So often I hear people saying they are really scared of sewing with stretch fabrics when in fact, it is not difficult at all!
Sew along’s are organised sewing events at a set time where we all sew along at the same pace and help each other out as needed. There will be a blog post published each day covering the steps of the sew-along and a post in the pattern club for you to ask questions, load photos and get help along the way. You don’t have to participate at the time the sew along is being run if the timing is not suitable, you can just check out the blog posts at any time!
The leggings sew along will run over a number of days.
DAY 1
Measure your model to decide size or mixed sizing needs
Print and stick pattern
Cut out your first pair of leggings
DAY 2
Practice to establish stitch settings for sewing machine (and overlocker if you have one)
Glue hems (or pin/clip) and stitch
Pin/clip inside leg seams and stitch using sewing machine or overlocker
DAY 3
Mark waistband and elastic into quarters
Stitch elastic
DAY 4
We will cover some variations like alternate hemming, exposed elastic waistband, piecing leggings to create new and interesting looks!
PATTERNS ON SALE
The BOO! Designs Baby Leggings and BOO! Designs Girls Leggings patterns have been reduced to AUD$3 especially for this promotion.
PRE-ORDER BUNDLES
There is a pre-order open now for a sew along bundle. You absolutely don’t need a bundle to take part in the sew along, but I have worked with my suppliers to get the best possible price to be able to offer the perfect starter bundle at a great price. You can check out the bundle here.
The bundle includes:
- Exclusive purple bubble fabric (polyester/lycra)
- Sewline glue pen (used to glue hems before stitching)
- Schmetz stretch needles : 5 pack (used for all spandex sewing)
- Elastic for waistband
- 1inch BOO! measuring card for ensuring pattern is printed to size
There is no specific ‘boy’ fabric option available for the sew along as the price I was given for this specific fabric was extra special to keep the bundle price low. If you want to play along but only have boys, I suggest buying a bundle and use the bubbles to make a pair for a friend. You can buy other boy suitable fabrics on the website and use those for your sew along if you prefer.
FABRIC
Fabric is generally broken into 2 categories; woven (non-stretch) and knit (stretch).
Knit and spandex are the same thing. Lycra is a brand name for spandex (like Cadburys is a brand of chocolate). Another name for spandex is elastane.
The leggings pattern is designed for knit fabrics with 4-way stretch meaning they stretch side to side and up and down.
You can use Polyester/Spandex (what majority of my printed fabrics are), Nylon/Spandex (what majority of my solid colour fabrics are) or Cotton Lycra.
THREADS
You need good quality polyester thread (probably what you are using for your every day woven fabric sewing). You can optionally use woolly nylon (or a variation like maxi-lock) for your bobbin and/or overlocker loopers, but you don’t need to. The advantage in using stretch thread is that you can get more stretch out of the seam. Children with skin sensitivity issues can occasionally find polyester thread a little scratchy on the skin and people have had good results by swapping to woolly nylon which is a little softer.
NEEDLES
I wanted to keep it really simple and have just included single stretch needles (they can be used for swimmers or skater dresses as well). You can optionally use STRETCH twin needles in either the 2.5 or 4.0 width for hem finishing if that is your preference. I always think it is better to start with the basics, then get more adventurous!
