Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Sewing Ballet Clothes: Leotard Kwik Sew 3661

After a month of dressing in whatever decades-old exercisewear I could unearth from the closet, I placed my order for shiny, pink Lycra fabric, fought off DD who wanted it all for herself, and made the leotard (leggings, skirt and other things to follow - possibly).




I don't remember what possessed me to show off my bikini in person (sun induced happy hormones?), but it probably won't happen with this leotard. Can you say lumps and bumps?? (And what made me go for shiny and pink in the first place? There's a reason over 50 % in my ladies' ballet class (average age, umm, mine?) wear black from head to toe. Anyway.)




As you can see (or maybe you're kind enough to overlook it), the seam finishes kind of announce: "Homemade! And she doesn't ever own a serger, coverlock or will use twin needles!" Here's the clou: I like it, anyway. And I'll wear it. That is what Me-Made-May and Self-Stitched September will do for you. If you have unloved homesewn garments hanging in your closet, I say, join us for Me-Made March 2011, and you'll wear it all!



On another note, I'm going to my favorite city in the world next week:


London, here I come!


This will be a family holiday, so there may quite possibly be no fabric shopping but lots of sightseeing. Which is absolutely okay, since I never properly saw the sights anyway, and the children will have a blast looking at a real Queen's palace etc. (I had a bit of a hard time convincing DS that yes, the English really have a Queen. No, royalty doesn't just exist in fairy tales!)



We're leaving next week, but there's a family wedding before that, so I may not be blogging for the next couple of weeks or so. Happy sewing!



(Parting shot: A fine fitting pair of pants, with a side order of mud.)

10 comments:

  1. Angezogen sieht die Hose richtig cool aus (jetzt erkenne ich die Details besser ;-))! Gefällt mir, mit den tiefsitzenden Taschen und dem andersfarbigen Einsatz.
    Ich wünsche Dir und Deiner Familie einen tollen Aufenthalt in London!

    Liebe Grüsse von Sabine

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  2. Oh the pants look even better in person! London sounds like an awesome place to visit. Have fun wearing your new leotard. I think the pink is a fun, cheerful color!

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  3. Good on you ... No. 1 for doing a ballet class. No. 2 for making your own leotard. No 3 for making those cute swimmers (I missed that back in July and No. 4 How cute are your son's pants! Have a great time in London!

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  4. Love the leotard, been years since I wore one.

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  5. Well, presumably you'll really stand out in that class :-). No point in acting like you want to fade into the background, may as well enjoy yourself fully.
    I understand not wanting a serger, but a double needle takes no special equipment whatsoever. Well, a second spool of thread, but I often use a bobbin for that. You just plonk it down somewhere it won't tangle, and run the thread in exactly the same places as the main thread. Cost - maybe 3E? It does work best... looks good, and gives elasticity to the hem.

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  6. Fabulous leotard, I'll bet you are the most gorgeous lady in the room. The all-black ladies will be jealous!
    And for having no serger, the finishing looks AMAZING to my eye. Beautifully done!
    Thankyou for your comment on my blog!

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  7. Oh my goodness the leoptard is AWESOME! It looks really well made AND finished from where I'm sitting. Congratulations, you'll be the envy of your dance class

    xxxx

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  8. I hope you're having a wonderful holiday! I have not been one to buy/advocate fancy sewing notions, but I just love a twin needle (and having used them for a while now, I see no reason for a coverstitch machine, if that gives me any credibility).

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  9. I don't have a coverstitch. But, if you have a serger, you should see if there is an elasticator foot option for it. It's great for attaching the elastic smoothly and quickly. I then turn it inside and do a twin needle topstitch. When I compare my two leotards, the applciation with the serger is much nicer than what I could muster with the sewing machine. Oh, I also found on my lighter colored leotard that I had backfat. Yuck. I'm going to underline it next time with either powernet or knit tricot.

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