I’ve been wanting to try out some fleecy athletic fabric for about forever, so I finally got some and finally shaped it into this pair of leggings.
About the Fabric
Nickel Gray Fleece-Backed Athletic Brushed Poly from Boho Fabrics
- Contents: Polyester/Spandex
- Weight: 13 oz
- Width of Fabric: 62″
- Horizontal Stretch: 125%
- Vertical Stretch: 75%
So that 125% horizontal stretch sounds like a lot, but this fabric has quite a snappy recovery, which means it ends up feeling tighter than the exact same leggings I’ve made out of things like double brushed poly.
The fleece back is as wonderful as it sounds. So very soft and—you guessed it—fleecy. The front is very smooth, which is nice for deflecting the onslaught of dog hair spears my sweet little Katie is always smearing me with.
It’s super comfortable to wear, and easy to sew.
About This Make
My usual Peg Leg pattern, which I actually adjusted recently to widen the ankles. I’ve been slowly sewing through a stack of DBP I got for leggings of all colors and I made that little tweak before sewing my navy blue pair and a solid black pair.
I decided to re-do the waistband after completing these. Because who doesn’t love unpicking a seam? That snappy recovery really affected the fit of my usual waistband, so I decided to lengthen it by 2.25″. That would raise the waistline up to a narrower part of my waist and so I felt I wouldn’t need to widen that part at all. In the end, I could have gotten away with widening it a bit, but they’re good enough as is.
I’m looking forward to trying them out on the ski slopes in chilly temps. We went to Vail the Friday before Christmas and it was in the 20s with full sun, which was not cold enough to warrant fuzzy pants. (I know, 20s sounds cold, but that full sun makes a world of difference, and all the activity of skiing keeps you warmed right up.)
A note on the patch pockets: I threw in a strip of black DBP for a pop of detail. Good choice, Deb.
These are all the adjustments on my current iteration of the Pegs pattern:
- Pattern: Peg Legs Add-Ons with side block and patch pockets
- Size: M.5 graded to L at knee and below
- +2″ added to leg length
- Contoured waistband
- size M.5 at bottom graded to L.5 at top
- shortened 1″
- -1″ at front middle
- slope added to top back (the original pattern is a straight line across the back)
- Lengthened waistband by 2.25″
And then, on this make, using the above options as the base, I lengthened the waistband by 2.25″. The 0.25″ was an attempt to make up for the lost seam allowance after unpicking the first waistband. But I forgot this pattern has a 0.5″ seam allowance. So whatever.
Notes for Next Time
- With this kind of strong recovery, I could probably size up the entire pattern.
- At minimum, widen the top of the waistband a bit.
Project Settings
Sewing Machine vs. Serger
| Sewing Machine | Serger |
|---|---|
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Sewing Machine Settings
| Presser Foot | Stitch# | Stitch Width | Stitch Length | Needle | Top Thread Tension | Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| standard zig-zag (A) | 5 | 1.0 | 4 | blue tip | 4 | seams |
Serger Settings
| Stitch Name | superstretch |
|---|---|
| Needles | R, L |
| Finger | B |
| Threads | 3 |
| Tension Left Needle | 3 |
| Tension Right Needle | 2.5 |
| Tension Upper Looper | — |
| Tension Lower Looper | 0.5 |
| Cut Width | 6 |
| Stitch Length | 3.5 |
| Differential | 1.0 |
| Application | seams |
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