Sewing Megan Nielsen's Virginia Leggings

Megan Nielsen's Virginia Legging pattern

Woop Woop! My first attempt at sewing my own activewear! I made the Virginia Legging from pattern designer Megan Nielsen. I've sewn Megan Nielsen patterns before and found that they run a little on the snug side (for me), so I erred on the side of my biggest measurements and was happy I did. I also followed the tutorial for a high waist from the Megan Nielsen blog.

I bought this fabric from Nunez Fabrics in Miami.

When I was in Miami for the boat show, I went to Nuñez Fabrics. That place is like the Mecca of spandex. I got a bunch of awesome stuff, including this fabric for the leggings. The 410 gram weight is really nice and thick, it feels sturdy and is not see-through. It's the thickest of all the fabrics I bought (I was picturing bikinis for the others), and now I wish I had bought more in this weight!

Here are front and back views of the Virginia leggings

I just can't get enough of this print!

I tried them out with my first attempt at a tee shirt, the Hemlock Tee by Grainline Studio

I still haven't figured out how to make a really smooth seam for the bottom band.

"Doing absolutely nothing in my ACTIVEWEAR ACTIVEWEAR"

And, because this is my all-time favorite video about activewear, I have to share!

By total coincidence, a few days after I finished my leggings, my local yoga studio was having a black light yoga night. The leggings were perfect! And what do you at the end of black light yoga? A photo shoot, of course.

Love this pattern, I want to make 100 pairs! On the next pair I will try adding a gusset because the crotch makes me a little nervous when doing skandasana (side lunges) and prasarita padottanasana (wide-legged forward bend) in yoga.

Johnny Romper

George is getting a new romper! The pattern is Johnny from Children's Corner, and the fabric is an old sheet that came with our house. Even though George is only 5 months old, he's super tall and wearing 12-month clothing. At this rate of growth, I don't even know what size to sew! I settled on the 18-month romper because I'd rather it be too big than too small, and I hemmed up the pant legs considerably. The waist and shoulder-to-crotch measurements on the 18-month size looked about right for the measurements that Molly took of George.

I really enjoyed sewing this pattern. It was fairly easy to follow and the finished product looks quite clean thanks to it being fully lined.

Off-The-Shoulder Top

I got this amazing fabric in Malawi and have been dying to try it out! I knew I wanted to make an off-the-shoulder top and found this great tutorial from Holly on the Megan Nielsen blog. It was a really quick sew and super simple. Holly recommends doubling your measurement for a really full dress, and I found that I had to use much less fabric for the top - maybe 8 inches less - to keep it from being too wide. I think in a lighter fabric with more drape, like a rayon, you wouldn't have to do this. I will definitely be making more of these!

Nani Iro Vest

I got this adorable Nani Iro Pocho quilted double-gauze fabric from Miss Matatabi and decided to make Lucy a vest. I copied the measurements loosely on a size 3T t-shirt I had, and took instruction from this post by Sewing Rabbit and this post by Sew a Little Seam. Both were super helpful! This was also one of my first attempts using bias binding, and I love how clean it looks! I used the pale pink at the arms and neck to make it look more feminine, but in retrospect I wish I had used orange for all of it because then it would be easier to pass down to George. Live and learn!

Liberty Print Dress

As a beginner sewist (Seamstress? Sewer?), I am very excited about my first attempt at making something for my niece! I was recently at a tent sale in Westerly where I was totally inspired by the dresses made by Sailor Rose. They look just like more professional versions of what you see here: knit stripes on top, Liberty of London fabric for a skirt. Sadly, I couldn't afford the dresses they had at the tent, but I was determined to try my own. I started by sewing a rectangle of the Liberty fabric into a big loop, then folded the top over twice to make a tunnel for an elastic waistband. I sewed this to a store-bought tee shirt by hand (really hoping this will stand up to abuse!)... I need to learn more about how to make things stretch with machine stitching. I hemmed the bottom, added a couple patch pockets, and that's it!

There was extra fabric so I thought I should probably make myself a matching circle skirt. Because every little girl should match her auntie, right?

Then I got a little bold and tried again using fabric left over from the guest bedroom duvet covers. It was my first attempt at gathers. Will have to work on this skill!

Now, of course, comes the hard part: getting my 2-year-old model to stand still for a photo!

Broody Chicken!

Our Easter Egger, Vanilla Ice, laid her first egg today in one month! That's right. Broody July 20-August 20. Nate sent me a picture at work:

From Woodstock to Mackie: My Mexican Embroidered Dress Obsession

My aunt Janet has an amazing yellow dress covered in colorful embroidery that she breaks out every summer, retelling the story of how she wore it to Woodstock. This summer, my sister Molly's sister-in-law Jen found a company selling similar Mexican embroidered dresses in a myriad of colors: The Mackie. Molly had to have one. So did I. And soon, so did all of our girl cousins! I had such a hard time picking a color, I left a note in the checkout page of the website asking for a surprise color! The dress arrived in Orchid and I couldn't be happier! I got the "Classic" length and then hemmed it to above my knee, because I was worried "Beach" length would be too short. It was fun to see all the cousins in their Mackie dresses at a recent family reunion, no two are the same! Note Janet wearing the original.

I'm a little obsessed. Despite a rather difficult website with far too few photos of the colors available, I'm considering getting another one! I have my eye on the orange with solid white stitching, if it ever comes back in stock! There's an interview with company founder Pam Cameron on the Wild Precious Life blog, which features my favorite quote about the Mackie dress: 

"The great thing about the Mackie is its versatility. There’s the 'day to night' aspect of it. I’ll wear it with flip-flops at the beach or to lunch and then at night with wedge heels and earrings to dinner. However, a friend of mine recently pointed out that she likes the 'night to day' strength of the Mackie. She wears it to bed, wakes up and wears it straight out to get her coffee and drop the kids at school! It looks great with a big broad brimmed sun hat, espadrilles and a belt for something like strolling through the farmers market."

The Mackie goes to work! I felt that the black belt, cardigan and ballet flats dressed it up for the office.

Molly ordered a size up (small instead of XS) to leave room for the baby in her belly :)

Dresses can be ordered at themackie.com and there are better pictures on the company's Facebook page.