Jalie tunic... part fail??? Jury is still out

Happy Leap year! Today I leave you with a mystery. I got this broken heart fabric from the Gurl Charlee group from a Knit Fix. It is super soft and comfy, it has a lot of drape.


I selected Jalie 3254, and went for a tunic pattern.



I sewed this up and got this top. Which when I put it on it looks like a PJ. Err. I think b/c the fabric is really stretchy and I think it makes the top sag b/c of that.

Um but it looks like a PJ. As a PJ it can work...

Just playing around, I messed with the length and snapped a photo. Wow that looks great!

The biggest question that I sit and ask myself is what will get the most use? The top? Would I wear the shorter top to work? I don't know. What about as a PJ? I could see me getting a lot of use in the spring without pants. What would get the most use? The verdict is still out. I seriously cannot make up my mind. Like I have a lot of tops. Hmmm.

Cheers,
Lauren

Sewing in the gymnastic leotard world

Here is my foray into a world I would never think I would join, but I thought doing this would immensely help my sewing skills and bring them up to the next level. A friend of mine approached me into making leotards for 2 girls who she loves dearly. So we picked the fabric. Hindsight the orange glued sequin fabric was not what we expected with the thickness of the fabric. Luckily it was only going in 1 part.

We selected this Jalie pattern for the leotard.

To make a long story short, the metallic fabric is a bit of a challenge to sew with for the binding since it was so thick. Also, the sequin fabric for the orange part was also a bit challenging to line up as well.  The tricot stitch truly saved me with these leotards b/c things were pulled and not acting correctly. the elastic was too small then suggested- the metallic fabric was stretching with my feed dogs and did weird things, see below. Tissue paper helped but was frustrating to pull out of the stitches. So I tricot stitched a lot of things. The fabric hung better (which it did not in the beginning). I used almost an entire spool of thread on 2 leotards. For real! I have never done that before.

Then when I sent them on their way and the girls tried them on- they fit perfectly! My jaw dropped when I saw the picture! They really do look like gymnastic leotards. And the girls love them- even better. :)

Even though these were painful to sew and it was difficult, these leotards really built up my sewing skills.  I am beyond thrilled that these leotards turned out so well. Now I am little less intimidated in hard sewing!

Cheers,
Lauren

Workout wear refashions #87/88

Alright well I am back. I decided to take some after photos this past weekend and I even got some time to sew. I also was lazy, watched movies, and caught up on sleep. Happy Holidays.

Now for some refashions.... I am so close to my 99 refashion challenge and been furiously sewing away. Here is a big shirt made out of spandex I found and of course I loved the pattern. But seriously how do you wear it? It was a fabulous spandex. And I mean fabulous!

I recently became introduced to Jalie patterns which offer a bunch of workout wear, skating, and dance patterns. I was looking for a pair of hot shorts that I first wanted to make from this top. Boom found this pattern!

Here are my shorts. This is my first time with a double needle and spandex and wow can I say I'm in love? Double needle where have you been all my life?

I looked at the leftover fabric and realized I had just enough to make the sports bra with the same pattern with the criss cross straps in the back. Yes! So here is my matching sports bra! It fits great!

I just love the back.

I learned how to use foldover elastic (got it on amazon, now I have a giant spool of black foldover elastic!) for this project as the pattern specifically calls for it. It was slightly stressful but I got over it. And I put it on with no threads popping! Yes!!!

Not bad huh? The recap looks great! And I got a new workout set (that I will wear the shorts at home) for less than $5. The sports bra is not meant for serious jumping but it will be great for dancing and yoga. :)

Cheers,
Lauren