Calm Under Tension by Gwen Gyldenege
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Art
    • Artwork
  • Sewing

Spring Race Challenge: Espresso Leggings Take 2

7/7/2014

Comments

 
I have been wearing the same black leggings for workouts since... well, since I last performed as a bellydancer (5 years ago) and before that. Oh my goodness, like 5 - 10 years?!  Leggings are truly my go-to for any work-out: Dance, Skating, Walking, Yoga, Hiking.  I know I need new leggings and capris like crazy.  I know too that every pair I try on in the stores doesn't fit quite like I want. 
Picture
The RTW leggings & capris I own are made in plus sizes, are long lasting, and are made in high quality fabrics.  Nike's plus-sized line of dryfit pants are my current top favorites.  Oh I love those.  They wash well, they wear well, they always look fantastic and I stay cool. Great for under a skirt.  I also loved the lululemon capris I had. But those don't come in plus-sizes (read become seethru if you gain a few pounds), and they do not wash well (pilling like mad and they just collect hair and anything else linty in the wash or dryer. boo!)

Spring Race Challenge

Enter, Spring Race Challenge and Espresso Leggings. Since: 
  1. I already tried making a test pair of leggings
  2. I have a pretty decent stash of ridiculously wild printed knits (scare my friends and family wild) 
  3. Party pants are sew in vogue (aka printed slim pants and leggings)
 I knew that I wanted to jump into wild printed workout wear. 
Usually, I'm a skimmer. I make one thing, feel I've accomplished it, then move on to conquer the next challenge. I need and love regular Goldilocks challenges - using a majority of my skills at hand to stretch myself just beyond my comfort zone to grow and learn.  

Lately, however, I've been working on mastering my craft. I want a higher quality finished product, a better fit, etc.  Even in my everyday life, I've grown to value one high quality item over masses of low quality "throw aways".  In order to achieve such mastery takes time, regular practice, patience, and plenty of material with which to make "mistakes".  

I'm very into knits right now, so in order to deepen my knowledge and minimize mistakes, I dug into Sewing Knits That Fit taught by Dyanne Marte who used to work for J. Crew, NY & Co.  Highly recommended, by the way.  Dyanne said the most pivotal thing while fitting knit pants. It took her 12 pair of pants before she achieved the perfect fit. That's 12 pair of the same pattern! Ok self, permission granted. Make as many as you need. Know that this will be a journey. Know that some things will not work out. Know that you will very likely wear your mistakes so in the famous words of Mr. Tim Gunn, "Make it Work."

Oh I don't like waste, so I made as many adjustments to my pattern block ahead of time by measuring, evaluating stretch and drawing the curves and shapes of my existing, well and ill fitting leggings.  Some leggings I can hardly believe fit me. They are tiny when I lay them against my espresso leggings pattern. Like, 5" or more smaller in the thigh. 

After adjusting as much as I could, I felt the fear, and proceeded with fabric anyway.  The wild "looks like a comic strip threw up on my legs" pattern was previously cut from a Kwik Sew pattern that did not fit.  Then was sewn and horridly hacked to attempt to get it to fit properly.  I did not put this failure up on the blog as I just didn't know where to go with it. I knew one day I'd fix the fit, but I abandoned them in favor of the espresso leggings to see if I could achieve proper fit that way. Bingo! So, I ripped all the seams out and cut each front and back to fit the espresso leggings. Whew! Fabric saved with minimal scraps and unusable remains.

Because I'm enjoying the depth and documenting the process for my own benefit, I thought you would enjoy seeing side by side photos of version 1 and version 2.
Picture
Picture
Side view. V1 Left, V2 Right.
Remember how "see thru" the purple was? Ahem. 
Picture
Picture
Hind Quarter view. V1 Left, V2 Right.
Holy Under Roos, Batman!
Picture
Picture
I adore these. I love the shiny silver stars, the bright pink, the bright yellow and electric blue. I don't love that you can see my underwear.  I don't like how high the waist is. But, I could make a fun tunic or, I could just wear neutral colored underwear to minimize the 'view'.  Better yet, I could write something funny on the underwear like Roz from Nightcourt  "If you can read this, you better have a ring."  Or "Goonies never die."  or ... I know, you suggest one!  Tell me, what funny should I write?
Comments
    Gwen Gyldenege

    Author: 
    Gwen Gyldenege

    I'm a one woman circus.  
    I'm curvy and athletic.
    ​I am a dancer.
    My last name translates 
    to "Golden Oak". 

    I'm an artist, intuitive, engineer, seamstress 
    and performer.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Sewing in Seattle

    Archives

    December 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    August 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    April 2009
    December 2008

    Categories

    All
    Activewear
    Adventures
    Art
    Artists
    ArtOfThe20sDress
    Calligraphy
    Cartoons
    Clown
    Comedy
    Costumes
    Creativity
    Crochet
    Dance
    Dancewear
    Dingleballs
    DIY
    Fabric
    Fashion
    Fiber
    Fitting
    Food
    Funkifabrics
    Garden
    Handwriting
    Hiking Gear
    Holiday
    Humor
    Inspiration
    Interviews
    Jalie 2795
    Jalie 2795 Hoodie Sew Along
    Jalie Patterns
    Jewelry
    KiddieAdultsUnite
    Kitchen
    Kits
    Knits
    Knitting Patterns
    Lifted Gifted Higher
    Lingerie
    Littlealters2013
    Mad Men Dress Challenge III
    Marketing
    MMMay14
    Moulage
    Muslin
    Needle & Thread
    Nwcreativespirits
    Outdoor Gear
    Paint
    Paper
    Passthepaper2012
    Pattern Drafting
    Photoaday
    Photography
    Pmc
    Prayer
    Projects
    Sculpt
    Sew
    Sewforvictory
    Sewing Workout Wear
    Sew News
    Shows
    Shrinky Dink
    Sing
    Skillshare
    Social Media
    Spring
    Spring Race Challenge
    Stories
    Tutorials
    Video
    Vintage
    Voiceover
    Wardrobe Architect
    Watercolor
    Yarn

Except for sources otherwise stated beneath images or bottom of the page (Creative Commons), all images and works are copyright Gwen Gyldenege, all rights reserved.  Contact Gwen to request permission.
Photos used under Creative Commons from I Robertson, DoNotLick, Gustty, Jayson Emery, Nbepko, Gamma Man, I Robertson, Lars Plougmann, RowdyKittens, Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious, The Wandering Angel, VasenkaPhotography, quinn.anya, Léa Chvrl, Lost Albatross, Guttorm Flatabø, BEST PHOTO, RowdyKittens, allistair, BozDoz, tanakawho, Navicore, Bilal Kamoon, D-Stanley, Kris Krug, glasseyes view, essers, Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious, Alex Pepperhill, Found Animals, adactio, Office Now