I’m back for week 2 of my Search for my Perfect Activewear and this week I’m chatting about two Patterns for Pirates favorites – the Peg Legs and the Essential Tank.
The Pattern and the Leggings
I feel like the Peg Legs are a cult classic of Patterns for Pirates fans and after making them this week, I can see why. They are a free pattern including a free add on pack with a ton of different options. The original pattern features both a high and low rise and three lengths – shorties (for shorts), capri and full length ankle. There is then an add on pack with a contoured waistband, gusset, waistband pocket, patch pocket, and side panel option. All of this for free! That in and of itself is a good reason to give this pattern a try.
I chose to sew up the high waisted regular version and added on the contoured waistband. In hindsight, I wish I would have added the gusset – I think that’s what really makes something “activewear” for me. It has a different look at the crotch than a non-gusseted pair of leggings. As such, I feel like I’ll need to wear this with a longer tank to provide enough coverage. Also, I should have probably paired the lower rise with the contoured waistband. These are even higher waisted than the Avery leggings from last week! I suppose you’d rather have something higher waisted than too low waisted in this department!
While I think I still like the Avery Leggings better, these are an awesome option – especially because they’re free! These to me feel a little more longewear leggings/wear with a tunic leggings while the Avery leggings feel like workout leggings to me. I think a lot of that has to do with the gusset and the shaping.
The Fabric
I used another cut of the Pinecrest Fabrics Moisture Wicking Supplex. This fabric is amazing and this time I used a denim colored version. This fabric was playing right side/wrong side trickery with me. I think my leggings are shown with the wrong side facing out and the waistband is right side facing out – I wish I could say that I did this on purpose, but it actually looks pretty awesome.
I’ve worn this pair and my pair from last week to work out a few times and I am so impressed with the quality of the fabric. I’ve mentioned this before, but my biggest hold up in sewing my own activewear was the fabric and to find a solid fabric base that really mimics my ready to wear has been such a good surprise!
Their supplux is 270 gsm which makes it totally opaque and comfortable to wear. It gives a nice “hugged” feel similar to RTW leggings that I love.
So many of you last week asked about where you can purchase this fabric yourself and Fabric.com stocks it – they don’t have this denim color but the charcoal color is pretty similar.
Note: This post contains affiliate links which means that if you purchase from one of my links I may get a small commission. Thanks for supporting my blog! See here for more details on affiliate links.
Pinecrest Fabrics kindly sent me the fabric used in my Peg Legs free of charge, but as always, all opinions are my own.
I made a pair of Pegs for a friend running her first half marathon and also made the mistake of pairing the high waist with the contoured waistband. When she got the leggings she was like, Um, are they supposed to go all the way up to my bra? Whoops!
Having made 4 pairs of the Pegs and one pair of Averys, I will say the Avery gusset is waaaaay better. I find the Pegs gusset to be kind of fiddly & I don’t think it lays right. That could just be my Sewing but my Avery gusset turned out perfectly the first time.
What I like about the Pegs is having the side panel pieces. I’m not confident enough to start hacking my patterns yet. But I like being able to use some special fabric to really customize my leggings. For instance, I’m doing a Hot Chocolate 5k this weekend and I made a pair of Pegs using a fat quarter of hot chocolate patterned fabric from Spoonflower!