Month: March 2015

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Steeplechase Leggings – crazy printed pairs!

Thank you all so much for all your compliments, orders, and finished photos of your Steeplechase Leggings! I knew I was onto a good idea when I dreamt these up a few months ago, but I had no idea they’d be quite this popular! So thank you!

I’ve shown you quite a few of my sample pairs already, but these are the last you’ll see me modelling for a bit, and they happen to be my wildest yet!

To refresh your memory, here’s the description:
These leggings have no inseams! Instead, a curved, outer seam runs from the back of the ankle up to the centre front, where it joins a separate yoke piece. There’s an optional, hidden back pocket, elasticated waistband, and your choice of three lengths: biker short, capri, or full length leggings.

This first pair are one of my absolute favourites! Not many women would choose to highlight their hips with neon green, but I think it’s fair to say by this point that I am most certainly Not Most Women, ha!

The main fabric is FunkiFabrics “Animal Magic” flexcite (it also comes in a red/orange colourway), paired with their fluorescent green matte lycra. If you want solid colours from Funki, I strongly recommend going for the matte varieties, because the non-matte ones are, well, Jane Fonda jazzercise levels of shiny! But the fabric is the same smooth, high quality stuff that the digital prints come on, and I’ve always been very pleased with how it stands up to repeated washings and mud fests – no fading or piling whatsoever.

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine – February 2015

When this latest issue of Manequim magazine landed in my post box, I had to stifle a laugh and a double-take that I hadn’t accidentally received a copy of Seventeen magazine from my childhood. Could they have possibly chosen a more 1990s, off-putting cover image?? Like, totally!

Here are the Plus patterns this month: a tunic, simple cowl dres (similar to that Vogue Donna Karan one everyone in the blogosphere sewed up!), and a parka jacket.

Are twist dresses done yet? This one feels really similar to a Pattern Magic design, albeit with a novel back.

From the designer (whom I’ve never heard of & didn’t note down) style section this month, a cute little skort with a panelled front.

Gallery

My birthday jeans

It’s my birthday today! And I’m in New York City!!

We usually take a Spring holiday, but not til later in April or May, however this year James suggested we go away to New York over my birthday, since we haven’t been for four years and there were some shows we really wanted to see (we’ve developed an expensive immersive theater habit!). I’ve been needing a new pair of jeans for a while now, so I promised myself that I’d sew some up once the Steeplechase Leggings pattern was released and I’d have a little bit of a breather. And here they are, coinciding nicely as my birthday make this year!

This denim was bought from Ditto Fabrics, labelled as an Italian denim with very slight stretch, so I treated these as a non-stretch denim. It’s super high quality and I love the colour and wash, though like most denims, it’s still bleeding a bit of colour after two prewashes, so I’ll wash it separately for a while before sitting on any white couches.


(Apologies for the iPhone timer photos taken before I left, but I wanted to ensure I had covered the bases and it’s hard to upload images on the road without a laptop!)

I used the same base pattern as my classic pair of jeans made in 2013 (which is #120 from the April 2010 issue of Burda magazine), but my older pair is a bit too big, and also very straight in the leg and I wanted something more fitted and with a slimmer leg this time around.

I essentially made the same pattern (plus the same wedge cut out of the CB as before), but then basted the inseam and side seams to check the fit. I then decided I wanted to take out a cm at the hips and thighs to make the fit closer to “just washed jeans” to allow for some relaxing, then took out a cm from each of the side seams and inseam through the legs for a more skinny-jean silhouette.

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Steeplechase Leggings – purple capris and shorts

So far I’ve shown you my two solid-coloured full length pairs of my latest Steeplechase Leggings pattern, but this pattern also comes in capri length or biker-short length options, too! So you can really wear these all year long, and the construction is exactly the same no matter what length you choose, which makes the instructions even more straight forward.

In case you missed the initial announcement, here’s the pattern description:
These leggings have no inseams! Instead, a curved, outer seam runs from the back of the ankle up to the centre front, where it joins a separate yoke piece. There’s an optional, hidden back pocket, elasticated waistband, and your choice of three lengths: biker short, capri, or full length leggings.

Here are the capri and shorts length versions I sewed up as samples. I tried to make these in more sedate colourways than my normal crazy prints! (Yes, only I would call bright purple “sedate”!)

I’m not usually a fan of capris, but I know so many people who love them that I always try to offer the length if at all possible. They can be a great transitional length when it’s too warm to wear full length leggings, but not quite warm enough for shorts.


(Seen here with my mustard merino wool Surf to Summit Top)

The fuchsia fabric used here is a super soft, comfortable wicking jersey with a brushed, navy back, which was gifted to me by a friend with industry connections (sorry!). I also got a biege colourway at the same time, and I’m looking forward to mixing it and the scraps leftover from this. The yoke is just a plain black supplex leftover in my stash.

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A mustard wool StyleArc Elita wrap top

I don’t often click buy immediately when I see a pattern release, but when StyleArc announced this “Elita designer top” pattern, I had to buy it immediately! Though I’m not entirely sure what makes it designer? I’m especially glad that they released it simultaneously as a printed pattern or a pdf, because I vastly prefer the latter, and it meant I didn’t have to wait for it to ship from Australia before I could get started.

The pattern is essentially a cross-over wrap top, with a shawl collar that extends in front and joins itself to create a really long loop, which the pattern calls a “trunk”. This nomenclature amused me way more than it should! Anyway, you’re supposed to double the loop back over your head to get a sort of double-cowl effect.

I love this design – the first time I wore it I had two friends pleading with me to make versions for themselves! My only gripe on the download is that StyleArc don’t print their symmetrical pieces on the fold, so the entire Back piece had to the pieced together here, when it could’ve saved a significant amount of paper to just have half the piece. It’s also kinda annoying to only have one size per pdf, even though you get three sizes (as separate pdfs) when you order. I’m generally only one size, but this could be a bummer if you usually mix sizes. Their paper patterns are the same, though, so it’s not like the pdfs are any worse.

I had to shorten the “trunk” by 8cm to fit it all into the 2m of mustard yellow wool/viscose jersey I’d bought from Guthrie & Ghani (now sold out in this colourway). Some other reviewers found that the trunk creates a weird, triangular fold at the neck and recomended changing the angle of the trunk piece, but I cut mine as is and I don’t have that fold – perhaps because mine were shortened to begin with? In any case, there’s still plenty of length left to create a nice cowl shape, so I would recommend it if you’re a tad short on fabric, too.

In Progress

Little shoots of Spring

Like little green shoots poking through the earth as the warmth of Spring approaches, I feel like my sewing productivity and creativity is just pushing through from all angles at the moment. I’m so proud that so many of you love my Steeplechase Leggings pattern as much as I do (and I’ve got loads more to share!) but I wanted to share a bunch of smaller things I’ve been getting on with…

Have you ever heard of Sock Stop? It’s a bit like puffy paint we used in the 90s, but it’s intended to paint onto the bottoms of socks and slippers to prevent slips and falls. I bought
some from Guthrie & Ghani recently to see if it helps keep activewear hems in place without requiring silicone elastic (which can be a bit fiddly to sew on). I’ve tried it out on the hems of my Steeplechase capris (which you’ll see soon) and I want to test them out on my next cycle ride…

I can’t believe my birthday’s nearly here again – it seems like I only just made my galaxy-print sheath dress! I celebrated early with my BFF Pip, and she very kindly bought me this Secrets of Sewing Lingerie book and a metre of gorgeous silk chiffon from Dalston Mills! I’m super impressed by the variety and styles of panties, bras, camisoles, garter belts, and accessories in the book, but I want to try out a few patterns before I post a review.

Gallery

Steeplechase Leggings – citron and sage pairs

Wow, thank you all so much for your orders and comments on my new Steeplechase Leggings pattern! The response has been phenomenal, so thank you!

In case you missed the initial announcement, here’s the description:
These leggings have no inseams! Instead, a curved, outer seam runs from the back of the ankle up to the centre front, where it joins a separate yoke piece. There’s an optional, hidden back pocket, elasticated waistband, and your choice of three lengths: biker short, capri, or full length leggings.

During the development process, I made so many samples pairs of these – beyond the initial early ones (not fit to be shown!), I made a whopping SIX pairs for myself, plus two more for my athlete-model niece, too.

Rather than overwhelm you with all the versions at once, I thought I’d start with the two pairs of full-length leggings I made in solid colours, as you can see the seamlines a bit more easily in these.

This first pair may be my favourite pair ever – made up in citron ex-New Balance supplex from FabricMart (now sold out) with a rainbow spaced-dyed supplex yoke. I’ve got enough of the citron left for another garment, but I’ve made so much with the rainbow before that I mostly just fit the yoke out of the scraps.


(it pairs so nicely with my ombre-print Fehrtrade x Laurie King VNA Top!)

These are just so comfortable, and you know how I love bright colours! I’ve done quite a few test runs in these, and they really help to liven up the cold, dark wintry nights.

Inspiration

Steeplechase Leggings – on sale now!

My Steeplechase Leggings pattern is finally available to buy! Yay!


How awesome is the cover illustration I commissioned from Lauren Cox? I wanted to change up the design a bit for 2015, so I got in touch with her and I created a back cover for the first time as well!

The official pattern description:
These leggings have no inseams! Instead, a curved, outer seam runs from the back of the ankle up to the centre front, where it joins a separate yoke piece. There’s an optional, hidden back pocket, elasticated waistband, and your choice of three lengths: biker short, capri, or full length leggings.

I am seriously SO excited to finally release this pattern – I’ve made up so many samples for myself (and my athlete-model niece) and I even ran a half marathon in a pair on Sunday, too! Even if you’ve never had problems with inner-leg chafing, you’ll suddenly wonder how you ever managed without these – they’re just so comfortable to wear!

And if you’re an equestrian, then you’re in luck, because these are great for riding, especially if you add a little bit of silicone grip to the inner knees – which I’ve marked on the pattern for you, because these pieces look weird! Seriously, get your “WTF face” ready when you look at these pattern pieces, because I guarantee they’re unlike anything you’ve seen before! But they’re still super quick to sew up – most of my pattern testers said they only took 2-3hrs to make, including piecing the pattern together!

In Progress

Coming soon: the Steeplechase Leggings!

Let me just start by saying how excited I am about this design. As I hinted about months ago, it’s a concept that I’ve never seen done before, either in a sewing pattern nor in RTW – leggings with no inseam!

The idea was planted into my head by an equestrian student at one of my leggings classes, and it brewed in my head for a few months before I was ready to start developing it. First I started by just shifting the seam to the outside leg, at which point I could’ve just inserted a panel like I did with my Duathlon Shorts pattern. But since I’d already done that before, why not do something different and shift the seam to the back of the leg and add in some curves and a yoke panel, too??

Why not, indeed!

My official blurb is:
These leggings have no inseams! Instead, a curved, outer seam runs from the back of the ankle up to the centre front, where it joins a separate yoke piece. There’s an optional, hidden back pocket, elasticated waistband, and your choice of three lengths: biker short, capri, or full length leggings.

It’s particularly exciting for me because these bring a whole new sport into my pattern stable (ahem) – horseback riding! But they work equally well for running, cycling, and yoga, too, whether you’ve had problems with inner-leg chafing in the past or not. Despite the crazy concept and WTF pattern shapes, these are also deceptively easy to sew up, too – most of my testers made these in a single evening, from cutting to wearing!

These are available in my usual size range, and also come with the usual, fully illustrated instructions complete with Common Fit Alterations section, and Print at Copy Shop version included as standard.

I’ve sewn up SO many samples for myself over the past few weeks, and I’ve been testing them out on my river runs, and also on Tuesdays at Run dem Crew. Because it’s still quite chilly here in London, I’ve been mostly sewing the full-length leggings, but I’ve got (more sedate!) capri and biker short length versions ready to photoshoot this weekend, too.

I’ve still got lots to do before the release sometime next week, though – like going through all the feedback from my incredible band of pattern testers, creating the To Do list of tweaks and suggestions, coordinating the photoshoots of all my samples, plus some of my niece wearing her samples in the saddle (yay!), and finishing up the pattern covers, which I decided to change up a bit for 2015.