A winter in the Pacific Northwest is not complete without a pair (or several) of leggings. It has become a wardrobe staple. Leggings with oversized sweaters and boots, printed leggings with a tent dress, leggings with a blouse and booties, leggings, leggings, leggings. They are comfortable, versatile, and did I say comfortable? Oh right, I did.
LuluRoe does fun printed leggings. Athletic wear retailers are offering exercise leggings in all kinds of patterns, colors and fabric types. You can get leggings at the mall or at a department store. They are easy to find and easy to wear. Because they are made from knit fabric its easier to find a nice fitting pair of leggings than it is a pair of jeans. But even then, having a pair of leggings that really fits perfectly is a higher level of fitting bliss.
So when I found a video mini course on how to draft your very own custom fit legging pattern I started watching it right that minute. Maybe its just my desire to know everything I can about pattern making and garment construction, but I was ecstatic.
[Sadly the course is no longer available.]
I went through the legging pattern drafting lessons, taking my measurements, drafting out the pattern on paper and then cutting and sewing a pair of sample leggings.
To be honest, my first draft was a flop. My measurements were off just enough to mess up my pattern. And I didn’t take my key drafting areas into consideration. These being my waist and hip difference, as well as my crotch depth for both the front and the back. This meant that I ended up with a very wonky looking pair of, well, they didn’t look like leggings.
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I redrafted my pattern making sure to measure out every line and be sure it corresponded to the measurements I had taken of myself.
Then I found a new legging fabric and got to work. I started with a knit interlock that was a cotton and polyester mix. I wanted cotton because I wanted a more breathable fabric. This turned out to be a bit of an issue, because the fabric didn’t have any spandex in it, so it got a little stretched out, especially in the knees.
For the construction I started by laying out the pattern and pinning it in place. Because leggings have the front and back of each leg in one piece its really easy to cut. You just double your fabric up when you lay it out and then cut two layers at once. And thats all the cutting you do.
I decided to use the knit stitch on my sewing machine rather than a serger because I wanted really good, strong seams. No popping seams for me! To sew leggings you first sew the back crotch seam and then the front crotch seam. Then you open out the legs and sew along the inseam or inner thigh seam from one ankle all the way up to the crotch and down again to the other ankle. And thats it for construction seams. After that its just finishing: hemming at the ankles, creating an elastic casing at the waist and inserting and sewing up the elastic.
I also used a double needle to do the ankle hem which turns out looks wonderful. This being my first try with the double needle I was a little hesitant, but after a few test attempts on scrap fabric I went for it.
My first finished pair of leggings fit really well. The only issue was that because they are a cotton and polyester mix they get slightly stretched out while wearing them, especially in the knees. Because the material doesn’t have any spandex in it this means that the fabric doesn’t spring back, it stays stretched out. My next fabric choice has spandex in it, so I only had to make this mistake once.
My second fabric choice was a space dyed ponte knit. This fabric is a thick material with a nice two way stretch that springs back due to the bit of spandex knit into the material. The texture is wonderfully smooth and warm. I love this subtle print of silvers and black.
Having taken notes from the fit of my first pair of leggings I traced out a new pattern piece applying all the fit alterations I wanted to do. I proceeded as before laying out my pattern, pinning it and cutting. Then I stitched up the front and back crotch seams, opened them up to sew along the inner thigh seam and I was ready to fit them again. Leggings are such a fast project. I literally had everything cut, sewn, fitted and finished within an hour.
Due to the thicker fabric and better recovery of the fabric stretchiness this pair of leggings fit a lot better than the first. They were not as easy to get on because they fit closer to the skin than the first pair had, and the material was better at maintaining its integrity. But once they were on I was totally in love. Not only did they fit perfectly in length, at the waist, in the crotch and everywhere else, but the material was warm, soft and I felt like I was wearing a hug. It was like wearing a pair of really comfortable skinny jeans. The construction and support of the denim, but the comfort and movability of leggings.
Here I am in my new pair of custom fit leggings. The best part: I have a pattern that I can use and reuse for many different legging types or styles with some simple alterations and pattern manipulation.
This is a fun and easy project to do and though you can probably go out and find a pair of leggings at any store out there, it is nice to have created a pair for yourself. I really like the fact that I was able to decide on the exact length and waist height so they fit me exactly where I wanted them to. No more try to hike up my waistband cause it doesn’t actually reach my waist!
And that is my patterning project of late. Thanks for reading!