making my own yoga wear

My favorite yoga top was made by Blue Canoe.  It was an organic cotton underwear and yoga clothing company much before its time.  I had a half cami top style I loved for doing yoga at home and wearing under my clothes as a bra.  They stopped making the style years ago. 

It tells you a lot about good the quality of their cotton jersy was that I am just now needing to figure out how to make more.  But part of it has been I have tried other brands and other styles.  Honestly, I should have just figured out how to make these years ago for myself.  It is my favorite style.  It is my got to style.  When I am skating or doing yoga, it is what I want as the bottom layer.  Hiking too.

I had purchased lycra jersey slips or under layers from a couple different shops.  Again, trying to find a slip that worked.  Again, I should have just continued to make my slips.  But I am not about to throw these slips away or give them away.  I cut them to be half camis.  

I went through my embroidery threads and found threads I wanted to use.  I had help.

Then it was just a task of hand stitching the hem with a stretch stitch.  What I have learned from working on Alabama Chanin clothes helped.  A lot.  My treadle sewing machine only does a straight stitch so it would not have worked on this hem on a piece of fabric with that much stretch.

I now have three new half cami tops.  Two in black and one in cream.  I have the bottom half of all the slips which I am making into half cami tops.  In all, I will have six new tops.  The last three take longer because I need to create the straps too.  The hem is a bit longer.  

I feel like I should go to the thrift store and find more of this type of slip.  I think it was originally about $30 at Free People.  I got two cami tops out of each.  I am now looking at $15 per cami top made from something I was not happy with.  If I go to the thrift store and find a similar slip for less then $5 then my cost is $2.50.  Or, there is the option to make my own from the scraps of organic cotton jersey I have from t-shirt, skirt, and dress making.  Less to the landfill.  Any way you look at it, I am happier being able to wear what I wish to wear and there will be less waste.  

I just deleted a whole paragraph on waste.  Trash.  I will not get on that soap box today.

pencilish skirt

I have admitted in the past that I like clothes from different decades then this one very much  I felt the green blouse I made needed a skirt.  I could have made something long and full, which I am fine with but I decided to make something like a pencil skirt.

Why do I say kind of?  Because I used a dress pattern as the go by for the skirt.  I did not want something TOO tight.  I did not put a slit or box pleat in the skirt back to make it easier to walk.  I find that I tear those rather quickly with my normal walk.

I like how it turned out.  I could have brought the waist band in about an inch.  Maybe two to make it tighter but I feel like I can breathe.

I might make it an inch or two longer.  But it is comfortable which is what I was going for.  I find skirts are can easily feel like they cut me in the middle.  

Notice, I am wearing hiking boots.  The left foot is healing.  SLOWLY!  I had some pain free movement today so I am pleased.  The ache, the pain does tire me out.  Not being able to do all I wish to do frustrates me.  I could not be in my figure skates long enough Monday to try to spin.  Frustrating!  But that is pushing it too hard I know.

I found another piece of furniture today.  A water damaged mid-century desk. It will be interesting to see where it takes me.  I still have the teak table to sell.  One step at a time.