Staying Inspired – Sewing Activewear + a Toddler Approved Faux Romper

Hello everyone! I hate to admit this much less type it out because it makes it feel more real, BUT there is no reason to beat around the bush. I have had sewing, blogging, creating of any kind, and socializing burn out over this past month. For now, it feels good to sit down and write a post sharing a sewing project with you!  I hope you like this one! Maybe sewing a bit and sharing today will be baby steps back to my sewing room. I would also love you to share your story with me if you have experienced this.

My First Project – A Bra and Leggings Set

I got this large floral fabric (called Dark Rose) on an athletic brushed poly (ABP) base from The Styled Magnolia (*Disclosure: I received the fabric for free after I paid shipping to sew it up for their current preorder).

I had 1.5 yards to work with so I wanted to make a matching bra/leggings set. I was hoping I would have enough left over for a pair of shortie work out shorts for this summer. Spoiler – with some careful cutting, I did!

For my leggings I used the Cavallo Leggings from Greenstyle. I like this one because it has no inseam (which means one less seam showing on my legs when I take my leggings off at night!). It also has the best pockets and great seam lines.

I went back and topstitched all my seams using my coverstitch. On most of them, I did the coverstitching on the right side of the fabric so that the fun seam would show on the front. On my crotch curve and hem, though, I let the needle side show on the right side of the fabric. I used a light pink thread to topstitch and like that contrast.

A coverstitch is not necessary to sew athletic. It is more of a fun decorative look to help make the seam a little stronger. You can also use a stretch stitch or twin needle on your sewing machine to topstitch.

I LOVE the colors in this fabric! Such a soft and subtle pink on a beautiful black background – beautiful because I can wear whatever panties I want underneath it.

For my bra, I used the Power Sports Bra pattern and used bra cups from Amazon. It works as a great supportive bra for working out or just daily life! I have a dozen of these (well, probably more because they don’t all fit in my sports bra drawer anymore). I accidentally removed too much length from straps 1 and 4 on this one so it pulls slightly in the back. It is not noticeable when worn, but I can see it in photos! I should have tried it on when making it like I have done on all my other bras instead of guessing!

Now let’s chat about these fun shorties! They are made with the Super G pattern. I have a video here showing how to cut the pattern pieces for short shorts. I added an inch from my recommendations in the video so these are a little longer than the ones I made there.

I love how the Super G pocket is constructed. It has a fold at the top instead of a seam line so it feels so nice and stretchy. It is my fave for tennis balls.

I did the highest waist/rise option on the pattern for the Super Gs. I like how well it holds everything in.

So far when I have worn this set, I have worn it with the Muscle Up tank top pattern. I caught a behind photo of it when I wore it to take photos. It is a unisex muscle tank that I have made for both my husband and myself. I am 8 inches shorter than its drafted height of 5’10” and only remove about 5 or so inches from the bottom, making the armholes nice and deep on me. My 5’11” husband does not have as deep of armholes on the ones I made him since he has more height and shoulders than me!

The deep armholes sure make this a great way to keep cool in the summer.

 A Faux Toddler Romper and Simpatico Leggings

I also fell in love with another print from the preorder and had to buy it to ship with my strike off – a green/white stripe with a large floral called Whispering Sage. OF COURSE, I got it on ABP. ABP is great at not wrinkling like crazy which keeps my youngest daughter from looking like a hot mess by the end of the day.

I did not do any fancy topstitching on this pair of leggings. I wanted a simple, quick leggings pattern so I had minimal stripes to match up. I used the Greenstyle Simpatico, and it is perfection. I love that this pattern includes a petite file. (It also includes standard and tall.)

I am 5’2″ with a 26 inch inseam for leggings and made no alterations to this for height.

For my daughter, I made the Greenstyle Upton Shorts and paired them with a Slope tank. The Slope tank is a FREE kids tank pattern. These are both very quick sews, and I hope I get the chance to make her several more of these shorts for the summer with various tank combinations.

Her favorite part is the pockets. She also seems to play and be comfortable in this outfit. She refuses dresses and loves play shorts and tanks and tees.

She was amazingly cooperative at showing me her outfit and smiling for photos on this particular day!

Where is My Sewing Mojo!?

I LOVE to sew. I have sewn or done something creative most days for about 8 years now. I have only really shared my sewing with the rest of the world for the last few years, though. I noticed this past month that I would go days at a time where I just didn’t want to sew and didn’t really want to look at sewing social media because that just made me feel overloaded with too much creativity without the desire to do anything about it.

It started at the end of the school year because I felt insanely overwhelmed with finishing the year out with my kids. We have homeschooled up until this point, and they are enrolled in public school for next year. I just felt burned out by having so much responsibility and know it is time.

I also have two boys in baseball, and we have had some not very good situations mainly with my older son’s coach. I think the emotional stress of it and trying to plan, navigate, and advocate has taken a forefront in my mental space, crowding out the creativity I normally crave. I have gone through difficult places in my life before and came out blogging and sharing, but normally, I never just walk by my sewing room. I have fervently sewed entire quilts trying to work through and pray about things! BUT this time, I have just walked past my sewing room many nights after the kids are finally in bed and jumped in bed myself! Maybe out of pure exhaustion. This mom gig is hard. It feels like an ocean that ebbs and flows with its seasons. Some are intense while others bring rest. I am praying this summer brings rest and the energy to be present with my kids, making last memories, and sew some pretty amazing stuff. I also hope I at least make a few pairs of shorts. I need some shorts ya’ll!

So, anyways, how have you emerged from times where you just didn’t want to create? I was really happy that this fabric came and brought me out of my funk for a few days. I made these about a week ago and haven’t gotten much in since! These were all pretty quick sews of things I had made before.

I hope I have inspired you in today’s post!  I would love to stay connected with you. You can find me on Instagram. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE. 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

• Super Gs for my shorties
• Power Sports Bra
• Simpatico Leggings 
• FREE Kids Slope Tank
• Kids Upton Shorts
• Whispering Sage (Green/White with Large Scale Floral) and Dark Rose – both are available on many different bases on preorder through the end of the month
• Floral

Disclosures

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 your support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.