Pacific Leggings and Dunbar Top

Making my own activewear and has been a goal of mine for a while, so I am very excited to have made my first ever workout outfit using the Sewaholic Patterns Pacific Leggings and Dunbar Top patterns! Being active is an important and necessary part of my life—for both mental and physical reasons—but I struggle with making it a priority sometimes. I’m always glad I did it, but getting started can be a bit of a challenge. With all the great activewear patterns out there, sewing my own workout clothes seemed like a natural next step and one that might motivate me to work out more. I love putting on my me-mades for work or going out, so the same should apply to working out, right?

Details

Patterns

Sewaholic Patterns Pacific Leggings and Dunbar Top

Fabric

If I remember correctly, the black fabric was labeled as a yoga pant material and was purchased from Pacific Fabrics. The contrast fabric was free from a Seattlesews fabric swap. If it was yours, thank you!

Size traced and sewn

Pacific Leggings: size 10 in View B

Dunbar Top: Size 10 in View A

Alterations

None

Construction Notes

I originally sewed this outfit up in April and made the Pacific Leggings first. A lot of ready-to-wear workout clothes have this cool stitching that shows on the outside, so I was hoping to emulate that look. My serger does a flatlock stitch, so initially I sewed the pants in that stitch. It looked right, but the seams immediately started popping, which of course will not do in something you need to be able to stretch and move in. You can sort of see what it looked like in my Pooze Pouch post. If anyone has any thoughts on what I did wrong, I would love to hear them.

I could not wrap my head around how to use that stitch AND have strong seams, so for the Dunbar Top I just did a regular serger stitch. I also put stretch thread in the loopers of my serger, which helped immensely. The top turned out way more solid and I could pull on the seams without fear of it falling apart.

Since the fabric was free, these leggings could have just been a test pair, but I ended up liking how the top turned out so much—and the idea of having a matching set—that I decided to rip out all the stitching, and resew it like I had the top. They weren’t that bad to take apart, but I have never seen so many black threads everywhere in all of my life. I swear I am still finding them places.

Fit

I feel like the fit is good, as in I picked the right sizing, but I stretched the binding on the Dunbar Top too much while sewing it, so it gapes at my bust around the armholes. So much of sewing with this type of fabric is getting a feel for how to handle it. I’m sure my next activewear endeavor will go much smoother. Otherwise, the top is wonderful and I absolutely love the built-in shelf bra, which eliminates the need for a sports bra for me. I’m a C-cup, so I’m not sure if this would be enough support for all cup sizes, but for me it works great.

My main complaint with the  Pacific Leggings is that for running they don’t stay up as well as I would like. I even tightened the elastic at the waist when I resewed them, so they are better than they were, but they still like to inch downward a bit while I’m running. They seem to pull downward from the calf, so it may be a length issue. I noticed that if I hike the hems up over my calves, they don’t pull down as much. I suppose I could put some of that grippy elastic inside the hems like I have on my cycling pants and see if that helps.

The bottom line is that when I am running I do not want to be messing with my clothing, so the Pacific Leggings may be more suited to non-running activities where I can take a moment to tug them up a bit if need be. That said, anyone have a suggestion for a good activewear legging pattern specifically for running?

Final Thoughts

So what’s the verdict? Has this motivated me to workout more? I would say yes at this point! I have worn this outfit, running (indoors and outdoors) and to a variety of group exercise classes at my local Y (yoga, strength & cardio, etc.). These workout clothes have definitely been road-tested. I am actually excited to put this outfit on, so if half the battle is just getting dressed out, then this definitely solves that problem!