Made a pair of Lift leggings...and then another one.

 This is the second time I've made these, the first one got onto Insta but only as a flat lay for Reasons. I made it from swim fabric. 

I sized down to a D the first time (I think) and they were too xrated for photos.  It ends up...the gusset matters.  Tiny but mighty.  But also they were really snug overall, though I liked the rise.  Maybe because Swim Fabric is really different to stretchy normal fabrics, I guess.  This time I did size E.  

Easy to make.  The V where it all comes together is just barely off from perfect, oh well.  The rise is VERY high, these go way above my belly button.  Fine, I can actually wear some cropped top things for hot pilates for once.  But I will shorten them next time.   

They were successful in hot pilates. A win! The ruching still disappears when I wear them.  My bum must just be mighty I guess.  

 

So then I had some leftovers from my beautiful ribbed tree Kila top and thought I might just barely eke these out.  The first pair had done well in hot pilates class, though it's a bit lumpy at that V seam when I'm lying flat.  I can overlook this, but I might eventually just make some super plain leggings too.  Eventually.  I shortened the waist 1" by just cutting off the top.  

 

Anyway I managed but the trees are upside down on one leg, which I rather like, it adds something to the psychedelic look.  I'm so pleased!  And then I compared these pattern pieces to my first attempt at these shorts and the difference is like 2" so I must have really done something wrong when I printed that out, it seems like more than a single size difference.  

This second pair is much stretchier, because it's a rib fabric.  I have to say that Blended Threads seem to be improving their fabrics and their print jobs, because there's less show through and this rib as well as the bamboo options are so great.  I'm actually waiting for Tessa to tell me it's time to make another order!  My partner wants some underwear in this fabric!  And I am so happy with my new options for hot pilates, as a good environmentalist I've been wearing the same pair of cotton op shop leggings (they were $1!!) for the past 3 years...it's honestly just nice to see some different colours in the mirror.  

Greenstyle tie back tank review

I had been scheming to make this top for a very long time! 

It was on my last to-do list when I moved from Queenstown, but I didn't manage in time.  I spent all the months of summer pining for it, because Auckland is a hot place and this seemed like the perfect dream of a summer top.  I decided to use this mystery knit I have stashed for a LONG time - I think it's a designer deadstock with laser holes through it.  I don't know what it is made of.  

I went with size XXS but graded to S at the hips as I didn't want this to be skin tight

I shortened it 2" through the body 

Used the low neck/racerback set of options

And went with bindings instead of bands because they seemed simplest. They were kind of a pain, and it may be that bands provide a more stable and nicer looking finish - especially in this fabric! I didn't realise how much the holes would affect the bindings, you can see through parts of them. 

My overall thoughts are that I did not like this top very much. I don't know how to knot it to be the right amount of loose and comfortable.  It does fit as expected but I'm just not enthusiastic about it.  Possibly because I made it right as summer said goodbye, so I no longer wanted tops like this.  I really do not think I'd make this pattern again in this way.  I would consider making it with a bottom band to hold the two flaps, but I am not really a fan of having a knot at my back, and the flappy back bits are ok but not something I'd rush toward.  That said, I bought a secondhand Lululemon top with similar features near the end of the summer so clearly I like the style to some degree. 

another Greenstyle repeat: the Lumia hoodie, take two.

The Lumia hoodie, version 1 (see it here), was an ok fit but still very long on me. 

It also seemed like it could handle pretty heavyweight sweatshirting. 

I hated my mixed fabrics (a friend loved it, so it went to her!)

So I got this nice heavy sweatshirting from The Fabric Box and matching rib as well. I remembered to shorten my rib!

Still size C. This time I shortened it further in the front by just cutting the bottom upwards a bit, and lengthened the back hem, since it seemed to sit relatively high on me compared to the front. So that was functionally a hi-low hem alteration. I didn't shorten it further through the middle, since I didn't want to shorten the design feature too much.  I think I could shorten it above the pockets if I still wanted it shorter next time.

It was an easy sew. I still didn't use twill tape on the back of the zip, but I'm happy with this hoody. It's heavier than current Lululemon ones since the hood is lined and my fabric is quite heavy (and of course because the current Lululemon quality has become super shit!)

Greenstyle Veltori top, take 2

 After my first Veltori experience I knew I had to try again.  There's so much potential in a sporty zip front top!  Unfortunately I realised I was going to use a totally different size, and I am lazy, so the efforts waited until I sent some other things to the print shop and could get another copy of this printed.  This time around I went with size C, whereas my first version was size D.  I also chose a lovely textured merino knit from The Fabric Store (I have used it in white and was excited to see another colourway available). 

I was going to shorten it 1" plus 1/2" at the waist and I was thinking so hard about this that I...somehow forgot to shorten at the waist.  As before, the pieces are very confusing.  It's not clear until you are putting it together that you don't need the side inserts if you are doing a 1-colour back, but you always need the sleeve inserts no matter which version you make. 

The fit is much better than before.  It's still very roomy in my merino.  I find the neck sits much further out than I would like it to, since the point of the high neck is to be snug.  Even though I didn't shorten at the waist, the length isn't too bad. 

I used my own advice and interfaced along the zip, which helped, but I used knit interfacing and actually heavier woven interfacing would have been even better.

As is, this is a totally wearable top, but when I put in the zip I saw that I had managed to get a colour that is ALMOST but not quite right, and that put me off so hard.  A friend of mine saw my pictures and asked for it so it's going to her.  I'm oddly picky about my exercise wear - I prefer old, holey things to new stuff - and so I am perfectly happy with what I currently own.  This was still a really useful detour! 

Greenstyle Stride tights x 2 and adventures with sports knits...

 My friend Tessa has been in love with her Greenstyle stride tights for long enough that I thought I should try out the pattern.  I have a lot of leggings, but the ones I've made have been Megan Nielsen Virginia, which I have made many times, but apparently been silent about as no way was this leather pair my first rodeo, and Jalie Clara.  And honestly the secondhand shops keep providing me with such great Lululemon that it's hard to keep in mind my goal of increasing the handmade ratio in my wardrobe.  

So I had a look over this pattern.  Went with size D as I thought a bit smaller would be the better choice. Tessa told me they are true to size.

I have these sports knits I got awhile ago, the patterned fabrics are from Mood, and the contrast are from a shop in the States, but I'm not sure where.  Something with expensive shipping, and I think they are Repreve which is a recycled nylon blend with old PET bottles in it.  

I made the pocket side version, medium rise, capri length for my first attempt.  I initially froze when I realised the yellow is kind of transparent, but decided it's not really anywhere important enough to double layer it.  While sewing these tights my coverstitch machine was still behaving relatively well, though it's gone to the dark side since then.  It's very annoying when a machine you already don't like stops working well.  

Putting these together was quite fun and satisfying once I got past the finicky pocket finishing, but I noticed right away as I sewed the curved panels that the two fabrics went through the feed dogs at VERY different ratios.  I think on one side I had an offset of about 2 inches when I finished, and I was not pulling at the fabrics.  On the other side, I had less. I followed the instructions regarding order of sewing and the backs matched up perfectly.  

I tried them on and discovered that I had the worst leg twist known to man.  They were twisting about 100 degrees, and both in the same direction (I think the twist is to the right).  One leg (probably the one with that big offset) was super skewed and very loose at the hem.  I engineered a fix by overlocking off the hem unevenly (a big chunk of pink and not much yellow) to bring it slightly back out of skew.  This was like a 2" or wider chunk.  It still is very obvious when they are on the floor, and the hems are a bit uneven because of that fabric twist.  However once on my body they are ok.  

 

And once on my body I noticed that the pockets are absurdly low.  They like, aren't within reach of my hands.  The pockets should be right where the side piece widens (according to Lululemon anyway) - so functionally they start where they should end.  Having said this, I took these for a trial run to work in Thames, and wore them on a 12km adventure trail run and I had my phone in that pocket, and it was snug in there the entire time.  So they still work fine. 

I went on with the prettier fabric and this time did the high waist and the crop length, without the pockets.

I changed the order I sewed things in to see if it would fix leg twist - sewing both side seams the same side up.  I also didn't sew the backs together right away, and the result is that they don't line up as well.  Seems that in this case you are *well served* by actually following the instructions!  Imagine!  

The leg twist is slightly less and I didn't need to do any crazy fixes this time.  It's not gone by any means.  Unfortunately, the high waist is totally ridiculous.  I have no waist.  The midrise was high waisted on me.  I should have known better.  So this waistband is at my ribs and it's very tight, I will have to do something about it but I thought I'd wear them a few times first to figure it out.  

 

Both of these pairs of tights are a little bit loose right at the top of the crotch, which is the most important spot for them to be snug.  This makes me think I need to tighten up that area - it's much worse on the black pair so I will almost certainly have to deal with the waist and then see about adjusting them further to improve the fit.  I believe the Jalie Clara were better in this area because of their gusset, so next time I feel like making leggings I might do those again.

 

 This experience has left me very wary of sewing with sports knits.  I didn't expect them to be any different from regular knits, but they are far more slippery and finicky. My experience was not improved because at the same time, I decided to quickly sew a Patterns for Pirates basic tank top with the super curved hem to match my new sportswear.  (Beware of "quick sews?")

 Putting the tank together was easy but then I went to the coverstitch all planning to hem it in one go, without ironing it in place or pinning or any prep, and that was such a bad coverstitch hem that I had to undo it.  I tried to redo the hem, but it's too curved, and actually I just killed it and had to CUT OFF the entire hem and have now zig zagged it which is way uncool. So the PTSD regarding these sports knits is real, but is kind of my fault for thinking I didn't need to prep.  

I don't think the leg twist is a fault of the legging pattern.  I don't think I cut my pieces out off grain.  I think it happens because of that curve across the butt with that stretchy fabric having variable stretch as it crosses the grain.  The way I think you could try to fix it is by basting the pieces together with a sewing machine first, using an exceptionally wide stitch, and going from the hems up.  I'm not tempted to make more of these to see, and although it's frustrating to have resulting clothes that feel "imperfect" they definitely look good on, I've already gotten compliments!  And they work.  Getting away from that RTW perfect mindset is such an ongoing struggle.