I’ve been a fan of FunkiFabrics for a long time (ie: before it was cool!), having made a sports bra, shorts, and leggings from their digital print lycra back in 2013. I’ve been meaning to get some more to use for myself, but it always felt like I was buying it on request for clients and students and never for me!
But recently I decided enough was enough ad I splurged on some luuuuuuuuuscious Funki Fabrics lycra in the “triathlon” print (bought with my own money). This fabric could not be more me – geometric print with turquoise and purples?! (It also comes in a red/orange/pink colourway).
I teamed it up with the basic, one-piece Kwik Sew leggings pattern that I’d recently altered in strange places to suit my runner’s legs, so I knew that the pattern would work well on the run and not bother me by shifting around! I’d made these with an eye to wear at the Three Molehills race, but the old adage “Nothing new on race day” lives deep within my psyche, so I took them out for a test run through Hampstead Heath (and the infamous Swains Lane) the weekend before:
It was only a short loop round the Heath, but long enough for me to tell they were going to be great (and that the mud washed out of them just fine on a cold sports wash!).
When I got home and put a sweatshirt on to warm up, I realised how well the print teamed with royal blue as well as purple! It’s a definite bonus for me when I can pair leggings with a number of tops in my running wardrobe…
So when the morning of the Three Molehills race arrived, I wasn’t even all that concerned that the forecast was for heavy downpours the entire day – at least I had fun leggings to wear round the super hilly, 16 mile course mudbath!
Photo credit: SussexSportPhotography.com
I’m proud to say that I even got a few compliments from the other runners while I was running! It’s not uncommon for me to have marshals in races comment on my leggings, but it was nice to have other ladies come up and ask me where I bought them (and then see the level of respect rise on their face when I reply I’d made them!).
Big thanks to fellow sewing runner Amy Heinen for taking these photos for me!
There were more ankle-deep puddles on this course than I could’ve possibly counted, plus we were getting full-body splashed by the cars along the motorway section of the course, but frankly it was raining so hard that we couldn’t really tell. You can see how nicely the leggings print accepted the mud, though – it just looks like part of the design!
Head over to my RiverRunner site for a full race review, but the short version is that I ran this with my friends Cat and Chris and we had a blast. We also came in last place, believe it or not!! This was a first for all of us, as we’re pretty fast runners, but we were taking it a bit leisurely, plus there was a 10min toilet stop, but still, coming last was a shock!
Left photo credit: SussexSportPhotography.com
We reckon the reason was two-fold: it was an incredibly fast field, but also, we imagine all the slower runners took one look out their window on Sunday morning and went right back to bed! Which is the sensible option, but definitely not the fun one.
And you know what the best bit is? I have about 40cm of this fabric left over so I’m already dreaming of coordinating sports bras, tops, running armband pockets, etc!!