Self Assembly Required

DIY dressmaking + crafts with Emily

Sew Your Own Activewear Blog Tour!

Today is my turn in the blog tour for Melissa Fehr’s new book Sew Your Own Activewear!

It’s the perfect addition to your collection of books if you are looking to get started on making your own workout gear. (And it might help encourage you to be a bit more active too!).

Sew Your Own Activewear covers lots of different styles of women’s clothing to suit a multitude of sports – from yoga leggings to padded cycle shorts and a rash guard for water sports, this book has you covered!

I opted to try out the yoga leggings as part of my book review – let’s face it, it’s probably the only thing I’d make good use of! Lol.

Here’s a sneak peek inside at the design…

The book is very different to other home sewing books I’ve used. It provides you with basic blocks (and all you need to know on how to fit them) and then it teaches you how to use those blocks to draft a multitude of other things.

Yes, it’s a little bit more effort but it gives you totally flexibility over the design and fit to make sure that you are getting the best garment for your body and your sport.

I made my yoga leggings out of a bamboo Lycra jersey that I got from Discovery Knitting. They’re a UK based knitting mill and I would definitely recommend checking them out if you’re looking for knits. They’ve got an amazing selection available at pretty reasonable prices. Plus I love that they’re manufacturing in the UK!

I used the heavy bamboo jersey with 12% Lycra. I figured I might as well make them as stretchy as possible in case I suddenly get really flexible… I got mine in the natural beige colour with the plan to dye them afterwards.

The yoga leggings feature a high waist with a built in pocket into the back of the waistband and a crotch gusset to allow for super flexibility (not really needed in my case though! 😂).

The instructions are easy to follow and the fit it great! I love a high waist on exercise leggings – I’m one of those people that always find they ride down as I move otherwise! The pocket size can be adjusted to whatever you want it to be. I stuck with the guide and it’s a perfect fit for my iPhone Plus. In other words it’s pretty spacious!

I decided to dye my leggings after making them instead of dyeing the fabric first. Ultimate rookie mistake.

I don’t do a lot of dyeing and whilst at the time I thought I did a decent job you can really see the problems afterwards!

I used two sachets of Dylon hand dye in burgundy (I’m obsessed with all things burgundy at the moment). The colour is relatively even over the legs but the seams didn’t get soaked through enough! You can see where that happened as they look white in the photos!

I could always go over it and dye it again. Maybe a machine dye would work better. Or I could just rock it out as it is…

Either way these are some of the comfiest sport leggings I’ve ever owned so I still feel like I’m winning!

Check out a preview of the book here!

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5 Comments

  1. Cute, cute leggings! I love a high waist and pockets too. I’m no master Dyer,but I think the problem with the thread not taking the dye has to do with the fiber content. The dye was probably for synthetics, and your thread probably had some cotton which didn’t absorb the color. You could overdye with cotton dye or rock the look as is!

  2. Oh my goodness, I’ve been looking for some fabric like this for ages but never heard of Discovery Knitting before. I’ve just ordered some for myself so thanks for the tip. Your leggings are fab, the colour is gorgeous.

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