If you checked out my last post, I had purchased a yard of sport Lycra from spoonflower.com with a digital photo I took and uploaded. The fabric came out great, and I was pleased with the quality and weight. For my project, I decided to make some simple, comfortable leggings I could surf in. I used a pattern I picked up in a clearance bin at WallyWorld:

The only drawback was that the fabric was printed on white Lycra, so with a dark print like I had, some white may show through on the seam lines. To minimize this, and to prevent distortion of the photo, I went with the largest size on the pattern- just in case. But, because I only had a yard, I cut the pants short into capris by cutting on the lengthen/shorten line (hehe!).

Hey, as good a line as any!

I cut one for each leg

This pattern was nice because of the minimal seams. One seam on the inner leg, and a seam up the crotch. Schweet.

This needle worked well

Simple zig zag stitch to allow for stretch

Using a walking foot on my machine helped

Inside seams finished

Bagging one leg into the other and clipping to sew up the crotch

There’s no need to finish off the seams since Lycra doesn’t fray out, but I did serge the seams with a two thread overlock to reduce bulk.

Next, I made the waist casing by folding down the top 2 inches and clipping around. I used 1 1/2″ non-roll elastic, leaving a scant seam allowance around the bottom. I also made a little Lycra hanging loop for the inside back of the pant to let it drip dry if I want.

Makin’ the waistband casing

To make the hems on the legs, I used a twin needle to fake a cover stitch. These work great on Lycra, and look awesome on hems.

These are da bomb

Use a long straight stitch with your double needle

Love the look of a double needle

Done!!!

So I was happy I went with the Medium size, because I didn’t want to overextend the Lycra. Yikes.

These held up well

Water cam!!!

Here’s some surf legging action shots by Ted Schultz from last Thursday:

Next time, I think I’m going to try this:

I can do that face. Totally.