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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.