I added a pattern for women's sports leggings (ideal for yoga and other types of exercise) to my online store. The pattern is available in sizes 32-60 and the leggings are very simple to sew, and therefore suitable for beginners.
The pattern for women’s sports leggings
The pattern for sports leggings:
Recommended material
Please pay more attention when choosing fabrics for sports leggings. The fabric should have a high weight (grammage) and at the same time, it should be very elastic. These two features ensure that the leggings will be comfortable, but at the same time, they won’t be translucent. The see-through effect is not what we're after here. If you actually want to exercise in your leggings, choose a fabric that is flexible in both directions so that the leggings can stretch and withstand a load of exercise. I recommend using sports knits and premium functional knits.
Suggestion:
I recommend sewing sports leggings on an overlock machine so that the seams are flexible and do not tear. If you do not have a serger, you can use your regular sewing machine, but sports leggings sewn on a regular sewing machine probably won't last that long. However, this shouldn’t be a problem with leggings sewn for casual wear. Tips for sewing elastic fabrics on a regular sewing machine can be found here:
Sewing instructions:
1. Pattern layout
Prepare:
- 2x front piece
- 2x back piece
- 1x front waistband piece (cut on the fold)
- 1x back waistband piece (cut on the fold)
All seam allowances are 1 cm (0.4") wide. Hem allowances (for bottom hems) are 3 cm (1.18") wide.
2. Side seams
Take the back pieces and overlay them with front pieces (face side to face side). Pin and sew side seams of both legs.
3. Bottom hems
Legs are relatively narrow at the bottom and it would be difficult to sew the bottom hem later, so it’s better to do it at this stage. Clean bottom cutting edges of both legs and fold them 3 cm (1.18") to the reverse side. Pin the hems in this position.
Topstitch the hems with an elastic stitch. Use a very elastic stitch so that you can get your heel to pass through the leg. I can recommend a three-step zigzag stitch, for example.
4. Instep seams
Fold the legs to the starting position again (the front pieces lie on the back pieces) and pin both instep seams. Sew and clean both instep seams. Leave longer thread chains near the bottom hems and pull them under the loops when using your serger.
5. Crotch seams
Turn one of the legs face side out and insert it into the other leg (which is still inside out). Position the legs so that you can easily pin the front and back crotch seams.
The upper ends of the instep seams must be nicely aligned. Sew both crotch seams in one go. Then clean the new seams.
6. Waistband/Yoke
Legs are now finished and you can connect the waistband. Put the waistband pieces on top of each other (face side to face side).
The front piece is on top of the back piece. Pin the side seams.
Sew (and clean) both side seams.
Fold/roll the waistband in half (lengthwise, face side out) to give it its final shape.
Pin the waistband to the face side of your leggings. Be sure to attach the back of the waistband to the back of the leggings and the front of the waistband to the front of the leggings. Align the side seams.
Sew the waistband to the leggings and clean the seam. Pull free ends of thread chain under the loops.
Now you can turn the leggings face side out and put them on - they are finished!
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PS: Did you know that there are FREE PATTERNS available on my blog?