Made By A Fabricista: Pickleball!

I recently discovered a new thing: Pickleball. And I’ve become a little obsessed with it! Naturally, I needed new clothes to wear when playing, and when I saw the collection of Beyond Yoga performance fabric arrive at Fabric Mart, I knew I needed it! 

After getting some inspiration from the Beyond Yoga website, I selected three fabrics from Fabric Mart with my $50 budget – two Nylon/Lycra “Sportflex” fabrics (purple and olive), and a polyester/Lycra featherweight Jersey knit (blue). 

I’m a big fan of Jalie patterns for all things sportswear, so once again I turned to their collection for each of these creations (disclosure: Jalie gifted me the patterns for this project). I decided to use the same top for each of my outfits, and then use various patterns for the bottoms. I struggled to find a simple dress in their collection, so in the end, decided to use the same top pattern, but self-draft a quarter-circle skirt for it. There are a couple of things I’d do differently next time, but overall I’m very happy with how everything came together! 

Each top in this collection uses Jalie Audrey. I love how this pattern includes a built-in bra with pockets for bra cups. The first one I made (purple), I miscalculated my size (remember: measure twice, cut once) and went a size too small. I was going to make it again, but decided *it would be fine*. I made the correct size for the subsequent tops! I also added an extra inch in length on the purple version. I’m not sure if that was totally necessary though. 

When modifying Audrey for the dress, I ultimately ended up cutting off 1” from the lower hem so that the dress seam would sit at my natural waistline. One thing I didn’t factor in before starting is that the back of Audrey cuts diagonally into the front bodice as a design feature. Now, this is fine as a standalone top, but when attaching a skirt, this becomes a problem, as the side seams of the skirt don’t align with the seams on the top. If I were to do this again, I would trim the extra wedge from the back bodice and add it to the front pattern piece before cutting everything out. 

To create the skirt, I measured my waist, decided on a length (28 inches), and plugged everything into a circle skirt generator I found online! After measuring and cutting everything out, I then realized that there was as circle skirt template already marked out on my cardboard pattern mat. So, if you have a cardboard pattern mat, take a close look at it before drafting your own circle skirt! 

 I used Jalie Loulouxe skirt with inbuilt shorts (with a pocket!!) for the purple set. I think this will be really cute for pickleball, though I’ll make the pocket wider next time so the ball will fit easier.  

Finally, I used Jalie Clara high-rise leggings with the olive-green fabric. I had made these once before and found them too low, but upon reflecting, decided I’d used the wrong type of fabric. You need at least 60% stretch each direction for these, and the Beyond Yoga fabric was perfect for them. I love the height of these ones, but I found the back waist to gape just a little bit. I’ve made a note to take a triangle out of the waistband next time to account for my swayback. 

Overall, I LOVE all these creations and will be keeping my eyes open for more of these performance fabrics from Fabric Mart in the future! Happy sewing, friends! 

NATASHA  | @auschicksews

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Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar items by shopping the following categories: ACTIVEWEAR & BEYOND YOGA.