Jalie Activewear Round Up

I seem to have a backlog of recent activewear creations. As a member of the Fabric Fairy Promo Team, I frequently have my eye on the many MANY different kinds of activewear fabrics available...even if I don't always understand what makes one different from another. I love natural fibers, and it's hard for me to wrap my brain around performance fabrics sometime. But, I'm trying to learn, so let's take a look at what I've sewn and worn recently!

Top is a North Shore Swimsuit

First up, a couple pairs of shorts, using Jalie 3351. I ordered the paper pattern from The Fabric Fairy, along with two kinds of stretch mesh. These purple shorts were made with Court Purple Dri-Fit Stretch Mini Mesh. This is a Nike overstock fabric and there are a couple different colors. 

The side panels are using a FF print from a Bonanza Box (mine was a flawed box but not all of them are) that I got last year, it has since sold out. It was a great match for the purple and I'm glad I saved it! The pattern was easy to put together and the fit is good, but one knock against Jalie patterns is their teeny tiny seam allowances. The SA was 1/4" on this pattern, which leaves very little room for error if you happen to be an imprecise sewist. I made a size T for my 38" hips. I did not make the attached briefs.

I decided I wanted another pair of the shorts, but with full waistband elastic, instead of the small stabilizing piece as directed by the pattern. 

Top is a Soma Swimsuit

This mesh is a super dark navy, with small bubbles. It is called Obsidian Dri-Fit Bubble Jacquard Poly Spandex Mesh, and it is also from Nike. For my shorts, I used the side with the bubbles sinking in as the right side, but found out later this is actually the wrong side. Oops. The print for the side pockets is leftover from this swimsuit.

I find myself reaching for the navy shorts more than the purple, but I'm not sure if that's because I'm not big on purple or if I prefer the bubble mesh. I think both. I also managed to squeeze a Shenanigans Skort from the remaining bubble mesh, with a wool blend short underneath, for playing golf.

Top is an Oakley Vest

Speaking of golf, how about a me-made golf shirt? Enter another Jalie pattern, 2562. This one I purchased as a download directly from Jalie. 

The pink fabric I used for this top is Hot Pink Under Armour Dry Pro Micropoly Lycra Pique Knit Fabric (I cannot get the color to come out right in my photos, but the website is correct). It comes in a lot of other colors as well. I made an R in the bust and graded to a T hip, but it feels a tad snug. Again, the 1/4" SA is not my fave, especially when making a placket and collar with a stand! Plackets and collars benefit from careful, neat pressing, and in this synthetic fabric that's basically impossible. I did my best with the sewing, but don't look too closely.

The pattern is supposed to have sleeves, but I'm not a fan of the tan lines that come with that. I cut the armhole about an inch lower and added a band to make it sleeveless. I played golf on a sunny, 85 degree day and the fabric kept me pretty cool. And who doesn't love hot pink?

I made my visor too!

I'm going to consider this my good luck shirt, because I got my first birdie EVER while wearing it. My kids are getting older and giving me more time for being active, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to explore all these activewear fabrics.

As a member of The Fabric Fairy promo team, I am given a credit to purchase fabrics of my choosing. Anything costing above the credit, I pay for myself. I've been a lover of TFF long before I was on the promo team, and all opinions are my own.

Vero Beach Side Seam Tie Hack

Oh look, another Pinterest-inspired hack! This one is much easier than my last one. Let's take a look at the photo that inspired me:

I love this look and how the tie is a bit fancier than a casual pair of elastic waist pants. The belt loops and side seam tie seemed like a quick easy hack. I chose the Hey June Vero Beach Shorts, but you could do this hack with any elastic waist pants pattern with waistband side seams.

Construct your pants as usual, up until it's time to put together the waistband. Using a serger or your preferred method, finish the seam allowance edges for the side seams.

Fold over your waistband. Ignoring the lower seam allowance which will be used to sew the waistband to the pants, measure how big your waistband will be (this is also likely the width of the waistband elastic recommended by the pattern). Your goal is to find the center of the waistband and set your tie on that spot.

You will need to leave an opening for the tie when you sew your side seams together. Mark your side seam opening on your waistband (I LOVE these heat sensitive Frixion pens for marking, they disappear when you iron on them!).

Sew the side seams, NOT sewing between your marks.

Press your seam allowances open.

Follow your pattern's directions to attach the waistband to the pants and insert elastic. Topstitch your waistband, making sure you are stitching above and below the holes you left in the side seams. 

Make sure to hit the waistband with a good bit of steam pressing, you'll be amazed at how much better the topstitching looks! Insert your tie through the holes using a bodkin or safety pin.

To make belt loops, cut a rectangle of fabric 2"x8". Finish one long edge with a serger or zig-zag stitch. 

Fold the rectangle in thirds, unfinished edge inside the finished edge. Cut the rectangle in half to make two belt loops.

Topstitch the loops to hold the flaps down on the back.

Fold the short ends of the loops over and attach the belt loops to the front of the pants.

After finishing my pants with the solid pink twill tape, I thought they looked a bit too much like PJs, so I switched that tie out for a self-fabric tie. I think the print might still read pajamas, and this hack would look better in a solid fabric like the inspiration. Maybe I'll try this hack again with the Hey June Seaforth Pants.

Tank top is RTW from a local brewery/distillery. I don't buy clothes often, but when I do you can bet they're pink!

Sew Better Pants: 3 Tips to Improve Your Work

If sewing projects are mountains, pants are Mount Everest. Long, arduous, complicated. And maybe you'll freeze to death before you get to the end of your quest. Or something like that. Now that I've made quite a few pairs of pants, I find myself turning to the same tricks to make the process work better, so I thought it was time to share! For the purposes of this list, I'm referring to woven pants like Ginger Jeans or Hey June Seaforth Pants, not knit pants such as the Hudson Joggers.

TIP ONE: Reinforce the waistband

File this one under "things I learned the hard way". We've all been there. We've skipped interfacing entirely or we've chosen something too lightweight. The waistband stretches, or rolls, or bags out. It's worth taking some time to experiment with different weights of interfacing to get a feel for how sturdy one is over the other. In my experience, when in doubt use a strong weight, in the waistband AND the facing. 

Compare these two pairs of Winslow Culottes:

The top pair has a single layer of interfacing (it's a fold over waistband, but I only interfaced half of it). You can see from the photo that it collapses on itself, even just laying on a table. The pink pair, I interfaced the entire waistband before folding it over, resulting in a double layer of interfacing and fabric. This pair is MUCH sturdier and functions far better.

TIP TWO: Study wrinkles

This is a fun tip, because it requires you to stare at your butt and your crotch. You can do this in a mirror, but it might be easier to take photos and study them with a fitting resource. My first choice is the pants fitting guide from Closet Core Patterns, but Pants for Real People is great too.  Just remember that you'll never eliminate all wrinkles, that some must be there in order to give you the proper ease. Fit is a continuous learning process, our bodies grow and change and you will need to adapt to those changes. 

TIP THREE: Be okay with failure

This tip is tough to swallow. Making pants is a big investment in time and resources, and it's frustrating to spend time on something only to call it a failure. I went back to 2014 to pull the above photo, and frankly it's difficult for me to look at directly (those pants are SO BAD). The truth is, minimal progress is still progress, and if you learn even one thing from a pair of pants that is wearable, you've succeeded. I made countless pairs of jeans, over YEARS, before I had a pair I wore regularly. The truth is, if you want to get better at something, you have to fail first!

BONUS TIP: Take notes. Lots of notes.

Everyone has their own method for recording pattern changes...and sometimes that method is "Faulty Memory". Even if you cut or change your paper pattern, if you don't take notes on those changes it's difficult to let other sewists know what you had to do to get your fit right. When I'm being good, I use my Sewist's Notebook to write down every fit change I've made to a pattern (spilling coffee on it is optional). Not only does that help me with a blog or Instagram post, but next time, if I want to change things again, I know what I've already done. Filling out the notebook at the end of a project is the perfect way to wipe my mental slate clean and move on to the next thing.

What are your hot tips for making pants? Let me know in the comments below!

True Bias Calvin Wrap Dress Hack

If you've been reading long, you know I love to find clothes on Pinterest to recreate. Today's dress is inspired by a beautiful dress for sale on Etsy.

I've had this dress pinned for a while, but out of the blue I realized that the front of it looks similar to the True Bias Calvin Wrap Dress. I'm not big on woven wrap dresses so I never paid much attention to this pattern, but I couldn't get this hack out of my head! I bought the pattern and made the top to figure out how it's constructed, and how best to proceed with the changes to the back.

Using my muslin and dress form, I draped a pattern piece for the back. I obsessively studied the photos online and tried to figure out how to put the dress together. I made an entire dress from black linen and decided that the back wasn't quite right. 

I made the back piece bigger and proceeded with a second dress in this GORGEOUS sea glass linen, from iSeeFabric. It was better, but ultimately I had some gaping and added a dart for a better fit. For the skirt, I roughly used the Calvin pieces. The front has no gathering and the back is about 2:1 with an elastic casing at the waist.

After making two of these dresses, I think it would be better in a linen/rayon blend with more drape. I'm resisting the urge to do it, because how many of these dresses do I need?! But the itch is still there and still wants scratching, so who knows.

The Calvin Wrap Dress pattern was well written and drafted. You do need to enjoy making bias tape though. I used this kit for mine. The original pattern has directions for making a thread loop to hold the wrap ties, which I had never done. It turned out to be useful in my hack, as I added a loop at the back of the neck.

I truly love finding RTW inspiration and using my sewing skills to figure out my own version!

Madalynne Fenix Bodysuit

A few weeks ago, I found myself on the Madalynne Intimates website, trying to find bra strapping. I found it, but I also discovered a cool new pattern, the Fenix Bodysuit. I previously made the Anouk Bodysuit, from Ohhh Lulu, and I'm not sure how many bodysuits a stay-at-home-mom needs, but the graphic lines of the Fenix really called out to me and I bought it anyway.

I've made one other Madalynne pattern before, one of her collaborations with Simplicity, number 8228. The sizing was a little wackadoodle but I ended up with a nice bralette. The Fenix had a lot of information on sizing and fit, including a whole section on torso length that I've never seen in another pattern. There are three cup sizes in addition to XS-4XL. I made the A/B cup in a size M for my 33" bust and 38" hip. 

In the end, I think I need to go down a size in the cups. In the above photo, I have tacked the center front edges together in order to pull the cups more tightly over my bust, which gave me a better fit. The width of the bodice fit well but I did find it way too long, despite the fact that I have a long torso. The torso length is also dependent on the width of the elastic you use under the bust. All things considered, I expected the fit to be WAY more off than it was and I'm more or less pleased with this first go at it. It is a lot like making a bra, you have to make the whole thing to know how it's going to work.

Now for the bad. I found the instructions to be insufficient. I've made a lot of bras, underwear, and as I said another bodysuit, and I still found myself confused and scratching my head. There are full color photos but not one for every step. Seam allowances are 1/4", which does not allow much room for error. Most importantly, there are no notches! I can't think of a time when I made a bra with more than one piece for the cup, and it did not have notches. I found the gusset construction difficult to understand (there is more than one way to assemble a gusset) and it would have been infinitely easier if there had been notches on the pattern pieces. 

All that said, I made my bodysuit differently anyway because I lined most of my pieces. The instructions tell you to cut lining pieces but to spray baste them to the outer pieces, which is more truly called an underlining. I opted to sandwich seams whenever possible so that they would be in between pieces. Unfortunately, I was so focused on going in the right order that I made the suit in a way where the seam allowances are visible, rather than sandwiched inside the darker mesh color. Probably nobody even noticed this in the photos but it's sticking out to me!

After the suit was assembled, I found it to be too long in the torso. I had made a muslin but because I didn't understand the gusset construction, I hadn't gotten the right length in my muslin. It's also possible that applying the FOE on the leg had stretched my back bodice fabric, which is a single layer of mesh. In any case, I shortened the bodice with a crappy after-the-fact cutting of the gusset. 

Personally, I've come far enough in my sewing journey that bad instructions are not as annoying as bad drafting. The drafting of this pattern worked well for me, and now that I've made it once the instructions are not an issue. But if you're a beginner lingerie sewist, I would grab a different pattern before this one.

I love the design lines and it has so much potential for a swimsuit, so #noragrets here. Madalynne also offers ready made lingerie if you want to skip the sewing, and some great kits for her patterns. The flocked leopard mesh, the thick black band elastic, the snap tape, and the FOE all came from her site and were high quality (the FOE in particular). The other supplies were in my stash and probably came from Tailor Made Shop or Sew Sassy.

There are plenty of modeled photos of this pattern on the Madalynne Instagram.

Hey June Willamette redo

There are so many patterns to try, I often find myself moving on from a "meh" to a "new shiny" without a second thought. After making my first Willamette, I liked it, but felt it needed to be a size bigger. It would've been easy to move on to something else, but I'm glad I didn't! The bigger size was exactly perfect and led to one of my all-time favorite shirts.

This Willamette (from Hey June Patterns) is a size 4. The extra bit of ease between a 2 and a 4 makes a big difference. It also matters that the fabric has more drape. This pink woven is from Jo-Ann's and is Lyocell/linen/rayon/cotton. I know. Weird blend. But it works and I ADORE it. It comes in a few other colors and I'm considering driving out of town just to nab more.

Of note: I did not interface anything in the pink shirt. I wanted it to drape and that's exactly what it does without interfacing. I also added some embroidery to the pockets. I tend to wear this one tied in the front, which is easy to do if you finish the bottom part of the placket separately instead of topstitching them down as one.

My third Willamette is made from a cotton blend woven from Alyssa Mae Designs. I love the texture, but the cotton doesn't have a ton of drape, so this one is a bit more stiff. I don't reach for this one as much as the pink one, which is a shame. Consider this a pledge to rotate more often!

Have you ever gone back to a pattern and tried a completely new size?

Hey June June Halifax Round Up

Hey friends! Today, I'm rounding up all my posts about one of my favorite Hey June Patterns, the Halifax Hoodie (aff link). This pattern has FIVE different views and is endlessly hack-able. I've made it six times! Four of them have made it to the blog, and my most recent two have been on Instagram. Click the links below for the details. And if you want to see them all in action, check out this Reel!

Extra long Halifax Tunic

Extra tall cowl Halifax

Pinterest-inspired Halifax

Colorblocked Halifax

Wool French Terry Halifax

Quilted knit Halifax