Made by a Fabricista: Workout Yoga Pants

I think I have turned into an activewear fabric junkie. I can't get enough of them! Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I joined a gym again and have been doing a lot of physical activity this summer. The last time I bought activewear clothes was like five years ago when I joined a gym. I went for about a year and lost interest. I would still wear the yoga pants and gym clothes, but honestly, I was really tired of my look.

So I looked for some good activewear patterns and came across a few from Kwik Sew. I wanted to start with a pants pattern and Kwik Sew #3988 looked perfect! The pattern comes with a two inseam lengths. Since it is summer, I wanted to make the shorter length. Sue made the long pants HERE. And her success with the pattern made it better for me to decide on this pattern too.

I had an activewear knit fabric in my stash from a previous Fabric Mart buyout a few years ago. So I dug it out from the bottom of the pile and got started. (You can find our selection of activewear fabrics HERE.) I read some reviews that you should almost go down a size with this pattern so you get the best fit. So I tissue fit the pants on my body and one size smaller seemed to do the trick. Remember -- activewear clothes usually fit closer to your body than regular clothes.

I did not do any alterations to the pattern. I wanted to see how it went right out of the envelope. And it was great! The hardest part was probably the gusset and the inset piece on the side of the pants. But the directions are clear, I just needed to focus a little bit more. Oh, and all the double top-stitching! I was having a hard time getting the double needle to work properly on my machine (I was getting tunneling.) And everything I did to change that didn't work. So rather than messing up the pants, I decided to stitch using a single needle, just doing it twice. I'm pretty good at keeping my stitching straight, so I wasn't concerned. I used the knit stitch on my sewing machine (I have a Bernina). I also serged all the seams.

My only complaint would be that when the pants aren't on me, it has some rippling at the waist. The only thing I can think of is that maybe I was pulling on the fabric when sewing, but I didn't think I was. The waist has elastic stitched in which also helps keep the stretchy fabric on your body. I also may make the legs a wee bit thinner next time because it gets a little loose at the bottom.

I'm really happy with my workout pants and can't wait to make more! It's time to replace the old ones in my closet. Now on to some tops!

Have you ever made your own workout clothes? Do you have pattern recommendations?

Happy Sewing!

~ Julie

Made By A Fabricista: Embracing Winter in Wool Boucle

As winter drags on, the cold weather is such a bummer to me and feeling uncomfortable and cold so often is rough. Meanwhile, I listened to a podcast all about how people in very northern countries deal better with the onset of dark, freezing winter with a radically different mindset of embracing the inevitable season by reframing the chill as refreshing and the opportunity to spend most time indoors as cozy. I can do that! I found a gorgeous, quintessential wool boucle suiting in black and white to make myself a luxurious outer layer while I’m outside attempting to embrace the sting of dry winter air… It’s kind of working. So classic, so chic! Wearing boucle is always an uptown move and I certainly do feel sophisticated in it. This black and white houndstooth combination feels especially Old Hollywood, and what a treat to make something with this! I sewed the Daphne Jacket from Vivian Shao Chen. There are no closures, and the shape is boxy and very easy to wear over multipl...

Made By A Fabricista: Valentine’s Day Cozy Lounge Set

What comes first: the pattern or the fabric? How do you make your sewing plans? Throughout the month of January, my social media feeds were flooded by fabulous sewists sharing sewing resolutions and goals, and designing thoughtful plans for their 2025 makes. While I am a big planner in my day-to-day life, when it comes to my creative hobby, I am much more spontaneous. I find that fabric design and texture often inspires me most so I typically look for fabulous prints or bold colors and let the fabric tell me what it wants to become. As I turned my attention to my first-ever (!) Fabricista make, I wanted something to get my creative juices flowing. One evening, Fabric Mart shared an Instagram story that highlighted their Dusty Mauve Sweatshirt Fleece . It had a nice stretch, was fleece-backed, and was a muted baby pink that spoke to me. It was soft and feminine, perfect for a cozy day or night by the fire. I immediately knew I wanted to make a cute pair of sweatpants for a fun Vale...

Made By A Fabricista: Sewing + Running

It’s not every day that I get to mix two of my favorite hobbies. Especially when one hobby is sewing and the other is running. You can’t sew and run at the same time, but, you can go running in something that you sewed! With this realization, I embarked on my first hobby-merging adventure. We’ve had some frigid temperatures in Pennsylvania this winter. Since I’m an outside, stroller-pushing runner, I bundle up my son and myself before I hit the road. The temperature feels 20 degrees warmer for outside runners than the outside air. For the children being pushed in the stroller though, it feels about 20 degrees colder. With these differences in temperature for each of us, layering is the only thing that ensures that we both stay perfectly warm. My running wardrobe has been lacking a warm top layer. My son’s wardrobe would also benefit from having another warm layer, so I knew pullovers were what I should make. Inspired by a name-brand ¼ button-down fleece pullover I saw,...

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