I’ve always tried to use genuine athletes to model our patterns, starting way back in 2014 with our second pattern, the Duathlon Shorts. It means I get to big up other incredible people, tell their stories, and hopefully inspire you all. It also means you get to see the patterns on bodies other than mine, and bodies that actually exercise instead of just skinny models doing “fake running” like you see in so many magazines!
Meet our Triumph Suit athlete model An!
All the best Triumph Suit features
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on the launch of our latest Triumph Suit sewing pattern earlier this week! It feels like such an accomplishment to finally get this one out into the world after so much work.
I’ve got SO much to say about this pattern, but today I wanted to share some of the really cool features in this pattern that may not be apparent at first glance.
Pockets
This pattern has the most pockets of ANY of our patterns – a whopping SIX in total! The lower back is compromised of three layers (two of exterior fabric with a layer of mesh in between), with top entry and side entry pockets between the layers, and a vertical dividing line of stitching to keep the contents from migrating around.
The side entry pockets have a scooped opening edged with FOE that’s still deep enough to keep the contents in place. This is where I usually keep my phone, for example.
New pattern! Triumph Suit trisuit sewing pattern
It’s here! After nearly three years in development, our Triumph Suit pattern is finally ready for you. It’s our first dedicated triathlon pattern, our first all-in-one, and our first advanced pattern.
A bonus white and mustard ringer tee
When I was cutting out my white Issy top, I ended up with a decent amount of fabric leftover due to the single-layer fabric layout. Annoyingly, it wasn’t quite enough to cut out a whole teeshirt. But at the same time, I didn’t want to just put the excess back into my scraps stash as I knew I’d be less likely to do anything with it as time went on. I’m finally learning that I should use the excess at the same time to increase my chances of wearing it!
Luckily, white pairs with just about everything, and I found the last bits of my failed Rauha dress (most of which I turned into a vest top last summer), and the mustard bamboo jersey was a very similar weight to this MeetMILK Tencel jersey from Lamazi Fabrics (the Shell colourway is no longer in stock but other colours are!). I decided it’d be fun to combine the two to create a vintage-style “ringer tee”.
Sage green lingerie set
Hot on the heels of my fuchsia mesh lingerie set I sewed recently, the New Craft House ladies released sage green lingerie kits and I slammed that Buy button quicker than I ever thought possible! I absolutely adore my pink set and I’ve been wearing it so much and I knew that a green set would get equally as much wear so it was a real no-brainer for me.
Vampire lips leggings and shorts
I’ve been sewing with Funkifabrics’ activewear fabrics for a nearly a decade now, and I’m a huge fan of their custom-printed fabrics. I nearly always pay my own way, even when it’s for pattern samples, so it’s lovely when they offer to let me try a new base fabric. The last time this happened was back in 2021 for the lightweight Spider, which I loooooved! So I was delighted when they asked if I’d like to try out their new Olympus base fabric in a print of my choosing.
As I am now (still!) firmly in the throes of my reignited vampire obsession, I went with their “Bite Me” print, with 150% scaling, and different shades of pinks and purples using their Colour Me service.
A fuchsia mesh lingerie set
I’ve made a lot of lingerie over the years, but my bra preferences have changed over the course of the pandemic (like a lot of women) to favour soft bras over underwired styles, and I’m still trying out different patterns to find ones I like. So I was very interested to learn that New Craft House had not only bought up the un-used fabric and haberdashery from a lingerie brand that sadly went out of business, but bought their patterns, too! When the collection was finally ready to buy (two bra patterns, three panty patterns, and four kits), I literally set a timer and hit buy within the first minute (if you’re ready this right after I’ve posted, the kits are only temporarily sold out while they catch up on the avalanche of orders).
IWTV tribute crew shirt
It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following me on social media for the past few months that one of my first makes of the new year should somehow involve the “Interview with the Vampire” tv show (aka “the show so good I think it altered my brain chemistry”). I also spoke more about it in my end of year roundup if you want more explanation of just how good this show is, and how to watch it (short version: AMC or Amazon in most territories).
Anyway, in the official Behind the Scenes documentary, Sam Reid (the actor who plays Lestat) wears a slate blue teeshirt with a coffin drawing on the front, which I really liked, so I did a bit of investigating. Sam’s a massive Anne Rice nerd (to an encyclopedic degree!) but it turned out that this was the “crew shirt” for the show – a promo item made and distributed to cast and crew only. Usually these are pretty tacky affairs with just the show logo on a tee or trucker cap, but I really liked the subtlety of this one – it looks like it does have the show name on the sleeve and a bit of text on the back that can’t be read (my guess is maybe “Memory is a Monster”?), but mostly, I was into the coffin drawing. I did some cursory searches on eBay but with NDAs these days, I didn’t really expect to find anyone selling theirs. So if I wanted one, I’d have to make one myself!
An all black pair of Duathlon Shorts
Ever since I made my pair of (nearly) all black Tenacity Leggings, I’ve wanted a similar pair of shorts. I’m not one to shy away from plain fabrics, but to me, entirely black leggings and shorts are just SO boring! But since making the leggings, I realised how incredibly useful they are for cycling around town, meeting people for pub garden drinks, running errands, getting to hospital appointments, etc when you want to be comfortable on the ride yet blend in when you get to your destination (and it’s too wet to wear cycling jeans).
And I needed something similar for the warmer months! So I took the same black supplex from Tia Knight out of my stash and decided to make a pair of Duathlon Shorts (biker length) so I could have easy access pockets, too. This particular supplex is currently out of stock but keep an eye on their socials because when they restock it, it sells out super quick because it’s such great quality and ridiculously cheap!
I am a duathlete! (and Flash sale!)
I am a duathlete!! Yesterday I completed my first duathlon, the full distance at London Duathlon – a 10km run followed by a 44km cycle and then a 5km run. It was my first multisport race (transitions?? omg!) and I loved it!