because we know it fits. The Kwik Sew pants do not look great to me, having no gusset and being very straight over the hips, but as I haven't tried them they could  be as nicely fitting as the top (adjustments, slight SBA and squaring of shoulders - if I made them again I would shorten the front straps slightly.

There is still some of this fabric left. It is a great pity I still have a second strip of horsehair braid to hand sew to a formal skirt.

Exercise tops, Ottobre 05-2010-20

After the dull-but-useful sewing of exercise bottoms, naturally the next step was exercise tops.


I have progressed from the knit-trousers-laid -out- flat-on-the-verandah photo, to an attempt at introducing the currently lovely purple scenery at the town park for version 1 of the Ottober 05-2010-20 top, with the #19 trousers from the previous exercise clothing post.



I think the clothing and model do not quite live up to the flowers, particularly if I crop sufficently to show clothing details.

Hmm, perhaps a background photo with no foreground

The Ottobre top is rather deceptive in my opinion. In the model shot, the neckline and straps of the under top are clearly visible.
On me, although you can just see the under top at the front, it is not visible at all at the back.
The under top is also very high cut under the arms, which might be fine for some gentle pilates or yoga but would cause unpleasant chafing on a longer run. I usually run for about an hour.
Looking back at the magazine to make sure I had traced out the pattern pieces correctly, I saw that the technical drawing shows the under top only just peeping out, and not showing at all at the back, just like my version.(My photography aspirations are dwindling rapidly.....)


I can't see the point of this. The neckline and armscye are the most time consuming part of this top, why make 2 necklines if you can't see them?
Unfortunately, I had already constructed x3 outer layers before I realised the problem.


You can see here that I am making a faux underlayer, not full length, as it gets hot here, and I want the appearance of wearing 2 layers without the extra fabric around my middle.

This may seem like an excess, but, I do need this many. Despite appearances, I exercise 7 or more times per week. I am trying to confound my dreadful paternal medical history, and the 95% or so chance I have of developing type 2 diabetes, having experienced the gestational type during all my preganancies. Wish me luck, I probably need it!

I added a tiny panel to the front neckline and a tiny bit of binding to the back neckline of the black outerlayer ( right middle)
I used just the front piece and straps in purple for the underlayer in the beige/black outerlayer, attaching the panel at the side seams and at the back neck.
I coverstitched most of the side seams after severely trimming one seam, to make a flatter, less abrasive seam under the arms.
.

The beige fabric is wicking polyester, and the other fabrics are cotton/lycra knit, both from Stretchtex. I will use the knit tops for stretchy type exercises and the wicking tops for running, or on the windtrainer.

Finally, I made a new version of the outerlayer, so that the underlayer is visible.






I had to lower the neckline rather a lot to achieve this effect.


Sewing with Ottobre is not at all like sewing with Burda :)