Galaxy Print Leggings

So hows things? I've been hit with a combination of loss of sewjo and home learning. So my days tend to be filled with trying to remember how to do maths that I didn't really pay attention to in school and English that I never understood in the first place. 

Luckily we seem to have hit a good routine with the whole school thing, we have a box and I've been racking my brains for fun things to do when the school work is done. 

Anyway on to something not lock down related! These are some leggings that I made ages ago when I actually had the motivation to sew. 

The AMAZING galaxy print fabric is from a shop in liverpool that I can't remember the name of. I think I brought 2 and a half metres and I got these and a dress out of it. 

I did my best with the pattern cutting to make sure that the pattern was in the same place on both legs.

My Dad takes the best pictures of me. 

I made them for rock climbing and the first time I wore them I was actually complimented on them but a lady. 

In fact full story we were in the bouldering room and two women came in who were very intimidating rock climbing wise. Me and Marcus tend to be of the "have fun" variety of rock climbers and these ladies were clearly very serious, and one of them kept LOOKING AT ME!!!! So me and Marcus retreated to another room. [I tend to prefer it when we have a room to ourselves because I don't have to make sure Marcus isn't wandering around under where someone is hanging off a wall.] Anyway one of them came back over to us and was LOOKING again [which gave me serious anxiety] and then she said she liked my leggings and I decided maybe she wasn't that scary after all. 

Construction wise aside from the hems I did everything on my overlocker which made them really quick to stitch up. and because the leggings are only 1 piece per leg it wasn't very many seams either.

The pattern is the free pegs pattern by patterns for pirates. I find they fit really nicely and as I said before there quick to sew so thats a winner as well. 

In other news!

- So yeah no motivation to sew, but I have done some cross stitch.

- I've still been knitting away but I seemed to have eased off on crochet a bit.

- I've been doing some nail art on myself and now I'm itching to paint someone else's nails. 

- AND I've been learning to play the ukulele, It all actually started with little dude. He had a cheap ukulele and was playing it constantly so I decided to order one for me as well. Well that one turned up and instantly it was clear that it was much better than the cheap one little dude was playing so I let me snaffle that one and ordered another for myself. I've actually really surprised myself with it. I enjoy practising and at the minute with everything that's going on its one of the things that actually relaxes me.  

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxxx

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

Not a saggy bottom in sight!

A long time ago I used to go belly dancing and I had the most beautiful pair of velvet trousers to wear for it, baggy and bohemian! However I don't have much call for bohemian trousers now, so they found themselves I the recycling pile!

Until I had a flick through my Great British Sewing Bee book and thought to myself,

Leggings could work, why throw them away when I could just refashion myself a new pair of snazzy leggings ?

So I got a cracking!

I'm so sorry for these first two photos I took them on my phone!

Here's how they started! They had an elasticated waistband with belt loops which fit beautifully so I thought I'd keep the elastic and loops. Then I measured my ankle, which was roughly half the width of the bottom of each leg and marked it with a pin. and them quite simply drew a line from the middle of each bottom leg to the top edge of the waistband, using a plank of wood long ruler.

And boom! Velvet leggings! They do fit really nicely all the way down! (next time I have a warm body at my disposal I'll get them to take a full length picture!)

The only problem I have now is how in hells name do I wear them? They are a dark wine colour, but I was thinking of using them for the nursery run so I don't want them to look to dressy which is hard with velvet!

I kind of like them with my Kimono jacket, but it does make me look very bohemian!

Of course I had to make sure they would pass muster for May and Patrick!

Not a saggy bottom in sight! Although if Patrick wants to come round and check personally I won't mind at all!

Hurrah for refashioning!

Much Love

Frankie!

XXX