A Plethora of Leggings

During my no sewing period after our return from holiday there were a few RTW purchases. Mainly dresses and tunics and that brought on a mad urge for more leggings. It could also have been because it was winter and leggings are warmer than tights.

How to photograph them was a bit of a dilemma until I had the bright idea of hanging them all on the washing line.

From left to right: DKNY Navy & Milk Dot; Warm Black; Mint Shibori;
Dotty Black; Grey Jacquard; and Black Embossed Leggings

I have written about my self drafted leggings pattern before and there was nothing different about this group although I did use two-way stretch fabric for some of these. I adjust the width of my seam allowance, so that the leggings have more or less negative ease, depending on how stretchy the fabric is.

For the two-way stretch fabric I needed to add more length to the pattern both at the hem and the waistband. This is because the stretch only goes around my body. There is no up and down stretch, as you would get in a four-way stretch fabric.

Left: addition to the waistband; Right: at the hem
The coaster illustrates how different in scale these two pictures are

To make these leggings, fabric a minimum length of 115cm (45 inches) by 130cm (51 inches) wide is required. This includes the extra 4" (10cm) in length for two-way stretch fabric. The width is always the direction of greatest stretch.

The difference a fabric makes

It was interesting to see the difference the fabric made to the look of the leggings. It can clearly be seen in the photos of the two-way versus four-way stretch fabric, that stretch in both directions improves the look of the finished product. A dark colour also makes a difference to how they look with the light grey looking much worse than the black two-way stretch. The patterned four-way stretch fabric is also better at hiding the lumpy bits.

Grey jacquard leggings - two-way stretch fabric; the camel toe and a saggy bum
Luckily these leggings will never be worn without a full coverage top/tunic

Warm black leggings - two way nearly stretch fabric

Mint Shibori leggings - four-way stretch fabric and a much better fitting garment

Grey jacquard stretch suiting fabric

This is a two-way stretch woven fabric from Fabric Vision in Christchurch. Not a favourite place to fabric shop but somewhere I go on occasion. The fabric has a cross-wise direction of stretch. These leggings look good with something over them but could never go out in public on their own!!

Style Arc Sunny Top (made pre blog) and Kate Spade Go Taxi flats
Look I can almost stand on one leg

Camilla and Mark Rosamonde Dress and United Nude Fold Hi Liquorice booties
A much complimented ensemble when worn to work recently

Mint Shibori Leggings

A four-way stretch knit fabric from either Stonemountain and Daughter or Marcy Tilton.  I actually have two pieces of this fabric so it could be that I bought it from both places not realising it was the same, which is why I decided to make one of the pieces into leggings.

Moochi top, United Nude Fold Mid Mint booties and Untouched World merino wrap
Relaxing on the sofa with a nice cup of tea after a hard day photographing Christchurch

Marcy Tilton Venice Panel Digital Print as used by Marcy for Vogue 9057

These mint shibori leggings will be a brilliant match with the Venice panel digital print.  I bought enough of this panel print to make both a dress (in combination with other fabrics) and a top. Could use the left overs from the shibori leggings for the dress. This is now on my list of To Do for the Christmas holidays.

DKNY Navy & Milk Dot

A four-way stretch DKNY interlock twist yarn (ITY) knit fabric very recently purchased from Silhouette Patterns. I even bought it to make these leggings so it didn't get any time to rest in the stash. The top may be treated to a rearrangement of its sleeves, shortened to ¾ length, as they are just right for scooping up the water when you are washing your hands.

The Morse Code or Jail Break outfit
Left: Oxford Farmers Market; Middle: Oxford jail; Right: Darfield jail
Leo + Be Jaime dress, Ivy Lee May bright blue shoe,
Untouched World Eco Possum Coat Cardi in Zephyr and Trelise Cooper Chasing Rainbows tote bag

I had not previously considered an ITY knit for leggings but these are so comfortable and they slide on and off your legs with ease.

Black Embossed Leggings

This is a poly/cotton two-way stretch fabric from Fabric Vision. This fabric had a length-wise direction of stretch. There is some give in the fabric cross-grain but not enough to consider this a four-way stretch fabric.

The fabric makes these leggings a bit different and I just love them. They have been worn quite a bit since they were made. This is how I wore them to work this week.

Untouched World Ecopossum graphite coat cardi, Moochi dress and United Nude Zink Patch Mid Pop mix booties

Aren't the shoes just magical - had to add these to the collection

Dotty Black Leggings

I was given this four-way stretch fabric in the class I took to make the self-drafted leggings pattern and I made them up in class minus the elastic for the waistband.  However they were never finished as they just didn't fit properly due to the pattern drafting error.  Once I had sorted out my pattern I made the Tessuti leggings and put the dotty black pair in a dark corner. Whilst having my fit of leggings making these were unearthed from the unsuccessful projects pile. I unmade them then re-cut the fabric.

The fabric stretch is ideal, they are even comfortable enough to sit curled up on the floor without cutting off the circulation.

Apologies for the blurry feet my phone camera has a feature which automatically focuses on your face, obviously to facilitate selfies. Not releasing this feature existed and managing to accidentally turn it on there are quite a few photos where the extremities are blurry. Eventually I realised it was a feature that could be turned on or off.

Untouched World Ecopossum graphite coat cardi, Moochi orange Enclose Tabard and Kate Spade Go Taxi flats

Warm Black Leggings

These are so cosy, with the feel of sweatshirting minus the fluffy inside. Originally I thought it was the black merino blend fabric I bought last year to make leggings but I was disabused of this idea when I did a burn test.  This fabric (I only used a scrap and did the burn test over the stainless steel kitchen sink) is hugely man-made it really caught alight when I put the flame to it and reduced to a plastic bobble. I have absolutely no idea where I bought it.

This pair are the first ones I made with two-way (minimal) stretch fabric and I didn't add any length to compensate for the lack of stretch.  As a result they are not hemmed and the elastic is overlocked to the fabric but not turned under or they would have been too short.

Moochi Laze Tabard with United Nude Jacky Lo Black + Silver booties

An outfit just to prove that I too have black in my wardrobe - enough to wear black head to toe. In this case with a hint of cobalt blue.

An Extravagance - Untouched World Zephyr Ecopossum Coat Cardi

This winter I bought a long-line coat cardi from Untouched World in a dark charcoal colour (graphite). It has been such a popular garment for Untouched World that they have remade it a number of times through the season. This was very lucky for me because I initially rejected it when I tried it on in April, before our trip to the UK.  My mind must have been on the travel wardrobe and warmer climes. In June having returned to the harsh realities of winter I was keen to add this to my wardrobe but had to wait for a new batch to be manufactured.

This has been an absolutely essential garment for me this winter. It has been worn so much.  Here are just two examples of it in daily wear.

Left: Cut Make Trim Tee with Andrea Moore Endless Love trousers
Right: Moochi Enclose Tabard with self-drafted leggings

You may wonder what my love for the graphite Ecopossum Coat Cardi has to do with a sewing blog. Well you see the other base colour in my wardrobe is navy and it hasn't seen much wear this winter because of my aforementioned love. Enter the Untouched World winter sale where an Ecopossum sweater dress size large and a Bleep scarf both in colourway zephyr (navy) become an Untouched World Zephyr Ecopossum Coat Cardi. Does this count as upcycling?

Photos courtesy of Untouched World™

The finished garment

Apologies for the photographs - it has proven very difficult to accurately represent the zephyr colour of this coat cardi.

Zephyr Ecopossum coat cardi worn with the Meandering Chrysanthemum Swirl top and French Dressing jeans

The fabric

No actual fabric just two ready-to-wear items made into something else!  I know it might seem scandalous to take a perfectly good knee length dress with a roll neck and chop it up especially when the dress itself did look good on. However I have reached the age for layering. A very warm cosy dress is no longer practical as I can't take it off for those extreme heat moments. Work have a pretty relaxed dress code but work colleagues shouldn't be exposed to some things.

Untouched World themselves recommend you recycle, upcycle or compost your garment at end of life.  Not sure they would consider end of life as five minutes after purchase.

The pattern

No pattern either, although I did have my original coat cardi to get an idea of the shape I wanted.

The dress laid out on the cutting board

Cutting lines marked and ready to go

The cut up dress

The ribbed scarf marked by pins on the cut line

...and the scarf cut in half

The waste and my new favourite quick unpick (thanks Cheryll)

Untouched World believe in striving for zero waste and I came pretty close to it with this re-make. All that was left is the V removed from the front body to achieve the v-neck and two 9" half scarf pieces. You might see the two 9" half scarf pieces feature in a future garment as they are big enough to use as a sleeve cuff, even though the rib is running in the wrong direction. Can't think of an obvious use for the V piece.

The roll neck is not included in the waste as it was chopped off complete and I intend to bind the cut edge with fold-over elastic so it can be worn as a neck warmer.

The sewing

Super easy to overlock the short cut end of the scarf pieces and place that seam at the centre back neck. The scarf is then overlocked all the way around the cut edge of the dress to make the cardigan band. Et voila the zephyr Ecopossum coat cardi.

About Ecopossum™

Ecopossum yarn was first developed by the parent company of Untouched World in 1992. The first new natural fibre to be used in a textile in over 100 years. It is a blend of fine Merino wool, luxurious Brushtail possum fibre, silk and sometimes angora. Air is trapped both within the hollow fibre and in the fabric when blended with fine merino, creating a cashmere soft, featherweight, exceptionally warm, pill resistant garment that washes extremely well.

About Possums

The Brushtail possum is an animal introduced to New Zealand in 1837 from Australia. It is only found in Australasia, and is not to be confused with the North American Opossum, which is a different animal. The possum is New Zealand’s biggest ecological threat. They are legally classified as pests. In their native Australian environment, possums do not pose a threat, but in New Zealand they have no natural predators.

• Possums eat their way through 17,000 tonnes of native vegetation each night, leaving just bare branches.  The damage is so severe, possums can defoliate entire forests within 20 years
• With no flowers, berries or nectar left, native bird populations have nothing to eat
• Possums are omnivores and also consume the eggs and chicks of our endangered native bird species, attacking adult birds in the nest in order to reach the chicks and eggs
• They prey upon our rare native invertebrates such as weta and land snails
• They have contributed significantly to the registration of several new species of native birds on the endangered list

Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

About Untouched World™

In their own words...

At Untouched World we believe you don't have to give up style and luxury and great design to be good to the planet. Our New Zealand made collections are designed with a less is more aesthetic – to be easy care, easy wear and easy on the earth.

We are the first and only lifestyle fashion company in the world to be recognised by the United Nations for sustainability. We achieved this by getting basic things right from the get-go.

We design our garments and accessories with sustainability in mind. From our luxurious Ecopossum™ to fine machine washable Zque™ Merino and certified organic cotton, we only use the highest quality sustainable fabrics, fibres and yarns that are easy on the earth. We're into fashion not fads so we design everything with the entire product lifecycle in mind, creating multi-tasking pieces that will stand the test of time.

Untouched World™ cafe interior - scones on the counter by the coffee machine!!

The Untouched World cafe also makes a wonderful scone.  I often pop in on the drive home for a cup of coffee and a scone.

In conclusion

If I wasn't so impatient I could wait for Winter 2019 when Untouched World make this coat cardi in the navy colourway.  But I am impatient and waiting is less fun. Fiscally the outcome is probably neutral. I did end up with a unique version of the coat cardi which I am really happy with. My coat cardi garnered many compliments at work this week and a bit of disbelief that it was made from a dress and scarf.

I should add that winter has not been harsh this year. It has in fact been remarkably mild. It is surprising that my original coat cardi has been such a hit given my (over)heating system and the mild winter.  Must be the snuggliness of it.

Special thanks to Lee-Ann at Untouched World who always knows what will suit my wardrobe.