Sewing Activewear: Simplicity 8634 & 8631

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A few seasons ago, Simplicity came out with these slightly ridiculous superhero activewear patterns. Because of the outlandish novelty fabrics, I’m not sure many people really gave them more than a glance, but the designs themselves are actually pretty great.

I’ve been on a quest to conquer activewear (see some tips and what I’ve learned so far in this post) and used these Simplicity patterns to make Layla some more clothes for Crossfit Kids this summer. We love how her new activewear outfit turned out and it was really fun and easy to sew!

All of these great fabrics are from Hobby Lobby. I can’t decide if I like the pants or the top more, thy both have such great details. The lines on the pants are perfection, I’m going to make a pair for myself, probably in navy. But the BEST part of the pants, is that they have deep pockets!! My phone could fit in there when I run and that is something lacking in most store bought active pants, I’ve noticed. They give you the tiniest pocket ever, big enough for one house key, I guess. The pattern for these leggings is Simplicity 8634. These patterns use the novelty elastic for the waistbands, but we don’t like that, so I used the waistband piece from Simplicity 8424.

Then there’s the top, which is equally cool and I also want my own version of! I love the back ties, so cute! She loves this top and it’s perfect for Crossfit because it stays put. The neckline and armhole pieces for this pattern are drafted perfectly. I used my serger to apply them, and also serged all the seams. I serged the hem edges before turning and hemming with a stretch stitch on my regular machine. With knits, turning them twice and hemming never looks as neat. The pattern for the top is Simplicity 8631.

I definitely have more activewear in the cue! I can’t wait to take photos of the ballet leotard I made my daughter and I bought some swimsuit fabrics on my trip to Denver last week that I have big plans for, can’t wait! I feel like now that I’ve learned some good techniques for these tricky fabrics, the world is at my fingertips. I’m thinking of ordering this book. It’s author, Melissa Fehr, seems to be quite the queen of activewear sewing, not to mention a very inspiring person in general. It’s worth spending some time on her website.

I talked about this in my last activewear post, but a few essential tools for activewear are definitely some stretch needles and a walking foot. And while you can do without these things, a serger will absolutely make your life in activewear sewing so much faster and easier and give you sturdier results. I also do almost all my cutting out with a rotary cutter, on a large mat. It really saves my hands, which become tired with scissor cutting. At first I thought free handing with a rotary cutter would be risky, I thought it was a quilting tool only, but once I tried it, I never went back!