When you have fabric in hand for a sewing project, how do you decide what that fabric should become? I received some of the best advice ever from a friend a few years ago when I first started blogging my clothing makes. I was feeling so indecisive and asked her what I should make with a strike off. She said “Make what you know you will wear.”
I know her answer sounds super simple and obvious, but if you have been around fashion or the sewing world very long, you know that this is far from reality. It is so easy to get caught up in what is the coolest and most exciting trend or pattern, especially when you plan to blog and share your project with the world when you finish, but here is the reality of the season in life I am in: my clothes need to feel good to wear. I need to be able to move, bend, jump around, and breastfeed in them. I also live for comfort and seriously can feel touched out by clothes that don’t feel good at the end of the day. Am I weird?
Little does my friend know, but I repeat her statement to myself almost every time I receive fabric to sew up. I look to fill holes in my closet or make something that I have seen while out and about that caught my eye and fits the bill for my lifestyle. I also love to do my research on Pinterest! My ultimate goal, though, is to spend my time making clothes that I will actually wear!
Last week I received this amazingly soft and beautiful athletic brushed polyester marble print fabric from Zenith and Quasar, and I knew exactly what I wanted it to become. I am so excited to share with you the three projects I made from it! They are three projects that are going to be well-loved too!
The Mommy and Me Cozy Sweatshirts
I absolutely love a cozy sweatshirt to pull on over my clothes when I feel chilled in the cooler months. I think cozy is my favorite blogging word, and this just makes my cozy-loving heart happy. I feel like I need a dozen more of these in my life!
The pattern I used for my top is the Greenstyle Creations Open Back Pullover*. It is a hoodie pattern that has the option for a neckband as well as options for different open (or non-open) back styles. I love to use patterns that have advanced options and basics all in one pattern.
I did not make adjustments to the pattern and sewed my normal measured size. It was a quick sew and took maybe an hour from start to finish.
Next, I made a cozy sweater for my youngest daughter. It was just as quick, and I love getting to twin with her! For hers, I used the Ellie and Mac Going Home Sweater*.
I made her the tunic length so that it will fit all winter. She seems to grow up more than grow out, so the tunic length will allow her to wear it for longer. I made her measured size and love the amount of ease in the pattern.
The Athletic Tights with Laser Cut Tricot
I had some scraps left over after our sweaters. I seriously couldn’t get over the print in this fabric so I held off writing my blogpost until I could sew every last drop of it. I love how versatile athletic brushed polyester is. It is such a great weight to use for bottoms or tops, is soft, breathes, and just comfortable to wear. Even though it is brushed, it doesn’t pil and holds up really well to my wash/dry routine. I don’t baby my clothes, and I have garments that I made out of it over 2 years ago that are not faded and still look great.
While I was thinking about what to do with my last bits of scraps, I ran across this amazing pair of tights on Pinterest this weekend and had to recreate them.
I used the Greenstyle Inspire Tights pattern for my tights. Mine are a little different than the inspiration pair because mine are a pretty purple, and my color blocking is across my thigh instead of my knee.
I also used laser cut performance tricot from Greenstyle Creations for my inserts since it holds up better than a lot of meshes. I have used mesh on tights before, and my kids grabbed and pulled at it. This laser cut fabric is much sturdier and holds up very well to their abuse!
Pattern Adjustments
For my inserts, I added 1/4 to the top and bottom of the pattern piece to make them longer. I took away this same 1/4 inch from the top and bottom of the legs. For the back of my leg, I cut the pattern at the capri line on the calf and added seam allowance on both sides of the line I had cut out to make the insert.
I also added 1/4 inch to the top of both waistband pieces and tried my waistband on before attaching it to the tights. It wasn’t as firm as a hold as I wanted, so I used a 3/4 inch seam allowance on each side of my waistband. This makes it snugger and allows me to get away with not using elastic in the top of my waistband seam. If you want more detail on the size adjustments I make to the inspire tights, see this post here.
Opacity
This athletic brushed poly is pretty opaque when not stretched. I wore a black bra underneath my sweatshirt just so I could show you how opaque it is when worn with an item that has positive ease.
For garments with negative ease like these tights, you will see everything underneath it when stretched. So, now you are wondering (or maybe not?) about how you can’t see my panty line in these white tights! I am wearing the Greenstyle No Show Brief in Mist fabric. I blogged about them here.
For more TMI, I also had that time of the month show up right before I headed out for photos. Yikes! I wore a 5 inch cloth pad that I made in my no show briefs, and I really thought it would be just good enough for a few quick photos and maybe only from the front only. BUT, I was wrong. It was held perfectly in place by these panties!! I was shocked. Just to test it out, you know, for research, I ran all around during the photo shoot and it didn’t budge. I remember when the pattern initially released someone asking me about cloth pads, and I seriously doubted that it would hold well without leg elastic. My doubts are over. It worked great! Now, I can have my cake and eat it too. 🙂
Thanks for reading today. I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram, or you may receive updates by liking my page on Facebook. If you want to take a look into the things that inspire me, you can follow me on Pinterest. You may also follow my blog with Bloglovin.
Resources
- The Marble Athletic Brushed Polyester is on Preorder at Zenith and Quasar Fabric.
- The sweatshirt pattern I made for myself is the Greenstyle Open Back Pullover. The sweatshirt pattern I made for my daughter is the Ellie and Mac Going Home Sweater.
- The athletic tights I made are the Greenstyle Inspire tights. I used this fabric on the inserts.
*Disclosures
I received this fabric for free to show how it looks sewn up. Also, this post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.
XO
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