Tag: Babylock

New Fabric Source, New Pattern, and a Fun Pattern Mash

I’m always on the lookout for a new source for high quality fabric. I hadn’t seen posts mentioning The Fabric Fairy in a few years, but then saw the name pop up a few weeks ago, and decided to check out their website. I was very excited to see so many fabric options in nylon/spandex bases.

I love making workout wear, but since I attend a lot of hardcore classes, I need fabrics that breathe, and don’t irritate my dry skin. So polyester blends are a hard pass. Fortunately there are some great nylon/spandex options at The Fabric Fairy! The FlexSoft Nylon Spandex Athletic Jersey is awesome stuff. It’s cool and smooth and very soft and comfortable.

As a lover of athletic patterns, I decided to try the recently purchased Resolution Leggings from Greenstyle Patterns, cut at the shorts length option. It’s just now starting to cool down a little here in Florida. It’s still 85*F, so shorts are necessary at the gym. The curved pockets are a fun unique look, and easier to sew than you’d think! They’re a great spot to do a reverse triple coverstitch. I used Superior Threads Fantastico in #5028 Peacock Plume, and love the variegated look. I think it’s subtle enough that the shorts will match with multiple tops, but has enough color to tie into the palm print on the top.

There’s plenty of room for even a large phone to fit in these pockets!

This is the second time I’ve hacked (mashed) the Greenstyle Briny swim top with the Bobby Brami. It makes such a fun workout top! I line up the center fronts and backs, and trace the upper edge of the Briny main and lining, and follow the sides and bottoms of the Bobby Brami main and lining. I add 1-1/2″ to the length because I am tall, and I like the top to be a little longer.

I used the navy palms on white nylon spandex swim fabric for the Briny and Bobby pattern mash. The fabric sewed well, but if you’re new to sewing swim, I always recommend using plenty of pins to hold your fabrics together, because swim can be slippery. I like that this print is matte and not shiny. It gives a more upscale look, and isn’t slippery like shiny fabrics can be.

I like the X of the narrow and wide straps in the back, and love that it doesn’t bind on my shoulder muscles. Comfortable straps are important when you workout.

Here’s a quick selfie I snapped to show how we set up for step class at the gym. We do an awful lot of chatting about anything and everything before class! If you’re looking for an instant community of friends, join a gym and attend group fitness classes regularly. It’s a great way to have fun and work on your health and fitness!

If you worry about choosing a lighter color FlexSoft for leggings or shorts, don’t! The fabric is moisture wicking, and even after a hardcore, sweaty class, I did NOT look I peed myself.

My entire body was dripping sweat, but my outfit didn’t show it!
This is the only post-workout photo of my shorts, but they did not show the sweat either.

My other make was another Greenstyle Azure Dress. The chained rainbow nylon spandex swim fabric is luscious. It doesn’t curl, it sews up beautifully, and the fabric is fun and colorful!

Who wouldn’t want a dress out of a bright and colorful print? The Azure dress fits so well. I love the V-neck, I love the elastic at the back waist, and I love that it’s not too tight or too loose. It skims the body nicely to give you shape, but doesn’t show every lump or roll. 😉

Sleeveless dresses are great because you can wear them all summer, and throw on a cardigan or blazer to wear them in cooler weather. With arm and neckbands, the dress is a pretty quick sew, done mostly on my Babylock serger. A sewing machine is super helpful getting the V on the neckband perfect. It’s also necessary for adding the back elastic channel. I love that my Bernina does such a perfect topstitch on the channel. Being able to move the needle five clicks to the left or right is a feature I wouldn’t want to live without.

Being able to sew is such a great gift! I can make clothes that fit my body, my style, my vibe. Being able to use high quality fabric in colors that I love is the icing on the cake. (The gluten, dairy, and soy free cake, of course!) I love that the sewing community nudges me to try new fabric sources, and gives me inspiration to play with patterns.

I also love that my sweet husband is always willing to snap a few quick photos at a moments notice. And I especially love how he always makes me laugh! Being married is the best.

So if you’re looking to try a new fabric source, I definitely recommend checking out The Fabric Fairy. And if you’re unsure about what fabric matches with another, they are very helpful about answering any questions.

Have fun playing with patterns and hacking and mashing them to your hearts content. Sewing is meant to be fun as well as practical!


Thank you for reading and sharing my love of high quality fabric, patterns, thread, and sewing. The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns and fabric that I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do!

Delphi Sports Bra

Who can resist a fun new sports bra? Especially with options for a super cute infinity, twist, or simple back design. I am all over trying new sports bra patterns, and the infinity strap design is just so unique and fun.

I don’t limit myself when it comes to wearing sports bras. They get worn to the gym, as a swim top at the beach and in the pool, and for everyday wear. They also get worn with shorts when I skate around my neighborhood, because that is #floridalife. 🙂

The Delphi Sports Bra pattern calls for athletic fabric. I used nylon/spandex Supplex and nylon/spandex Align 2 for my two bras. You could add powernet if you wanted, but I found that the compression and firmer rebound of Supplex and Align 2 were adequate for me. (For reference, I wear and buy a size 32D bra at Soma.)

I wore one of my freshly made bras all day yesterday and it was super comfortable. The straps stay in place, and the neckline depth is perfect. It’s high enough to be supportive, but low enough to not show under a scoop or V-neck top.

You can use 3/8″ or 1/2″ elastic in the straps. Although the pattern calls for 1-1/2″ or 2″ elastic in the band, because I am rather short-waisted (which seems weird for a tall girl, right?) I chose to use 1″ elastic in my band. Of course that meant adjusting my band height to 2-7/8″, but I love being able to personalize a pattern to fit my body. That’s one of the reasons that I sew my own clothes.

Greenstyle has once again nailed it on a fun, great-fitting, well-designed pattern with the Delphi Sports Bra. It doesn’t take a huge amount of fabric, and can be worn with shorts, skirts, leggings, and under your favorite top. Sizing ranges from 32″ to 61″ at the full bust. If you need it, there are 2″ and 4″ full bust adjustment pattern pieces for the front.

The details:

The Delphi Sports Bra pattern is one of the many awesome patterns by Greenstyle. I had some plum Supplex from Phee Fabrics in my stash for the first Delphi Bra I made. The teal Align 2 for my second bra was purchased from Greenstyle a while back. Although this particular color is no longer available, they have lots of pretty colors in stock. I also recommend the Signature fabric line, which is another high quality nylon/spandex athletic fabric.

For reference, I made a size C1 with the plum supplex. For the second bra, I again used size C1, but cut the front in size B2 width (keeping the C1 length), which feels more comfortable for my shoulder width and at the armscye. I dislike anything being too close in the armscye, and this combination works perfectly for me.

I can’t remember which pattern I used for the swim bottoms, but the Delphi Sports Bra is also shown worn with the Windward Shorts and Tidal Skirt, blogged here and here.

I purchased my 1/2″ and 1″ knit elastic at Wawak, along with the Maxi-Lock serger thread. There are steps in the pattern that I highly recommend using your sewing machine to stitch, such as the side seams, and attaching the back infinity straps. It’s also important to trim those seams to reduce bulk and help them lay more smoothly when turned out to the right side. I drive a Bernina sewing machine and LOVE it! Other seams and the cover-stitching on the straps were done on my Babylock Triumph, which I also love.

I cannot stress strongly enough how much easier and more fun it is to sew when you use high quality patterns, fabrics, and machines. It isn’t that you can’t sew with a cheaper machine, because I sewed for decades on much, much less expensive machines. But once I had saved enough money to purchase my current machines, I really feel like the quality of my work, and ease of sewing (due to less frustration with machine capacity, bobbin struggles, lack of foot height, and motor strength) has greatly improved.

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of patterns, sewing, fabric, and cute sports bras! The links to GreenStyle may be affiliate links (if I did them properly!) which means that I may earn a few pennies if you use my links without it costing you anything extra. Since this is my blog and represents me, I always give my honest opinion about any patterns, fabric, or supplies that I talk about. I do like knowing whether the time I spend writing posts actually interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review, but I write for me. It’s one more creative pursuit that I hope is helpful or interesting to others. I write to share my love of sewing and to encourage others to love it as much as I do! ❤