Superior Threads – Sew Beach Life

Make It A Workout Top

And Check Out My New Leggings

When you go to the gym five days a week, you need a lot of workout wear. My favorite sports bra patterns tend to get hacked into workout tops because if I love it as a bra, I’ll love wearing it as a top too! I couldn’t wait to make the Greenstyle Delphi Bra into a workout top, and doing something simple wasn’t enough of a challenge for me.

The infinity back on the Delphi is my favorite back option, and I thought it would be fun to make the back infinity straps narrower, with the final back strap width at 1″. So I figured out the strap width, ensuring that when the seam is properly aligned that the back attachment angle would match the original angle, blah, blah, blah. Don’t be like Debora- the pattern is excellent as designed, and it was ridiculous of me to try and over-engineer the back infinity straps. 🙂

I’ve made numerous workout tops using the Greenstyle Power Sports Bra pattern, and love the front princess seams. So I figured, why not mash the two patterns? The side seams are not the same height, so there was a little bit of adjustment to get them to align. It worked out well to get a fun look in the front and the back, and it gave me more seam lines to reverse triple coverstitch.

Since I make so many workout tops, I had front and back bodice pieces already saved in my Power Sports Bra pattern envelope. (I use 14″ x 18″ manilla jumbo catalog envelopes to store all my .pdf patterns, and they work great. The larger size means that my pattern pieces don’t have to be folded as much.) I’m not sure whether I originally used the bottom of the Staple Tank or Cami Tank to make the bodice, but honestly, whatever tank top pattern fits you well can be used as to get the shape.

I wanted to narrow and shorten my previously traced bodice pieces, so I grabbed my Bobby Brami pattern and went sort of halfway between the two different lengths and widths, as I didn’t want it quite as short and fitted as my Bobby Brami tops. Looking at my photos though, I may have gone a bit too narrow at the ribs, and not quite fitted enough at the waist and hips. I can always take it in a bit later.

I wanted a super clean finish where the bodice attached to the bra so that the infinity back really stands out. A bra obviously needs a band for compression and support, but I kept it hidden.

For reference, I make a size C1 Delphi Bra, which is where my measurements put me according to the new size chart. My underbust measurement is 30.5″, and I generally use 24″ of 1″ wide knit elastic from Wawak in my bra bands. That’s what feels comfortably snug to me.

To figure out the length you need, wrap your elastic around you under the bust, pulling it as taut as feels comfortable to you, add .5″ for overlap, and cut your elastic and band to that length. Make your band 2.25″ high. This allows you 1″ for the elastic, 1″ to fold it up, and a quarter inch seam allowance to attach it to the bra and bodice. Assemble the bra as per the pattern tutorial, stopping at the point where you would add the band. Sew the bodice front and back together, and hem the bottom. Sew the short ends of the band together, forming a loop and mark the quarter points. Overlap the ends of the elastic and zig zag together forming a loop and mark the quarter points with a pencil. Align the quarter points of the band and elastic, and serge the elastic to the bottom edge of the wrong side of the band.

Take a look at the back band pattern piece of the Delphi Bra, and measure the distance between the two notches. (On my size, that’s around 7.5″) Use a piece of tailor’s chalk or pins to mark this measurement, centering it on what will be the back of your band.

The next part seems tricky, but it’s really not. It’s more a matter of aligning and pinning. 🙂 To sew the band, bra, and bodice together, align the raw edges in this order: right side of band against wrong side of bra. Align the finished back edges of the bra back with the previously made tailor’s chalk marks. Align the center fronts, as well as the side seams and quarter points. Then align the right side of the bodice with the right side of the bra, matching the quarter points. The bra will be sandwiched between the band and bodice. Pin all around and baste all the layers together. Looking at the photo above see how there’s only two layers of fabric where I’m sewing? That’s the band and bodice at the infinity back opening. Near the bottom of the photo you can see the bra sandwiched in there. Having everything basted together will make it easier to serge the seam. You may want to use a hump jumper when you go from two layers of fabric to four.

Ignore that I put the pins in from the wrong direction when folding the elastic up. 😉

Get the bra and bodice out of the way, fold the band up so that the elastic is hidden, and pin in place covering but not overhanging the seam allowance. Coverstitch (or topstitch with a stretch stitch or double needle) to complete the band. Press your completed top with your iron set at an appropriate temperature for your fabric.

This is the second pair of Sinclair Patterns Glide Leggings that I’ve made. I love that they have pockets and a gusset. It’s nice that they have tall files as well as regular and petite. These are a size 10 tall, and they actually may be about a half inch too long. To see the first pair I made in black supplex, see the previous post. I wore them on my trips to and from Michigan last month. They were comfortable during the flights, long layovers, and walking around in airports.

I have strong (large?) calf muscles from growing up on skates, and graded out a little bit for the calves. I’m thinking about adding maybe another quarter inch of width there.

I wore my new workout outfit to Dance Fitness Fusion class and received a couple compliments. Dance class is followed by yoga class, and I had time to play around and asked someone to take a few photos of my headstand.

See that perfect triangle formed by my clasped hands, with forearms to elbows pushed firmly down into the floor? That’s the base you need to be able to do a headstand, because the weight of your body isn’t actually on your head, it’s on your base.

It’s interesting to see the look of determination and focus on my face. And lest you think that dance class isn’t really a workout, peep the sweat under my bust. My watch tells me I burn about 400 calories just having fun at dance class. Then I cool down at yoga.

My outfit was reverse triple coverstitched using Superior Threads Fantastico variegated thread #5028 Peacock Plume in the looper. The trickiest seam to complete is that inner leg seam. You’ve just got to remember to go in from the waist (it helps to do it before adding the waistband), scrunch one leg up like you’re putting on pantyhose, and start sewing from the hem of that leg, all the way up to the crotch, continuing down the other leg, pausing to scrunch further and further down the leg to the hem. It’s time consuming, but doable.

The details:

For the top I mashed the Power Sports Bra, Delphi Sports Bra, Cami Tank, and Bobby Brami by Greenstyle Patterns. The bottoms are Glide Leggings by Sinclair Patterns. By playing pattern tetris, I was able to fit all pieces on less than two yards of Greenstyle Align 2 in a teal color. This particular color is no longer available, but I love Align 2 because it is a nylon/spandex blend. I avoid polyester fabrics. I love having a new workout outfit to add to my rotation! Am I likely to make another Delphi Bra workout top? Absolutely!

Thank you for reading and sharing my love of patterns, sewing, fabric, thread, and cute workout wear. 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! ❤

Tidal Skirt Love

Who doesn’t love a pattern with multiple uses and lots of options? While originally designed as a swim cover up (like the Ripskirt Hawaii), I wear my Tidal skirts for daily use. With 14″, 16″ or 18″ length options, you can go as short as you dare! The pockets are deep enough to safely hold your phone or stash your cards, ID, or a house key.

It’s a fun wrap skirt with godets in the back and a contoured waistband for a perfect fit. The pattern tutorial calls for Velcro closures, but you could use buttons or snaps if you prefer. I chose Velcro, and found Sleek & Thin sew on low profile fastener at Michael’s. It truly is sleek and thin, and is so soft that you could use it for children’s clothing. Even the “hook” side of this variety of hook and loop fastener isn’t scratchy at all. I was surprised and impressed at how different it is from the industrial version.

It’s easy to put on or take off the skirt:

And just like that, you’re ready to lounge in the sun, or go for a swim! You’ve got modesty for walking to the beach or pool, and can quickly prep for beach time. It’s simple to slip back on if you’re going out to dinner or walking the neighborhood.

I love the clean finish on the inside of these woven skirts, which is achieved by serging the raw edges of the seams, and top-stitching with a coverstitch. I chose to sew each 3/8″ seam with my sewing machine, then serge the raw edge with a stitch length of 2-2.25 and a stitch width of M without cutting off any of the seam allowance. The seams were pressed in the appropriate directions as per the pattern tutorial, and top-stitched with a wide coverstitch.

I generally use a narrow coverstitch with the needles in C2 and C3 when hemming or wanting a subtle look. But with the fun angles and seams of the Tidal Skirt, I wanted to try the bolder look of a wide coverstitch (with needles in C1 and C3) and accented every single seam!

See how carefully I mirrored each pattern piece on the ombre fabric? I love how the wide coverstitch really pops on all of the seams!

Here are a few tips to make sewing the Tidal Skirt even easier:

When attaching the inner pocket to the outer pocket, I find it helpful to slide my quilting ruler between the pocket pieces and the skirt so that when pinning the curved section of the pocket pieces I can’t accidentally pin into the skirt front.

Ignore the glare of the overhead light fixture reflecting in my ruler, but smile with me at the knowledge that I have a nice bright light fixture to help me see to sew.

To help “tame” the curves when pressing up the hem of the skirt or the bottom of the inner waistband, turn the differential on your serger up to 1.3 (or even 1.5 depending on how deep the curve) and serge the raw edge of the fabric. This will slightly gather it so that when it’s pressed up, the fabric will lay smoothly.

See how smoothly the pressed up hem lays?

The pattern tutorial has you attach the Velcro by sewing through both layers of the waistband. It’s the simplest way to do so. But the perfectionist in me didn’t want to see those stitch lines on the outer waistband. I wanted the Velcro completely hidden. As per the tutorial I attached the outer waistband to the skirt. Then I attached the inner waistband to the outer waistband along the top seam, but I did not sew the short sides at that time. I tried the skirt on, and carefully marked where the Velcro needed to go with pins. (The pattern piece has markings, but it’s always good to try on and adjust placement if needed.) I folded the waistband open so that I could attach the Velcro through the single layer of either the inner or outer waistband. At that point I folded the waistband back down right sides together and stitched the two short edges. Then it’s back to the tutorial and turning right sides out, pressing, and stitching in the ditch.

*Note: it is very important that you top-stitch or coverstitch all the way around your waistband if you use my method to attach the Velcro as it adds the needed stability.

The Tidal Skirt pattern by Greenstyle uses their new, updated size chart that includes sizes A1 through M3 with waist measurements from 24″-53″ and hips from 33″-62″ so it’s very size inclusive.

The details:

I made size D1 and love that the Tidal Skirt can be made with quilting cotton. I don’t own many woven garment patterns that recommend quilting cotton, so this is a great way to use a fun print or some fabric that’s been languishing in your stash for far, far too long…

This teal print may be 27 years old, but it worked perfectly for this pattern!

There is a bit of purple in the teal print, so I chose to accent it by coverstitching with MaxiLock thread from Wawak in orchid. I wore my teal skirt with a Bobby Brami, which you can read more about here.

The purple ombre cotton print came from my local(ish) quilt and sewing machine shop in Tampa a couple of years ago. I used Sergin’ General from Superior Threads in periwinkle to serge and coverstitch it. I wore my purple skirt with a slightly hacked Endurance Sports Bra (made with Greenstyle fabric), which you can read more about here. I’ve also worn it with an Azure Tank, shared here.

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 to purchase, 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 hope that the time I spend writing posts and sharing sewing tips interests people enough that they take a look at the patterns I review. I write to share my love of sewing, patterns, and fabric, and hope that it encourages others to love sewing as much as I do! ❤

New Year, New Workout Wear, New Supplies

It’s never a bad time to sew yourself some new workout wear, but losing some weight necessitates making new items that fit! My drawer full of workout wear is nearly all too big. Going to yoga class 4 times a week means that I need multiple outfits that fit.

Obviously making new workout wear is much more fun than seam-ripping apart your reverse triple coverstitched old outfits, cutting them down to a smaller size, and then re-sewing them! So I traced off a tried and true pattern (the GreenStyle Power Sports Bra) and tried a new pattern (the Sinclair Flex Leggings).

As a sewist, I always notice when someone in yoga class is wearing a new style. Several women had worn workout leggings with a deep V side panel with pocket, and I knew just the pattern to try. Sinclair Patterns is known for well drafted patterns that include petite, regular, and tall options in their files. There are quite a few Sinclair dresses, skorts, shorts, and tank tops in my wardrobe. They aren’t necessarily known for workout wear, but the Flex Leggings pattern is super cute, so I had to give it a try.

With no center front seam, the leggings fit smoothly across the abdomen and hips. The color-blocked V side inserts can include a pocket, which in my mind is a necessity. The pocket is deep, as in deep enough for even the largest phone to fit securely down into the pocket. I wore my leggings to Christmas dinner at my sister-in-laws house, and my phone never felt like it was going to fall out of my pocket. Of course I had my phone in and out of my pocket all day capturing moments with people that I love! (There’s one of us in every family 😉 and people sort of count on me to catch a few photos to share!)

This candid photo really highlights how much taller I am than my sisters-in-law. It also highlights the shenanigans present every time we get together! 🙂

The above photo also illustrates the only thing I disliked about the pattern. I need a contoured waistband, and always serge 1/4″ clear elastic into the top waistband seam in other patterns. The front and back waistband pieces on the Flex pattern are contoured, but fold-over. I added powernet to the front waistband piece, basting it to the wrong side of the fabric before sewing the waistband pieces together. Even with a double layer of powernet (since the piece is folded over) the waistband slid down all day long.

In all fairness, the tutorial does include optional directions to add narrow elastic threaded through buttonholes in the inner side of the waistband that could be tied to fit. I own one pair of Athleta leggings with an inner drawstring that in the past I have never bothered to tie. Since I’ve lost weight, I currently have the drawstring pulled tight and tied in a knot. But with a smooth front and smooth waistband, I didn’t really want a knot of elastic bumping out in the front. So I unpicked a small section of the waistband to leggings seam, inserted 1″ wide knit elastic, overlapped the ends by 1/2″ and zig-zagged the overlap, and serged the small section of waisband seam closed. I wore my new outfit to yoga class this week, and they stayed up perfectly! Problem solved!

Adding the 1″ wide elastic was the perfect solution! As always, I added a note to my pattern piece so I know exactly how long to cut the elastic (and remember to add it!) the next time I make these leggings!

As with every pattern, it is important to grade to fit your body. I have well developed calves (thanks to skating and yoga), so I knew I needed to grade my pattern pieces. The size chart doesn’t include calf measurements, but I’ve made enough workout wear and know my body shape well enough to estimate that my calves are about two pattern sizes larger than my hips. My knees are slender and I wanted to ensure that the leggings didn’t get baggy at the knee, so I started my grading just below the knee.

A french curve ruler is super helpful for making smooth transitions between sizes. The ruler helped me make a gradual curve on the outer seams of both the front and back pattern pieces from a size 8 out to a size 12 below the knee.

Since I couldn’t know for sure whether my grading was perfect or not, I basted the outer leg seam and tried the leggings on before serging the seam and reverse triple coverstitching. No one wants to have to seam rip that as an experiment! The grading ended up being just right, and now that I have the pattern perfected for my body, future pairs will sew up much more quickly!

These are the 7/8 length, and of course I want to make a pair with the lower leg color-blocking. So I’ll have to play around with transferring my changes to the color blocked pattern piece. What fun is sewing if you don’t challenge yourself, right? 🙂

I also like to challenge myself to see if I can still do a cartwheel. Yoga has kept my body strong and maintained my balance. Apparently it is also amusing/fascinating to watch a Grandma do numerous cartwheels while being photographed. As my husband finished our photo session a young woman lounging nearby at the beach smiled, nodded, and gave me a thumbs up. 🙂

The Power Sports Bra is a staple workout and/or swim top pattern for me. Women with smaller cup sizes can get away with flat front bras/tops, but a fuller bust is curvy and princess seams are great for fitting smoothly over your bust projection. I love playing around with it and trying new hacks. Doing double narrow straps with a criss cross was a fun, easy hack. It’s important to take your measurements and compare them to the size chart on a regular basis. I started by tracing my pattern in a smaller size. Previously I’ve used the 34 band size in cups E/F. The F is a little too high in the armpits, so I blend the E and F. My current measurements put me in a 32F. But my bust is fuller at the bottom than at the top. So I take away a bit of the upper curve on the side cup piece. Customizing the pattern pieces to fit your body is the key to a perfectly fitted garment.

Perfectly fitted princess curves fit smoothly over the bust with no puckering at the seams.

Porcelynne has some really pretty rainbow finish rings and slides that I wanted to incorporate into my top. Generally I use wide straight straps on the U-back Power Sports Bra because I don’t like straps pulling on my traps or up near my neck. I’ve found that I need the 1″ wide (final size) straps to be about 13″ long with either elastic or powernet in them, as in this post.

After cutting my four 1.5″ wide straps longer than needed, I zig-zagged 3/8″ knit elastic into the seam as shown here. It’s important to press your straps after turning, so they are as flat and smooth as possible. Also, pressing as you sew gives your garments a much more polished and professional finish.

Extending the strap connection point on the strappy U-back pattern piece by 1/2″ gave room to add the 3/4″ rings to the back by folding the fabric over the ring and stitching it in place. Then two straps were folded over each ring and stitched in place. The two outer straps were kept straight and the two inner straps were criss-crossed.

I love the fun shape the straight and criss-crossed straps form on the back. Kind of like a stylized W. I also like the muscles that I’ve developed over twenty years of doing yoga. 🙂 Not bad for a Grandma pushing 60, huh?

You control how close to the neck your crossed straps are by the placement of the 3/4″ slides. Slide them up, and the straps are pulled farther from the neck. Slide them down for maximum crossing. Once you’ve found the perfect placement for you, the straps get tucked into the bra front and stitched in place as per the pattern tutorial. My straight straps ended up 13″ long, and the crossed straps ended up 15″ long.

Using sliders not only adds a fun look, but gives you an option to slightly tighten or loosen the straps for comfort.

I’m definitely going to use rings and slides again because it’s just such a fun look! Making even a few small changes to a pattern is not only fun, it personalizes the pattern for your needs. I was also excited to try a new fabric called stretch eclon jersey from Mood Fabrics. Eclon is a brand name of nylon, and if you’ve read my blog before, you know that I am a big fan of nylon spandex. I avoid polyester, especially for workout wear because it doesn’t breathe and tends to absorb sweaty odors. Ewwww! Florida is usually hot, and my workout wear fabric needs to be moisture wicking.

I hope this inspires you to play with your patterns, and work towards a perfect fit as well as trying new looks.

I love the definition that reverse triple cover-stitching adds to accent the seam lines of well designed workout wear.

The details:

Sinclair Flex Leggings and GreenStyle Power Sports Bra, made of stretch eclon jersey from Mood Fabrics. This and several rayon spandex prints were my first purchase from Mood, so it’s a new supplier to me. I have to say that I liked all of the fabric that I ordered, except one (because it’s only a two way stretch instead of four way. Apparently I didn’t notice that in the fabric listing!)

The rings and slides were purchased from Porcelynne, along with some lovely nylon spandex fabric that I need to share. I made the cutest outfits for my granddaughters! Porcelynne isn’t new to me, I’ve purchased from her before but I don’t really think I’ve shared my makes using her findings before.

Seams were accented with a reverse triple coverstitch on my wonderful Babylock Triumph using Fantastico varigated thread #5028 Peacock Plume from Superior Threads in the looper using a stitch length of 3. Fantastico is one of my favorite threads to use for reverse coverstitching. It has such a beautiful sheen, and the short color repeat is perfect for adding a classy look to garments.

I’m very happy with my new favorite workout outfit, and will definitely be making more! Thank you for reading and sharing my love of creating, hacking, sewing, patterns, fabric, notions, thread, and making beautiful, well-fitting garments! ❤