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My Cos “Made By You” Men’s Shirt

My goal for January was to sew both of the Cos “Made By You” shirt kits, and even though it’s February now, I am pleased to report that I did indeed finish both in January. I’ve already told you all about the Women’s Shirt, so today I want to show off the Men’s Shirt.

Now, they’re labelled “women’s” and “men’s” but to my eyes they’re really fairly gender-neutral, so I bought both kits intending them for myself (hence why I bought a larger size in the women’s, assuming the men’s was drafted a bit bigger). I’ll go all in on the construction and the kit itself in a separate post later this week (like I did with the women’s), but for now, let’s just have a look at the finished shirt!

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My Cos “Made By You” Women’s Shirt

Back in November I caught wind that the high-end high street shop Cos were selling sewing kits for two of their classic white shirt designs. Coincidentally, it was right after Black Friday so I managed to buy both with a hefty discount, purchasing size M/L for the women’s and size S/M for the men’s (the RRP for each kit is £29/€35 but I think I paid less than £20 each). Now, Cos label these as “women’s” and “men’s” but to my eyes they’re really both unisex designs, so I’m sewing up both for myself! I decided to dedicate my January sewing to tackling these kits, starting with the women’s one (as voted by my Instagram followers), so this post is to show off the finished shirt!

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A snake-print Tessellate Hoodie

What better way to kickstart January than with activewear, amirite?? Especially if it’s a pattern you’ve sewn a thousand times before, in a fabric you love, and made entirely with stash fabrics. Bonus points if it’s also essentially a clone of a garment you already own so you’re pretty much guaranteed of success!

In the years since launching our Tessellate Tee pattern, I found myself wearing the turquoise, yellow, and claret hoodie sample (featured on the pattern cover) for nearly all of my coldest runs – I can’t even tell you how many early morning run commutes this came along on! The key here was that I made it in Funkifabrics’ “thermo” fabric which is essentially fleece-lined lycra. It’s stretchy with great recovery, and has a smooth exterior, but the interior is fluffy and fleecy like the inside of a sweatshirt, which makes it really warm. I often paired this hoodie with a pair of Steeplechase Leggings I’d also made in black thermo, and the combo is one I’d wear on my coldest and wettest runs or cycle commutes.

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A holiday lingerie set

This year we have decided to go ALL IN on Christmas – not just the lights and decorations, but also holiday music and films, and cook all the fabulous festive foods, too in order to cheer ourselves up to the maximum. And I think this festive spirit must’ve also crept into my sewing plans, because I found myself clicking the Buy button on this fabulous holiday-themed critter cotton jersey from Like Sew Amazing (now sold out). I mean – they had me at the festive swan!!

I only bought a half metre but that was plenty to cut out another Sophie Hines Axis Tank, plus a pair of thong panties (from our Threshold Shorts pattern), a small gift I can’t mention yet, and frankly, there’s still enough leftover for a second pair of panties too if I get my act together before the 25th!

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Black ramie Pietra trousers

You know a pattern is a good’un when you not only find yourself making it multiple times, but feel a deep need in your wardrobe to make even more. This is my 5th time making the Closet Core Patterns “Pietra Pants” pattern – twice before as trousers and twice also as shorts.

My very first time sewing this pattern was a pair of trousers in black linen, almost exactly two years ago, which since then I’ve worn so much that the inner thighs literally disintegrated (even after patching). Thankfully my second pair, in grey wool, are still going strong (probably by virtue of only being worn in winter rather than all year round like the linen ones).

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Two more Coco sports bras

Carrying on from my earlier feeling that I have far too many clothes, I realised that one area of my wardrobe where I currently have a need is… supportive sports bras for running! Plus my lycra scaps bin is absolutely overflowing so this was a great project to work on! These are the 4th and 5th Jalie “Coco” sports bras I’ve made, so I think you can safely say I’m a fan of it!

This is the only sports bra sewing pattern I’ve found (and I’ve tried a LOT) that is supportive enough for running, but with a few small but essential changes – which I outlined in this post so I won’t repeat them here again.

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A wool waist pack for cycling

When swapping over my wardrobe from summer to winter recently, I realised that I have way too many clothes. Even after getting rid of 8(!!) bags to the charity shop collection, I still have a full wardrobe full of clothes that I adore and really want to wear. Which is great, but it means that I don’t really need to sew much, and I started thinking more on what I should make that would really serve a function, and trying to concentrate on needs rather than wants.

One of the needs I recognised over the summer is that I don’t really have any small bags that I can take with me when I cycle, when I don’t want to carry a full bag, and what I’m wearing doesn’t have enough secure pockets. So I settled on a waist pack (aka “bum bag” or “fanny pack”) but one that I could sew in a more casual fabric so it’d look nice when I arrived, rather than screaming “I cycled here”!

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An alpine Tenacity Shorts set

Today it’s time to look closer at our third and final sample of the new Tenacity Leggings pattern, and it’s one that got a true testing – immediately after the photoshoot I set off on a run around the Lanhydrock estate, in Cornwall, even though it was fairly muddy, because I just couldn’t help myself! Also it was super fun to be able to play with my friend’s lab, Freya, for some of these photos. I guess this makes her my first “dog-lete model”??

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Neon Tenacity Capris

Next up in our deep-dive into each of the samples of the new Tenacity Leggings pattern is possibly the brightest pair of capris I’ve ever sewn – and you know I love a bright and crazy activewear print fabric!!

We shot the photos for this pair on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, made famous by Hitchcock’s “Jamaica Inn”. It made for a great contrast against the muted terrain on a very grey and cloudy day, though I’m pretty sure some of the sheep thought I was the actual sun!

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Olive green Tenacity Leggings

Thanks for all your enthusiasm around the new Tenacity Leggings and “Activewear Sewing for Beginners” eBook! It’s always nerve-wracking to release something new so it really makes a difference when you all love it as much as my testers and I did!

I wanted to kick things off today by introducing the first of our three Tenacity Leggings samples. Normally at this part I’d be telling you all about the baddass “athlete model” I worked with, but with still being classed as “Clinically Extremely Vulnerable” even after 3 jabs, it wasn’t feasible for me to be working with someone close quarters for fittings or travelling on the tube with the camera and gear to do the photoshoot. So I’m afraid I’m the only model for this pattern, but the athlete models will definitely be coming back in future!