9 steps to sewing your own leggings

Photo via yesstyle

I recently took a class at Modern Domestic on leggings. As you know I'm a tall drink of water, so finding leggings that are too short is kind of a norm. Leggings that fall just short of your boot line is never attractive, especially if you are fair-skinned like me. Yikes. So, I think I am going to stick to making my own from now on.

Remember my previous rants about knits? Well, I take it back. I found a great heavier lycra cotton blend that didn't curl and it made all the difference.

I used this pattern Jalie 2920. Don't be scared of the very suburban mother-daughter models with their stirrup tights and leotard - just ignore them and go straight to the leggings pattern.

Here's how easy these are to do: 

1) Cut out your pattern. 

2) Serge from the crotch to the bottom of the leg on each leg. Make sure you keep them seperate - fight the urge to stitch together, that part's coming soon. 

3) Turn one leg inside out and tuck it into the other leg 

4) Sew around the crotch, sewing both the legs together. 

5) Measure your waist with the elastic and cut the elastic to fit. Make a circle out of the elastic and overlap the long ends together by an inch. Sew the ends together in two lines (or make a box) only one inch into the elastic. You are making a circle here, so make sure that your sewing is sturdy.

6) Mark the circle of elastic into quarters. To do this start with the end you just sewed together and then fold in half and mark the two halves. Do the same to the other two halves. You should know have a circle with four equally marked points.   

7) Turn your leggings inside out and pin each of the marked pieces to the top of the wrong side of your leggings. As you serge hold onto two of the points at the same time - preferrabley the point closest to you and the next pin. Stretch slightly so the elastic will fit snuggly in your leggings. 

8) Now, turn the elastic into the wrong side and using a twin stretch needle stitch on the right side of the fabric all the way around. Make sure the left needle hits just under where the elastic stops. You will be making a totally professional turned edge. 

9) Do the same to the bottoms of your legs. 

Put on a sassy skirt and off you go!  

Here's a few tips:

- If you are long-legged make sure you add the legs to fit your inseam, but also make sure that it bells out slightly. This is counter intuitive because your legs normally narrow as it goes to the ankle, but when you turn these under, you'll need more than you think. Before you turn you can always narrow them a bit if you need.

- I liked this pattern because you only have one seam to deal with. It creates less bulk and is much easier to deal with.

- Make sure you use a ball point needle if you do this on your machine.