Actively filling a wardrobe gap

During me-made May, I realised that a big gap in my me-made wardrobe was active wear.  I wanted to rectify this through a combination of new makes and modifying existing makes. These ‘makes and mods’ are proving to be excellent additions to my fitness wardrobe.

Leggings

I’ve been totally converted to leggings. After years of avoiding them because they’re too tight, cling to the wrong bits etc etc, I’ve embraced them. They are so good for freedom of movement and stay in place at the ankle if you have to put waterproof trousers on. That might feel like quite a niche reason to like leggings, but the last thing I want when I’m up a mountain in the rain is to hold walking trousers at my ankle whilst also trying to stand on one leg and get a boot through a waterproof leg!

I whipped up another pair of Avery Leggings,  cropped and with the crucial elastic waistband that I foolishly omitted in previous pairs.  They’re much better for cardio with the elastic in (it’s almost as though Helen’s Closet thought it through!).

This is the only photo I have of them, but it’s a corker. If you zoom in, you’ll get the full effect of Cornish wind on my face!

I also modified my existing pairs of Avery leggings. I shortened one pair to shin length as I prefer that length in summer, as well as botch-fixing all to add waist elastic.  Rather than unpicking everything, I put a measured circle of elastic on the inside of the waistband, then flipped it over and re-stitched in place.  Fortunately, all of my Averys are the “tummy warmer” version so there was length for this fix.

Chests

My Starry power sports bra is in regular rotation in my wardrobe for exercise.  Whilst it dries quickly, I was in need of a few more to ease the pressure on laundry.

With an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality, I set out to make two more bras with the strappy cross back. I love this style because the straps stay in place and don’t slip off my shoulders like most ‘regular’ bras.

I recently bought some hot pink econyl from Sew Me Sunshine which is a similar stretch % to my starry bra. This meant minimal fuss with fitting. I also used the remnants from my Avery Leggings to make another. As is often the case with remnants, I didn’t quite have enough, but a pink band works really well with the other fabric!

My top tip when making the straps for this pattern (or probably any that use active wear) is to actually sew one end of the strap up within the seam allowance, then use a loop turner. The straps are really fiddly to do without a loop-turner and when I got one, it was a game-changed.

Another tip, specifically for econyl is not to put an iron near it – if you use your ironing board to press, leave the iron in the cupboard so you’re not tempted! I started to press some creases out after pre-washing and made a massive iron mark in the corner. I cut the piece out and kept it near me at all times as a reminder not to iron it! In reality, it doesn’t even need ironing as any creases stretch out with the negative ease, but I was on autopilot.

In short, my tips for this make are: use wonder clips, go slowly, make a note of strap measurements for next time and don’t even think about pressing!

A new tank

I’ve had the Pneuma Tank pattern in my stash for years. It has been discontinued by Papercut Patterns, and I couldn’t find many reviews online but if you can source a copy, it’s a great one.

The integrated bra and loose jersey overlay first attracted me to the pattern, but I put off making the pattern because I couldn’t face fitting another sports bra.  When wearing my Power Sports Bra one day, I had the idea of combining the two patterns.

The Power Sports Bra is a very similar style to the bra in the Pneuma pattern, which meant I was fairly confident they would work well together.  I also thought that if they didn’t, I could keep the bra part, and tackle the full Pneuma pattern at a later date.

For the bra, I used remnants from my Avery leggings.  Annoyingly, I didn’t have enough for the straps so used a different colour of the same fabric.  For the overlay, I used a very soft bamboo jersey (from a fabric shop that no longer operates).

I made a few adjustments to make the patterns fit together:

• Shortened the overlay of the tank by about 2″
• I had to change the construction slightly because I made the bra completely before attaching the overlay.  The Pneuma instructions are to sandwich the overlay inside the bra pieces
• If I made this again (which is likely), I would narrow the tank ‘straps’ where it meets the bra as it’s quite bulky

The finished result feels really good when I’m working out.  The bamboo overlap skims my body nicely and the bra sits perfectly under the tank.  Aside from the minor tweak that I would do with the straps, I would say these patterns are a match made in heaven.

Thanks for reading :o) If you’re considering sewing active wear, I would definitely recommend!