Despite having an incredibly full activewear drawer, there were a few items I was missing to bridge the gap between my current size (as I’m losing the huge amount of weight I gained while bedbound with Long Covid) and my pre-Covid activewear size. Namely, comfortable activewear I can ebike in over the winter and still look casual at my destination! Plus, due to the risk of catching illnesses inside, when I meet up with friends during the winter, we need to sit outside so the warm layers do double duty even when I’m not on the bike.
Two merino Dymar tops
I bought the FibreMood Sports issue as soon as it was published, and the Dymar top was one that instantly jumped out at me, despite being cropped. This is the same issue as the Denver sports bra that I made last year, if you recall. You can also buy any of the patterns individually from FibreMood or The Fold Line.
The Dymar pattern is a raglan sleeved top which is cropped to the waist, with extra long sleeves that have thumb holes in the seam.
I traced size L, which matches my Bust measurement but is a bit too small in the waist, so I added 1.5cm to the side seams at the waist (so 6cm in total). To make it full length rather than cropped, I added 18.5cm in length (but then didn’t quite have enough of my muslin fabric so ended up shortening that to 14cm extra below the waist) and made the bottom edge 25.5cm wide on each Front and Back for my hips. Essentially, I drew a bottom half onto this pattern, but you could easily trace another top pattern you know you like, aligning the two patterns at the underarms.
The pattern has a hem band rather than a hemmed bottom edge, but the band as drafted would’ve been too small anyway after I elongated it to the hips so I just left that off and added a hem allowance instead.
I first made a wearable muslin in teal & mustard wicking wool that’s been in my stash for 10+ years. I had to cut the body a little shorter than I wanted to in order to fit it into my fabric scraps, and I turned out to be correct, as this was indeed too short. So I didn’t hem it.
The extra long sleeves were still too short to make the thumb holes comfortable, so I added 5cm (2in) to the pattern for the next one…
…which was some charcoal grey merino wool jersey from The Fabric Store that’s been in my stash for at least a decade, too! I’ve been sitting on my horde of merino wool jersey like a dragon on its treasure, but I really should just sew it so I can wear it!
The only change to the construction I did on the grey one was to topstitch down the seam allowances on the thumb holes while the sleeve was still flat – ie BEFORE sewing the sleeve seam. It was much easier to do this flat instead of wrangling the tiny sleeve opening!
The sleeve length and body length are just perfect for me on this one now! It’s super comfortable and will be the perfect base layer, either for cycling or running, or just under a jumper for everyday wear. This style of thumb holes aren’t my favourite though – positioning them in the seam means the sleeve must twist to accomodate the thumb, and the slit holes are nowhere near as comfortable as the thumb cuffs on our Tessellate Tee pattern, and nowhere near as warm as the mitts on our Surf to Summit Tops pattern. So in reality I hardly ever wear this with my thumbs through the holes…
Thermo Steeplechase Leggings
When I want maximum WARMTH, I go for FunkFabrics “Thermo” base fabric – it’s fleece-lined lycra and makes absolutely THE warmest leggings you’ll ever wear. I’ve made a few pairs from it in the past, as well as a few Tessellate hoodies, too, but I wanted an entirely black pair in a larger size (this one was M through the legs and hips and L at the waist) to see me through this winter.
I used a little sample of lycra from my scraps drawer for the hidden back waistband pocket, but only I know that little pop of colour is there!
I wore this exact top and leggings combo to ebike to the annual Smithfield meat auction on Christmas Eve morning and it was the perfect mix of warmth and comfort, and I wasn’t overly sweaty when standing around at the auction either!
If you’re looking for athletic fabrics, I’ve partnered with the independent Canadian shop Fabric + Flow, who are running a special discount code for $10 off athletic fabric kits using FEHR10 until the end of February. They’ve got some fabulous colours and textures I’ve not seen anywhere else! And you might even find a discount code for FehrTrade patterns on their site, too…