Activewear

Being tall, it's a drag to find clothes that fit, let alone activewear (don't get me started on performance shoes!!) Yes, you can buy stuff at Tall Girls for a fortune or on-line without trying things on. But the beauty of sewing is you can make your own, have it fit perfectly and save a bundle.

Here are my Kwik Sew longjohns aka 'basewear' -- I used powerdry from http://www.wazoodle.com/ a great Canadian resource for activewear. Too bad I couldn't find it in a lycra blend, but oh well. I made the leggings from KS 3455 which has the bonus of being a one-seam pattern as well as having a diamond-shaped crotch gusset for more movement. The top shown is from KS 3567. I also made the matching crew-neck top to the leggings (not shown). As you can see from the picture taken outside, they did a great job of keeping me warm! Total cost for the patterns/fabric was about $65 for two tops (which I can wear as workout tops) and the leggings, plus I have enough fabric to make another top.

I generally layer them with a cami, base layer and stretch fleece top and leggings then my bib overalls (which are cheapies and not that warm, but I was able to find them in a tall size) and my insulated North Face jacket, a fleece gaiter and fleece lined hat, fleece liner gloves and ski mitts. My feet generally freeze, but this year with only one layer of socks (more room for the feet, and I guess an insulating layer of air) they did much better.

I preferred the top shown to the other one. The other top has a wrap-around side seam which felt a little odd under a top with a regular side seam, but it was only a minor preference. I also experimented with a flatlock seam on the pants, which results in a butted seam. It looked like it was not very sturdy, but worked like a charm! I reinforced the gusset with zig-zag stiching at the corners as any corners with a serger are difficult.

In the future I will hopefully be able to get some fine fleece with lyra or powerdry with lycra and make another set. I was also able to easily adjust the pattern to my hubby's measurements and make a pair of fleece leggings for him that stopped at the top of his ski boots, as per his request which only took me a couple of hours!