My quest for drafting the perfect leggings pattern has been an ongoing process, and I finally feel like I’ve nailed it! (give or take a few minor tweaks).
On this project I went a bit nuts, mixing three different fabrics, a cotton/lycra rasterized flower print, black power mesh and black wickaway poly/lycra for the waistband. I’m so happy I did, because I really like how they turned out!
Since I was already going big, I added drawstrings to the hem. Just a fun detail, I did something similar on these leggings.
I also put my new Janome Coverpro to full use, by utilizing the flipside of the 3-threaded coverlock to create a flatlock effect similar to the RTW activewear look. It was a bit tricky getting the topstitch seam to align exactly with seamline, but apparently Janome has an attachment to help with this. I might look into that in the future.
The pockets have enough room for a cellphone and a wallet
Other versions of this pattern
Yoga leggings with mesh inserts
5 Comments
Bracken
September 21, 2016 at 3:29 pmThese are just fantastic. I love them!
Johanna
September 22, 2016 at 8:29 amThank you!
Gwen
September 30, 2016 at 6:09 pmI’m so impressed and inspired. I’d love to know how you made your hem ties / ruching. I have some power mesh in my stash and have been dreaming of some ideas for inserts in my dance leggings. I’m also going to be drafting a yoke. I just think that’ll be a fun look at the CB. It’s fun to look over my RTW and take some styling queues. Years ago, I copied a pair of leggings that had a double waistband that was essentially two pieces on the fold, stacked atop eachother. No elastic. You know, that’s quite comfy! Though, not if you get sweaty… ha! It would be fun to collaborate and learn from each other.
Johanna
October 1, 2016 at 10:05 amThank you! I’m actually in the beginning stages of writing an ebook with sewing techniques for activewear and those ties are on the the tutorials that will be included in the book. And I remember those folded waistbands, they were really popular! Burdastyle magazine had a pattern with simple folded waistband that I used several times, I agree they were really comfortable, but mine didn’t hold up for more strenuous stuff if I recall correctly. I say go for the power mesh, it’s really fun to work with and not tricky to use for inserts, only thing I found is that it’s good to stitch down the seams, like I did on these leggings, otherwise the seam might flip back and forth and be visible from the outside. And a yoke sounds really cool, that’s something I would love to experiment with too in the future, love how they look. So yes, lets keep this discussion going!
Rebecka Lindberg
April 4, 2018 at 11:55 amHow did you construct the waistband? Is it just fabric or is there elastic inside it? I’ve been trying to make leggings and sporty leggings, but I’ve only tried adding an elastic, which turned out a bit too tight… My problem with RTW sport leggings is that they ALL slip down, so I don’t quite dare put in a loose elastic either.