Jalie 3351 Swim shorts... or gym shorts...

As noted in my last post on my active wear collection I have used the swim short pattern Jalie 3351 to make another pair of gym shorts.  

These have been made specifically to wear to gym (I have taken up CrossFit) so must be comfortable for all sorts of activities.

Worn with Fehrtrade XYT top 

The main body of the shorts was made from a thick supplex bought from Strechtex.  I made the attached pants and used a stretch sports mesh bought off ebay.  For the liner I used a scrap of black bamboo interlock.

As I use the Jalie knickers pattern for a TNT undies pattern, I figured this pattern would be comfortable with the attached pants ...and I was right.  Nice and comfy, good coverage, ticks all the boxes.  They would make nice shorts without the attached pants too, but figured it would make for no adjustment knickers when they are attached. :)

These have been worn to CrossFit and in the session we did a billion squats (ok, 150 squats..), skipping, weights, and some gymnastics type moves involving going upside on the rings - called a candle.  Now I can't do a candle, but was coached onto how to get upside down on the rings with assistance from the coach.  Now I am sure you are not interested in the details but what was important is that I was very comfortable during the workout and felt like I had good coverage from the shorts.

The pants have pockets on the sides - great for a runner, even got used even in my crossfit session - nice touch.

....where did that green thread come from??

so you can see the pocket detail...

Anyway - the upshot is I love these shorts and would happily make more for gym and plan to make a pair to use at the beach and for water activities.

Shorts love... Ciao!

My me-made gym collection

I have been showing most of the pieces of my active wear wardrobe as I have made them, but thought it would be nice to show you my "collection".

These are my tops.  3 Fehrtrade  XYT tops (X in blue/purple, T in green, Y in purple) and my Kwiksew 3453 vest for the cooler mornings.  Don't need the vest at the moment as we have been having heatwave conditions.

And the bottoms.  The 3/4 Kwiksew 3988 pants (not blogged I just realised but the pattern link is here) and now (thanks to the heatwave) I have two new pair of shorts.  The Jalie 2796 compression shorts and my new Jalie 3351 Swim shorts (but gym shorts for me).  I finished these today and will try them out tomorrow and put a post up after so I can tell you how they perform. :)

... and for those time I need to practice yoga or relax or (most recently) for pj's when camping, my Kwiksew 3988 pants this time in View B and the Kwiksew 3115 top.

I am really pleased with my "collection".  I will post about the new Jalie swim shorts (as gym shorts) soon.  I realised I haven't blogged about KS 3988 pants.  If you are interested to know more please let me know and I will try and get a post prepared.  Ciao kittens...

Work set - Jalie 2910 & 2681

Another set of clothes - this time for the office.  

Both made from left-overs from other projects too so a real bonus!  The top is Jalie 2910 and this is the first time I have made it.  The skirt is Jalie 2681 another first time pattern for me.

The fabrics I have used for the skirt and trim on the top is a Swiss 4 way stretch bought from Gorgeous fabrics ages ago.  I think this fabric is very similar to what they call a scuba knit now.  Soft and spongy texture but drapes beautifully and behaves well.  Previously I had made the Jalie skort from this fabric.  So now it is pretty much all used up - only a small piece left that I think I will keep for use as a contrast trim.

The fabric for the top is a leftover from making Vogue 1250 in another from Gorgeous fabrics.  This is now all used up.  

The top is made pretty much as per the pattern using my bust size to choose the pattern size.  I will be doing the optional step in the instructions of stitching the band in the ditch to hold the crossover in place.  When I wore it to work it moved too much for my comfort and I ended up pinning it shut.

The skirt is View E but I shortened it when I cut it out.  I used the hem line for size "O" and the skirt is cut to a size V - chosen by my hip measurement.  The top was also made at size V.  I consider myself a bit of a pear shape and often make a size bigger for my bottom half compared to my top half.  Interesting?

The only other thing of note is that Jalie gives you a few options for hemming, including leaving the hem raw, which is what I did - makes this a very quick sew and I think it looks fine.

So fine in fact that I did the same with my second skirt.  Same pattern view but this time in a left-over piece of jersey.  I used this previously in a wrap dress - Vogue 8646, my Kate Middleton engagement dress.  Lovely fabric and now all used up... 

BTW the top is an Ottobre one.

Very happy with my stash busting efforts and the speed of getting a few basic pieces to wear at the office.  Ciao - more Jalie next up!

Gym set - Jalie 2796 + Fehr trade XYT top

Well, the next logical step after a cruise (and eating so much good food) is to get back into gym.  However I have come back to heatwave conditions and I am not sure what happened but my old gym shorts don't fit all that well... fancy that?  So I needed a pair of shorts that fit and are quick to make.  I chose to make the compression shorts from Jalie 2796.  I have in the past not been the biggest fan of this type of short but they fit the bill and I must say they are very comfy to wear.  However shorts of this style are pretty dull to make so to get excited about it all I made another Fehrtrade XYT top to wear with them.

I have made this top a number of times so did not have to think too hard about it.  I made the X back this time and used a contrast fabric.

The top is made pretty much the same as my last tops, no built in bra, lengthened a little and cut one size larger at the hip level.

Now I am lumpy and bumpy but in the interests of full disclosure here are the photos of the set on me...

The pants are extremely comfy to wear.  My only comment would be is that they are quite high waisted but with the extra weight I am carrying at them moment, it is not such a bad thing.  I must admit I took a spare pair of shorts with me to the gym as the "compression" means the pants are quite stretched when wearing them and I was concerned about a potential blowout!  However nothing bad happened through my workout and it was a decent Crossfit workout so covered many bases.

The fabric used in the pants and top was Supplex - the black a heavier weight from Stretchtex and the colours both from Runners Fabrics (sadly no longer in existence).  Great quality fabric - I sweat a lot in this extreme weather and the fabric feels wet when you touch it after working out but is comfortable on the skin still (with no sweat marks too).  Worth the investment I think.

Now I am excited to make another pair of shorts so I have just ordered Jalie 3351 and look forward to making these up as a gym short.  This is a style of short I think I am more comfortable to wear.  Ciao kittens... time to get cutting and tracing!

Cruised out - Kielo wrap dress again

I am back from the cruise and really enjoyed it.  A great holiday away from it all... I expected to have more clothes shots from the cruise but it didn't really happen and I only have some iphone shots of the Kielo dress in action.  (Not sure why I look so serious here... it was a good night!)

Overall the dress was perfect for the cruise.  I wore it twice - once for a formal night with black high heeled pumps and my blue-green wrap and the other night was our wedding anniversary and I took my black wrap and wore flat gold sandals.  The stretch crepe makes it a perfect travel dress - it can be rolled in a ball and put on with no ironing.  I actually prefer not to put this dress on a hanger as I am concerned the weight of the dress may stretch it out. 

I was asked by AllisonC - I'd love to see how this looks on you and whether you think it would work on someone a lot more hippy than you or your dressform as I love the style. 

I think it would work for more curves than I have - the sizing is easy as there is plenty of room in the wrap over the hips and I think the fact the dress tapers in toward the feet combined with the width of the shoulder line, will balance the hips... my thoughts anyway. 

This shot is from the formal night with my husband and my parents.  I love the saucer champagne glasses. 

 I particularly love the shape of the dress and the neckline.

I apologise for the fuzzy iphone photos, but I wanted to show the dress in action on the cruise.  I am slowly getting back to real life... finishing a WIP quilt at the moment... Ciao!