It wasn’t my intention to sew a superhero costume, but while I was working on the leggings my husband asked me if I am making one. Then I googled “superhero in purple” and I found them. Well, now I do feel a little like a superhero considering that I have a costume after all the things that didn’t work.
I even have superhero eyes/vision. Or is it evil?
I bought the patterns for the XYT Workout Top and the PB Jam Leggings the moment they were available. I don’t know why, but I was sooo excited when I heard that Melissa is launching these patterns. I am following her blog for a really long time now and I was amazed that she is making her running tops and bottoms. I tried making a pair of leggings before, it didn’t work so I gave up. So I saw this as an opportunity to try again.
I spent two evenings taping and altering the pattern for my shortness. I cut size S, tapering to M at the waist. I usually remove 2cm from the top, somewhere around the armscye. For this top I split the 2cm, on above the neckline, and one below. I had to remove the cm below the neckline in the lining too. I shortened the XYT parts too, trying to keep the proportions.
I also altered the pattern for the pants. I didn’t want to just cut the excess from the bottom, because I knew the knee contrast would end up near my ankles. There is a line in the middle of the knee contrast that says “knee line” and I wanted that line to be where it should be. All the PB Jam leggings I’ve seen until now have the knee contrast below the knee, even the ones on the pattern. I wanted mine to be the first to have the knee line on the knee line. So after measuring I decided to remove 4 cm above the knee. I also removed 4 cm from the bottom.
I bought my powers mesh and wicking fabric from Sewing Chest. I had to go with this power mesh, since it’s called Geo flower. I should go by this name 🙂
My son is always helping. Just like a cat, he will jump on the fabric after I carefully measured from fold to selvage and made sure it’s on grain.
When we moved to London, my husband surprised me with shipping the serger. He was so nice, but he didn’t know that there are some accessories that go with it. I don’t have the screwdriver that takes the needle out, so I had to use the needle that was in it. I had only the right needle and my knife it’s not working properly, so I just serged on the edge of the fabric, with a 5mm allowance (or less) instead of 1cm. The needle thread kept breaking, especially when I was going over other seams, so I’m hoping it’s because the needle is too blunt, and not because I’m missing this part. I’m sure my son put it in a very safe place back at home.
So I decided to finish the pants using a zig zag stitch. When I put them on – THE HORROR -they were too big above the knees. 10 points question: Why? Well, because there are a lot of seams with an excess of at least 5mm. So I went over all the seams, taking them in, and now my contrast panels are aligned, but my vertical seams in that area are not. I’m not telling you why I have a back pocket topstitch and I don’t have a pocket, because this post is already too long.
Again with the superhero eye. Can you see how my knee contrast is below my knee? Great measuring skills.
I like this leggings, but they make my back look saggy like the back of a 80 year old, they are not tight enough. Next time I’ll go with the smallest size. Oh, and I must revise my measuring skills – when they were done, I had to cut another 10 cm from the bottom. Yes, I am that short.
Let’s talk about the top now. My power mesh had a stretch of 150% one way and 180% the other way. So I used the pattern piece and didn’t read the appendix with instructions for the lining. Well, the lining is so small, that it’s dragging the rest of the top to the front. And when I went around and baste it to the top, I couldn’t stretch it enough so I stopped before the marking. This makes my top even wonkier. Next time I’ll make the lining a bit wider. The top could be a size smaller too i think.
The tight lining does make my twins looking like superheroes 😀
I usually sew/run when my son sleeps. This Sunday it took him over an hour to fall asleep in the afternoon, and it was already dark when I got out. I was in such a hurry to catch some light that I forgot that I don’t have a pocket, I had to run with the phone in my hand. I also forgot to take a headband, but the wind was strong enough to keep the hair out of my eyes. 😐
If you’re still with me 🙂 don’t get discouraged about these patterns. I love them and I plan to make more, the instructions are simple and clear. But I never sewed anything like this before (except the failed leggings) and I was trying to make more in less time, which is never the solution. There’s a saying that we are too poor to buy cheap stuff. I’m not sure if you have it in English, it might be an Eastern European thing, since we are the poor ones. 🙂 What I’m trying to say is that I don’t have enough time to rush through my projects. Maybe next time I’ll remember this.
Made in my living room 