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Sewaholic Pacific Leggings, McCall’s 7446 Leggings, Simplicity 1463 Top

Sewaholic Pacific Leggings

Another day, another activewear sewing project. What can I say? I’m obsessed. This time it’s a triple threat!

First up: the Sewaholic Pacific Leggings.

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I made view C, the cropped leggings, with one big alteration: I slashed the back legs and added mesh panels behind the knees which echo the style lines in view B.

Sewaholic Pacific Leggings

One small alteration: I nixed the crotch gusset (the feature that made me excited to try this pattern) because, well, it was giving me some major foot-of-a-desert-pack-animal going on in front. Disappointing, but an easy fix as the legs can be sewn without the gusset with no need to alter the pattern pieces.

Sewaholic Pacific Leggings

I liked the method of sewing the elastic into the waist yoke – makes for a clean finish with no visible stitching. And the curved seam lines are cool. They’re more visible in person. Next time I’ll try some contrast top stitching to highlight them.

Sewaholic Pacific Leggings

I didn’t make the back zippered pocket because I didn’t have a zip on hand and wanted to sew up these leggings immediately.

Both the main heather gray/black fabric and the mesh came from Joann. Who knew they carry a whole activewear collection now? The black yoke fabric was scrap from Rockywoods.com.

Overall, this is a great pattern and I can’t wait to make more versions. Oh, and this…

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Hey Austinites! I’m teaching a class on the Pacific Leggings at The Cloth Pocket on December 13th and 15th. Sign up here!

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Simplicity 1463 and McCall's 7446

Using the same heathered fabric and mesh I made an altered version of View A of Simplicity 1463.

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I altered the pattern to add the mesh shoulder panels by slicing off the top of the front and back pieces by 1.5″+seam allowance. Then I cut 3″+seam allowance-wide mesh strips to insert between the front and back pieces at the shoulder seam.

Simplicity 1463

I topstitched the seam allowance along the mesh panel to keep everything nice and flat. The mesh adds a fun sporty touch.

Simplicity 1463 and McCall's 7446

Ok, so here’s my problem with this pattern: the sleeve cuffs end right at the elbow. Not above or below so I feel like I constantly have to adjust the sleeves but pushing them up or down. If I pull them down below the elbow, it pulls at the neckline. If I push them up, the fabric above the cuff bunches up, but this is my preferred way to wear the top.

Simplicity 1463

If I were to use this pattern again, I’d shorten the cuff and the length of the sleeve portion of the top so that they ends above the elbow instead of some kind of bendy no-man’s land.

I can wear this top to a dance class or for Krav Maga and maybe as a popover for running on cooler mornings.

Simplicity 1463 and McCall's 7446

Lastly, using more fabric found at Joann, I made a pair of McCall’s 7446 leggings. This fabric features a metallic gold swirl pattern on black that I loved but it doesn’t show the seam lines of this pattern well.

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The curved seam reminded me a lot of Papercut Pattern’s Ohh La Leggings which I have made before. There are some things about this pattern that I like more than Papercut and vice versa.

McCall's 7446

I liked the McCall’s pattern’s side pocket along the leg. I haven’t make a pair of leggings with that style pocket before but it works great for holding keys or your phone.

The curve along the bum reaches higher in the McCall’s than the OLL, which I prefer. I can feel the curve on the OLLs when I sit down and I prefer the look of the higher curve.

McCall's 7446

The OLLs use a folded over elastic waist while the McCall’s uses and un-supported waistband. The band is a little too thick so it likes to bend over on itself and doesn’t want to stay flat. I prefer the OLL waist method.

If you don’t count the waistband, both patterns have the same number of pieces but the OLLs don’t have side seams on the legs (which is silly, those McCall’s side seams don’t give any shape to the legs. The front and back side pieces should have just been combined into one piece, unless you’re going for extreme color blocking). I think the OLL are easier to cut out and quicker to sew.

In the end, I like my sparkly gold leggings even if the construction could have been simplified. If I want another pair in this style I think I’ll alter the OLLs and add a pocket if needed.

Comments (9) for post “Sewaholic Pacific Leggings, McCall’s 7446 Leggings, Simplicity 1463 Top”

  • I love your fabric for your leggings! I’m also a HUGE fan of the Oh la Leggings pattern which I wrote on your blog post about them. Good to know the difference between those and the McCall’s pattern. I’m not a big fan in general of McCalls which is interesting – I’ll tend to do Vogue even easy Vogue I prefer for some reason to McCalls. I love Papercuts in general but those leggings are going to become one of my staples for sure.

    • Thank you! I find most of the big 4 pattern companies to be pretty similar but honestly I haven’t sewn any vogues in a long time. Next time I think I’ll just adapt the OLLs rather than sew the McCall’s again. Overall I think it’s the better pattern of the two.

  • Very cool active clothes! I especially like the sewaholic leggings, which are sitting in my own to-do pile. I’ve got myself all intimidated for some reason, I know they won’t be that hard once I get started.

    • Thanks! Those went together pretty fast especially if you don’t do the zip pocket. that’s probably the most complex part of them.

  • Your leggings look great 🙂 I had the same problem with the gusset. Did you just leave out the pattern piece for the gusset and sew the legs as you would with normal trousers?

    • Yeah, I just left it out. The crotch shape on the leg pieces look normal so I didn’t need to change any parts of the pattern. Thanks!

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