Sewing Comfy and Easy Basics for a Capsule Wardrobe

Comfy and cozy is my jam, and I am happy to show you two more pieces I have added to my wardrobe today! These are perfect “capsule” items that mix and match with so many things, and the best part about them is that they are SO FREAKING warm! I hate being cold, and I love it when my lounge wear doubles as a layer of insulation.

For today’s post I am going to chat about the fabric and patterns I used for my new top and joggers. Also, don’t worry that 2020 has made me give up all sense of style because I promise that I DO NOT plan on wearing these two pieces together! In fact, here is one way that I plan to wear these joggers…

I also plan to wear my comfy new top with a pair of leggings, but you are going to have to image how awesome that is going to look because I did not have a pair of leggings with me when I was taking these photos!

The Fabric*

I used Polartec fleece from The Fabric Fairy for both pieces. This fabric is soft and plush on the inside. It reminds me of a thick sweatshirt. The outer face is smooth and durable. I could see it being used for a jacket, sweater, joggers, pullover, or any warm layer that you want.

It is really stretchy so you can use it on patterns that need 50%+ stretch or patterns that are more fitted. I would not do anything with a ton of negative ease just because of the thickness. It is really stable to sew with, but whichever pattern you pick, you don’t want to have really thick seams or layers because it is not a thin fabric!

One BIG concern I have with fabrics that I use for bottoms is RECOVERY. I want to make sure that my pants will not be saggy in the butt after wearing them all day. Saggy butt is just so unattractive and seems to be the fate of so many joggers! So, to test this out, I wore these  for about 4-5 hours before taking photos so you could see how they look from behind after use.

NO saggy, droopy butt, and despite me chasing and carrying kids around, doing housework, homeschooling, sewing, etc. all day, they are pretty clean looking! You can see a few wrinkles in the back of my shirt from sitting back in my chair, but I think the fabric performed really nicely!

The Joggers

The pattern I used for my joggers is the Brassie jogger pattern. It is probably the MOST made pattern I have, and I wear them all the time.

The adjustments I make to the pattern are that I grade my calves out and shorten 3 inches (these are my normal adjustment to all pants patterns). I omitted the drawstring in this pair and removed a few inches from the width of the waistband so that it doesn’t need the help of a drawstring to stay up.

I also did a pocket bag instead of sewing the pocket to the pants front like in the pattern. You can see how I did that in this video. If there are any other parts of this pattern that you want to see demonstrated, I have a full video sew along of them here.

The Top

I made a Greenstyle Cambria top with the rest of my powerstretch fleece, and it was the perfect use of my scraps. I did the banded high hip length with the bell sleeves and low crew neck, and it is the coziest warmest thing ever! I made several of these tops last month, and all the fabrics I used were more of a jersey weight. I wanted to see how it looked as a pullover in a heavier fabric, and I think it turned out great.

The big adjustment I had to make to this one was that I shortened the sleeves a lot more than I would have liked to, but this was because I ran out of fabric! I also had to cut the armbands with seams on the inside and outside (oh well, who really is going to notice this?).

Since I shortened the sleeves so much, I don’t have the bell puff at the bottom unless I push my sleeves up to a 3/4 length.

Thankfully, I have short arms, so I still have just enough poofiness at the bottom when they are worn around my wrist.

You can see my blogpost on this pattern from last month here if you want more of the details on its options.

I hope I have inspired you in today’s post!  How are your holiday preparations going this year? Are you sewing lots of cozy, comfy loungewear like me? I hope you love seeing the comfy patterns because I have another blogpost with one coming this weekend!

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Resources

• The pink jacket I am wearing with my joggers is boiled wool from Minerva. I blogged about that pattern and fabric here.
• The top underneath the jacket is the Greenstyle Centerfield raglan in a rib knit.
• The top pattern I used for my fleece is the Cambria pattern 
• The joggers pattern is used is the Brassie Jogger pattern.
• The powerstretch fleece can be found here.

*Disclosures

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. Also, I got this fabric for free (I paid shipping) so that I could sew it up and review it. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.