I Sewed Leggings!

 I am not a sporty girl. In fact back in high school I used to have P.E every Friday afternoon and I used to bunk it off [sorry mum!!!]. Luckily for me the P.E teachers never took the register and I never did enough when I did turn up to make it noticeable when I wasn't there. [Yet again sorry mum!!!]

I actually went through a phase when I thought I might get into running but I only did it twice before I gave up. What can I say? You run somewhere get knackered and then still have to run home! Plus I hate sweating!

That said I do like to try and stay fit. I do yoga when I can because its calming and it strengthens my core and my Big Brother recently took me, Lil Man and his kids rock climbing and I bloody loved it! 

I haven't been rock climbing in years! In fact the manager asked me when the last time I belayed someone [held the rope and made sure they didn't fall to their death] was and I worked out it was about 10 years ago!!!! Which makes me feel hella old! Anyway I was lucky enough that my brother really pushed me to try some difficult routes and now I can't wait to go back! 

Anyway I'm not sure why I ended up with such a hankering to make leggings but what can I say the sewing heart wants what the sewing heart wants! 

I was tempted to try the pattern from the 2nd GBSB book but the idea of all that tracing put me off so instead I found a free pattern on the craftsy website. [Which I think is now known as bluprint!]

The pattern prints onto 16 or so sheets so its not too much of an issue printing costs wise. As usual I cursed my way through sellotaping it together. I have no idea why but My pattern taping always ends up wonky and not matching up its so irritating!!!

Size wise I cut a medium because I thought it would be better for them to be too big and take them in rather than too small. I'm pleased with the way they fit as they don't feel overly restrictive. 

The fabric is from the abakhans fill a bag sale. I picked it up with the intention of making more swimwear but its not quite swimwear material so i decided leggings would be better. 

Word of warning if you do attend a fill a bag sale you can end up just throwing things in your bag without really knowing what they are or what you'll use them for! But that's half the fun!!!! 

The fabric has these cool patterned stripes on it so I had to be a bit more careful with my cutting out. I'm really pleased with how they wrap around my legs at regular intervals!!!! And that I actually managed to get the stripes matching up!

I used elastic on the waistband. First I measured my waist and cut the elastic slightly smaller. Then I overlocked it to the top edge, then I flipped it over and top stitched it several times with a zig zag stitch. It makes for a really secure waistband. 

As proven by my awesome kick below......

Lets all hope I'm never in a fight eh? Because yes I did fall into the wall after pulling this rather fancy move and yes my mum did think it was HILARIOUS! 

Construction wise they are overlocked. I don't think I'd trust a regular sewing machine to make a stitch strong enough to withstand the huge amounts of physical activity these legging will be doing. 

Jokes.... The only way I'll be sweating in these is if I'm not sure I've got enough cash for the pizza delivery man.

All in all I actually really like them. I've seen a few mums rocking active wear on the school run and I might start if I can find some tops long enough to cover my bum. To be honest the only thing I'm not keen on is that they are so tight fitting. They make me feel a bit like a stuffed sausage!! And like my entire bum is on display. 

In other news! 

- My top is from a charity shop, its David Bowie and my mum got it for me. 

- I've got a lot of sewing plans in the works including 2 baby blankets!!!!! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

DIY Tailors Ham and Sleeve Roll

A while ago I posted a question on instagram asking whether I should make my own tailors ham or buy one. 

And the response was mixed to say the least. No literally the replies were split down the middle which makes me think a lot is personal preference. The pros of making one were that I could choose whatever fabric I liked [ie. make it personal] And that its cheaper than buying one and the pros of buying one was that I could save a lot of time! 

At the time funds were low so I decided to make my own. I didn't even spend anything! I used a free pattern from craftsy and we already keep sawdust in the house for the guinea pig so I didn't need to buy any of that to stuff it with. [You can also use fabric scraps if you don't like the sound of using sawdust although traditionally that is whats used and the wood does something magic with the heat of your iron meaning the seams press better. I'm sure theirs a science explanation but *magic* sounds better.]

I made both the tailors ham and sleeve roll at the same time and they only took about 30 mins to print off, tape together, cut out and sew. In fact the majority of the time spent on these was for stuffing the bloody things! 

WARNING to anyone who's thinking of making one using sawdust, Its blooming messy. We had sawdust across the house for ages and it sticks to everything. You see you have to really cram it in to make it nice and firm for ironing your seams. In the end I enlisted Rikkis help and things went like this:

-I'd sit and spend 30/40 minutes cramming sawdust in through the little gap I'd left.

- I'd say I think its done....

-Rikki would come over and cram all the stuffing down, compacting it and inevitability leaving me with a gap to fill with yet more stuffing! 

Lets just say it took at lot longer than I thought and I used a lot more saw dust than I thought, and I was glad I had Rikki on hand to "punch" it down so to speak.

Fabric wise I used a cotton fat quarter from Minerva crafts for the front and some spare boiled wool for the back. I sewed the seams using a small stitch on my machine and then over locked them for security. The gap I left for stuffing was sewn shut by hand [ if your making your own I suggest leaving a fairly large gap as it makes it easier to stuff. I started off with a little gap and ended up throwing a tantrum] 

 I think my favourite part of this make might be the fabric I used. It was nice to use up some of the left over boiled wool and I really liked using up a sewing themed fat quarter for a sewing themed project! I can't find the fabric I used on the website but I think it would also be cute made up in this. 

Now the funny thing is the morning I finished these I received a gift in the post from Prym and lo and behold it was their tailors ham and sleeve roll! Which is kind of hilarious but also gives me a good opportunity to compare the two so look out for a post soon that compares my handmade tailors ham with the real deal! 

In other news! 

- I'm tired, It sounds stupid but I haven't been sleeping well so if anyone has any ideas of how I can get a decent nights sleep I'd really appreciate it. But preferably with lavender as it brings Rikki out in a rash and as much as I'd like a good nights sleep him next to me whimpering that his skin hurts won't help! 

- Lil mans nose is much better. A cotton pad, a warm bath and a lot of patience helped to get all of the dried blood off his nose and he was really brave whilst I cleaned it up. Its still swollen and he says it still hurts a bit but its not bleeding as much and a lot of the bruising has gone so that's good. 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx