Before we get into the tutorial, I have to show you this new pink and cream leopard set that I can’t stop wearing. I used this Athletic Brushed Polyester print from The Styled Magnolia. You can find it in their current preorder here.

Their Athletic Brushed Poly is one of my all time favorite athletic bases. I feel so comfortable wearing it all day long whether I am active or not, and it is so soft and holds up to washing very well over time.

For this set, I used the Greenstyle Cavallo Leggings for my bottoms. This is an athletic leggings pattern that has no inseam!

Not having an inseam is just genius and helps avoid chafing and is one less seam to feel next to your skin.

In addition to no inseam, the pattern has massive pockets and a booty lifting back curve.

I did lots of fun reverse coverstitching on this pair to have a subtle pop of pink.

For this set, I removed length from the first lengthen/shorten line at the thigh and pocket (.75 inches). I made a size D and graded my calves to an E. I started my calf grading right at the knee. Then, I removed 1.25″ at the second lengthen/shorten line at the calf and another 1 inch at about 4 or 5 inches below that, and then, I removed another inch from the bottom! 

Now, let’s chat about this bra. I used the Power Sports Bra pattern from Greenstyle. It has princess seams in the cups for shaping as well as a regular neckline and a lower neckline. I used the lower neckline included.

The pattern has three different back options – a strappy back, racerback, or U back. I did the U back and used adjustable bra strapping instead of the straps included in the pattern.

You can watch the tutorial for how I did the straps here. At the end of this post (in the resources section), I will link some places to get the bra straps, sliders, and rings you will need to sew this option.

Victory Tank and Fernway Culottes

I do not have very many animal print items in my closet, and I am happy to also have made a tank top for this summer using Rayon Challis. I have sewn with this base multiple times, but this is my FIRST time to try the one offered from The Styled Magnolia.

Rayon Challis is a woven fabric with wonderful drape. It has a soft fluid texture and is one of my favorites for apparel sewing. I have sewn with a range of qualities and some lighter weight varieties can be downright frustrating to cut out because of how much it can slip and shift around.

I can happily report to you that this is more of a medium weight amongst the rayon challis bases I have tried. It is not thin or sheer and does not slip and shift around. It was an absolute pleasure to sew with! It was also easier to cut out and find the grainline, which made sewing with it not such a time intensive project like it can be on the slipperier rayon challises I have tried.

For my tank, I used the Chalk and Notch Victory Tank pattern. This pattern includes two lengths, and I chose the longer length. It also has a strappy front option and a solid back or a peekaboo back.

It is flowy and roomy so this pattern works best in fabrics with drape. It also is fully lined so works best in lighter fabrics. I lined mine with a very lightweight shifty rayon challis from my stash.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this Rayon Challis is that it is only around 50 inches wide. I wished it had just a few more inches so I could have even more of it. I will just need to remember this on my next order so I have enough for my project. I wanted to make my daughter pants in addition to my tank but did not quite have enough. Thankfully, I was able to still get some culottes, though! She was adamant that she needed pants in this fabric and is still so happy with the culottes she got instead.

She will probably wear this pair until they are long shorts! She loves this pattern.

The pattern I used is the Fernway Culottes. I made these for her a year and a half ago, and she still wears the pair I made her then! (Now, those are just culottes!) You can find that initial post here.

These have a solid front with pleats and an elastic back.

The pattern includes multiple lengths and plenty of ease for play.

Which project is your favorite?

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.

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

Resources

• The Cavallo Leggings Pattern. Do you want to see how the Cavallo stacks up against the other Greenstyle Leggings? I have a leggings comparison video here. The only leggings that are not included in this video are the recently released Sundial leggings. The Sundial leggings have no side seam, no pockets, and stand out from the others by their V front and optional cross over waistband. You can see the full sew along for the Sundials here.
• The Power Sports Bra pattern.
• Bra Straps and Sliders
  • Bra Makers Supplies has Bra Rings and Sliders and Bra Strapping
  • Lace and Trims on Etsy has a selection of Bra Rings, Sliders and Strapping
  • Tailor Made Shop has Bra Rings and Sliders as well as Bra Strapping
  • The Fabric Fairy has Bra Rings and Sliders
• Soft Waistband Elastic – I used solid white 1.5 inch Dritz for mine, but I am seriously eyeing the ones that were just stocked at The Styled Magnolia. If there are any left, I plan to get some in my next order!
• Chalk and Notch Victory Tank Pattern
• Twig and Tale Fernway Culottes Pattern
• Pink and Cream Leopard Print Fabric
• Tawny Leopard Print Fabric

Thanks for reading today! XO

Sharon

P.S. I made a matching sweatshirt for my leggings set! (You can find the post for this top here).

My pink loving heart is just so happy with this one 🙂

I also have a few more photos of my sweet little one with me.

I have recently been taking stock of what is in my closet vs. what I actually wear a lot. I have been thinking about what gets worn the most, why it gets worn the most, and making mental notes about how different patterns, fabric types, colors, and combinations work for me and make me feel the best in a given season.

For today’s post, I want to show you 5 garments that I made this month that are all from “tried and true patterns” and are at the top of my list of what gets worn the most! These are patterns that I have made over and over again and that I keep returning to. I didn’t have to print anything out or check fit or think about how much I would actually wear the end result. There is something immensely special about perfecting a pattern to your body and not having to worry when cutting precious fabric whether or not everything is going to turn out OK!!

This felt like a breath of fresh air because over the past few weeks I have taken a much needed sewing break. Maybe it was the rush of the holidays or the constant feeling of being busy that triggered it, but at the end of the day, I just walked past my sewing room and went to sleep early each night. During the day, I felt myself knee deep in household projects and away from social media and out with the kids. After this continued for several weeks, I thought “I need to sew!”  Sewing some of my favorites helped get me back into my sewing room, and I am excited to be back creating.

I tend to wear active wear the most. So naturally, today’s post will have lots of outfits that I can run around in. I received two fabrics from The Styled Magnolia: (1) my all-time favorite Athletic Brushed Polyester (ABP) and (2) Stretch Woven, which is a new base for this shop so this was my first time to try it out. I noticed that I always grab anything I have made in their ABP first, and it is a fabric that never sits on my shelf long. Both prints are in their current preorder on many bases. I LOVE the prints and fabric bases and love how everything I sewed up turned out!!

The Power Sports Bra

Let’s start out with talking about this Power Sports Bra. My absolute favorite power sports bras out of the dozen I have made are the ones with adjustable bra straps and bra cups. I am able to get the straps just perfect and can wear them all day and adjust the straps after the bra has been made for the comfort I need that day.

The Super G Shorts

The Super G Tights* have the best constructed pocket of all the leggings patterns. It is just so easy to do and fits tennis balls so well. I also can put my phone into it and walk around listening to an audio book as I go about my day. Also, that high waist is everything!! It feels so good to wear!

The pattern does not have a shorts cut line, but I have a video HERE showing how to adjust to make shorts. On this pair, I cut them an inch longer than I did in the video.

The Inspire Tights

I have noticed that the Inspire Tights* have less compression than the other Greenstyle tights patterns and work best for every day, all day wear. This means that I tend to wear them the most, especially the ones I have made in ABP! I put pockets in this pair using the Brassie Joggers pocket because I have also learned that my favorite pants always have pockets.

I used this FREE contoured waistband instead of the one included in the pattern. I do not have to put elastic in the waist of the pants or alter this waistband so it is ultra comfortable!

The Moxi Shorts

I have at least a dozen Moxi shorts* that I have made over the last few years and am excited to add another to the group. This is my first time using FOE (fold over elastic) to bind the edges, and I can’t believe I waited so long!! It made them so much quicker to make and was super easy to do!

The Lacy Slope Tank

Lastly, I made the Lacy Slope Tank*. I have several of these in knit, but the pattern says that it works just as well in a woven! I have always wanted to make a woven tank to wear to play tennis and the fabric worked great. The armholes are a little lower, so my bra peaks out some. I have not decided if I want to adjust this on future tanks, though, because it has such great range of movement. Would you adjust?

I love how it pairs with the Greenstyle Pace Skirt*. This skirt has undershorts that have pockets to hold my tennis balls in! I made this particular Pace Skirt in the Fit Capsule Challenge last year. I am really itching to get started on Fit Capsules for this year, so maybe this post was just a primer before the fun starts?

Random Life

I have been ravenously listening to audio books lately. I found out a few months ago that my local library has an app where I can listen or read on my phone for free (where has this been all my life, seriously!?)!! I rarely just sit to read a book for fun anymore with homeschooling 5 kids, keeping up with the house, and sewing in my hobby time, and this app has filled a serious void!! I haven’t “read” this much since my life before kids! Now, I can still get all my reading in while sewing, grading, laundry, and all the other millions of things that inhabit my day! Do you read or listen to audio books? Do you have a favorite author or favorite series?

Resources

1. Patterns: Power Sports Bra, Super G Tights, Inspire Tights, Moxi Shorts, and Lacy Slope
2. Fabric: Magma in Athletic Brushed Poly and Colorful Shattered Glass in Stretch Woven. The preorder for these prints ends on February 2nd.
3. Bra Hardware and Bra cups

Thanks for stopping by today! I would love to stay connected with you. Find me on Instagram! 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.

*Disclosures

I received this fabric for free after paying shipping so that I could sew it up and show how it looks in a finished product. 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

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