Since I started lifting at the gym four days a week (HELLO YES DID YOU KNOW I LIFT WEIGHTS NOW? LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT IT), I’ve found some holes in my workout wear, namely that I didn’t have much of it other than yoga leggings and an open back tank.

Fortunately, someone I follow on Instagram (An Elemental Life) did a Stories highlight of companies that make activewear patterns. From her, I found out about Greenstyle Creations. Their Tie-Back Tank was really similar to the solitary tank I had and liked; I had a yard of panel print leftover from this maxi four years ago*;  and so I went for it.

I wasn’t brave enough to take a picture of this at the actual gym last night, but I get braver there every day (or at least four times a week)

Verdict: It’s great! (And SO much easier to sew with a serger; that maxi was all done with a mock overlock on my regular machine and I remember it taking forever.) It stayed in place during a workout really well (even doing back extension!)  and the knot is easy to tuck up into the small of your back for floor work. I made the high neck option with the bands and it only took me an hour of sewing time.

*I know I still look pretty un-muscled in these photos, but compared to how bony I was four years ago, I’m really happy with what all this time at the gym is doing. Also, I’m going to be so in demand for helping friends move, pushing stalled cars, rearranging furniture, etc.

I can’t stop making easy sleeveless summer tops and I’m ok with it. This is another True Bias Nikko in some really nice crisp cotton rib from Mood. (It was actually one of the suggested fabrics when the pattern was introduced.)

I made my first one at a size 10 and had to take it in quite a bit (trust the negative ease!) so I cut this at an 8. But this cotton isn’t as tightly ribbed as my first fabric so I ended up having to take in another half an inch on the seams under the arms so the armholes wouldn’t gape. (I think I also stretched out the armhole facings a little when putting those on, and the cotton just didn’t spring back like the rayon.)

Regardless, I’ve realized that I love a high neck sleeveless top and this is a great pattern. It looks like something you’d find in Madewell, except it really is made well because you made it yourself.

I’ve had my eye on a pair of Patagonia “Happy Hike Studio Pants.” The style looked interesting for the trail but I wasn’t sure I’d like it enough to pay $79 to try it. Mostly, I wanted to see if I could make a convincing copy, so they went on the Summer of Basics list.

Well, what can’t that True Bias Hudson pant pattern do? I didn’t even modify it, just sewed it up in technical fabrics–a durable stretch woven from Rockywoods and nylon ribbing from The Rain Shed  for the waistband and cuffs (I had to get swatches for a color match–this is “Gargoyle” DSW and “Foliage Green” ribbing.)

The only change I made was to deepen the pockets by two inches and add a phone “holster” inside the main pocket, so my phone doesn’t move around as I hike.

Overall, it’s a pretty close approximation of the Patagonia pair. The Hudson pattern has some more fullness and I cut my waistband taller, since I thought I might want to fold it over when not wearing a pack. The Patagonia fabric  probably has a lot more drape, though. This durable stretch woven isn’t all that stretchy, so up until wearing these on a hike I didn’t think I would like them–too much fullness for too stiff a fabric (they don’t look like much on the hanger). 

But that wide ribbed waist is so comfortable under a pack, and those pockets are so functional, that I was totally converted. I don’t even care if they’re “too” full, they’re my new favorite hiking pants.

I needed a pair of quick-dry shorts so I ordered a pair of the famous Patagonia Baggies. I would have been fine paying $55 for sweatshop-free shorts from a sustainable B Corp, BUT–the elastic waist wasn’t enclosed on the inside (good for quick drying, but I wanted to wear these hiking too and I thought that would get irritating)–and the pockets weren’t deep enough for my phone. (This is a problem in nearly every pair of active bottoms I have. How hard is it, women’s clothing designers?!)

I looked at the Patagonia shorts, and thought, “Wait, I could make the Emerson Shorts…leave out the pleats…deepen the pockets…this might work!” I found some nylon supplex at The Rain Shed and for about $12 I had some DIY Patagonia.

The smart thing to do would have been to measure how deep the pleats were and add that exact amount to the waistband, but I just guessed and added about an inch and it worked out ok. I deepened the pockets by 1.5″ and made a second drop-in pocket inside the right main pocket to corral my phone while hiking (shown here in the next project). And to keep my shorts up with a phone in the pocket, I added an interior drawstring. (I also made my regular Emerson mod of adding about 3/8″ to the front crotch curve.)

The nylon supplex I found isn’t stretchy and matte like the Patagonia fabric, but it’s light and comfortable and really does dry quickly. Overall I’m really happy with these, and not just because they were cheap–they’re functional and exactly what I wanted and they performed really well on a 4-mile hike:

Val-der-i, val-der-a…

The Arenite Pants pattern has been taking Instagram by storm since it was introduced earlier this year, and it seemed right up my alley: elastic waist, interesting shape, big pockets. I put them on the Summer of Basics list right away.

Reader, take heed to the pattern designer who says that you need fabrics with excellent drape for these. I thought my Brussels Washer Linen blend would be OK, but you need something really slinky to avoid having the pockets stick out about six inches. In the photo below, I’ve added a pleat to the center of the pockets to take in some of the volume and I’m still not quite convinced:

About those pockets: they looked magnificently large in the pattern photo, and they are indeed wide. But they’re surprisingly shallow–just the depth of my hand, and definitely not the vertical depth of an iPhone.

If I were to make these again, I’d use 100% rayon (or this, gah, but I do not need silk harem pants, right?), add a couple inches to the pocket bag depth, and probably cut a size down–these run fairly large. (You can probably get away with far less yardage than the pattern designer calls for, too. This was 3 yards of 60″ fabric and I easily had three-quarters of a yard leftover. And that’s from a size 10.)

For all of the reasons above, I wasn’t sure what I thought of these, but seeing them in pictures has convinced me that they work. I just need to pile on the jewelry, mess up my hair, and pretend I’m an art teacher who can’t be constrained by ordinary pants.

I’ve joined a gym (more on that Thursday) and the itty-bitty baby muscles in my arms are getting ever-so-slightly bigger! In my head, of course, I look like a young Arnold. So clearly I needed to make something sleeveless to show off these guns:

This is another True Bias pattern, the Nikko top. It’s a beautiful pattern with perfect proportions on the mock neck and just the right amount of cutaway on the arms (to make your shoulders look bigger, bro). I made it up in some light rayon rib knit from Stonemountain and it’s lovely to wear–cool and soft.

I already have more fabric coming for another one and as soon as I can find some nice black rib knit I’m going to make the dress version–all sleeveless, naturally.

If last week’s top suffered from the right fabric but the wrong fit, I think this week’s project roundup is the opposite.

Searching for an easy summer top that isn’t a t-shirt, I went off piste and thought I’d try a Lou Box Top. I was smart in that I didn’t use any irreplaceable fabric, but dumb in that I used cotton lawn in my stash (from JoAnn last year) and I think it’s just a little too stiff for how boxy this is.

Construction wise, I did my now-usual forward shoulder adjustment and sway back adjustment. I also left out the back neck opening because 1.) I hate a button loop (it never looks good) and 2.) it’s not necessary to get it on over my head.

This is definitely wearable and it only took about two hours to make, but I’m still looking for the Platonic ideal of a summer top–this one’s just a shadow on the cave wall.

I credit Karen Templer’s first “Summer of Basics” makealong last year to really give me that final push into making most of my clothes (and buying a serger). So I have to join in again this year and make three “basic” things my closet is lacking–even if I already have my 2018 Make Nine list going.

This year’s three pieces are meant to fill in some holes: hiking pants, comfy-but-not-pajama pants for working at home, and a chambray-ish shirt to replace a too-small one from J. Crew (l-r).

I’ll use the Hudson pattern and some stretch nylon and ribbing for the hiking pants (because look at these for $80–they’re pretty much exactly the same!); the Arenite pattern and some brown linen for the casual pants; and the trusty Archer pattern for the shirt (which I cut out last year and then abandoned…to make pants for the first summer of basics).

I actually want to get these all done by mid-August, when we have some travel planned, so I’ll probably put the Make Nine projects on hold and focus on these.

Sewing and lists: some of my favorite things!