Black leggings could legitimately be the backbone of an entire wardrobe. They work under jeans as long underwear, and they let you wear a favorite dress in cool temperatures. That’s ver-sah-till-it-tee.
My leggings-sewing odyssey is about making a stockpile of basics to wear with various sweaters and tunics. But, I’m kinda averse to predictable basics, especially if I have a choice. That’s why I was hyped to add texture to a pair of black leggings.
I recalled a video tutorial from Sew Hungry Hippie wherein she serged knit fabric scraps into leggings for her daughter. She does things a little differently; I used a flatlock stitch, and she used a more regular serger stitch and put the threads on the outside (and the smooth seams on the inside) for maximum comfort.
Anyhoo, I used her tute as a jumping-off point to spice up my leggings. Instead of fabric scraps, I cut apart black ponte and stitched it back together in no particular way, aside from vaguely trying to mind the grainline.. Then I cut the leggings fabric pattern pieces from this new “fabric.” I like tone-on-tone looks, and I thought it’d be cool to visually break up the black with patches and tactile stitching. Light catches different surfaces in different ways. Angles, baby!
I thought you’d be interested in my process, so here it is, captured on video. I apologize for the occasional crappy lighting, image quality, and lack of detail shots. I should have thought through how to shoot these leggings. Black is haaaaard to get right on camera! Will avoid this mistake in the future.
I think, though, you get the drift of what I did and could give it a go yourself, should you be interested. (And if you do, PLEASE TELL ME!)
P.S. That snow was beautiful but COLD, y’all! The things I do for this blog, I tell ya.
Links of Interest
Here’s the thread I used in my serger: Madeira premium serger thread in black, 2,000 yards, in the needle, and in the loopers, Woolly Nylon dark navy serger thread, 1,000 meters, and (I think?) Gutermann Woolly Nylon-thread knockoff in black, bought at Joann.
I serge on a Babylock Imagine.
To slice my fabric, I used my 60 millimeter Fiskars rotary cutter and big Olfa cutting mat. There is no more dynamic duo.
This pattern is the Made-to-Measure leggings pattern from SewHere.com. There’s a nice trailer for the class through this link.
Here’s a post about the blue buffalo check dress I’m wearing: Timber! The Lumberjill Dress: Darling Ranges in Flannel. I looooove it so much. So warm, so soft. The fabric is Robert Kaufman Mammoth, which I can’t recommend enough.
Here are some other posts and vids about leggingz:
Work in Progress: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Leggings
Work in Progress: How I Added a Waistband to Leggings
Made-to-Measure Leggings: Online Sewing Class Review
Becoming a (Manila) leggings person for Project #SewMyStyle
Video music by Joakim Karud https://youtube.com/joakimkarud
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