Burda 01/2018 #107 Footed Leggings.... only mine are sans feet. ;) Takes around 1 1/4 yards of fabric and I simply cut the front pattern piece off right there at the ankle line to delete the foot piece. Notice the awesome waistband. These are high waisted, which I LOVE, and no elastic. Yep, you read that right.... no elastic is in this waistband. I was both excited and skeptical to see if these would hold up as well as be comfortable with no elastic in there. They are both..... but ONLY if you chose the right fabric. I'll talk more about that a little later down in the post.
Photo Credit: BurdaStyle.com |
https://www.burdastyle.com/pattern_store/patterns/footed-leggings-012018 |
Anyway, thought I'd shortened these to capri length by taking 4" off length, but instead it's above the ankle. That's okay, I actually like this. I'm 5'7".
Now let's talk about fabric choice. If you look closely at the 'recommended fabrics' Burda suggests "Use two-way stretch fabrics only". Do not..... I repeat DO NOT use what I would call two-way stretch fabrics..... a fabric that only stretches across the cross-grain. ONLY use 4-way stretch fabrics.... a fabric that stretches both across the cross-grain and length-grain. The first pair I made was with a 2-way stretch and it rides down every time you bend or stretch making it not only uncomfortable, but pretty much unwearable. This was confusing to me at first, why Burda would recommend a 2-way stretch fabric for a garment that clearly needed the 4-way stretch until I read a post Beth, Sunny Gal Studio, wrote about understanding Knit Fabrics at her blog, and then it all made sense. Scroll to the middle of her post to read her short paragraph about 1-way/2-way stretch vs. 2-way/4-way stretch. Evidently the sewing world has no definitive meaning about the stretch of knits and depending on the pattern maker, depends on which type of stretch they mean. In the future when Burda recommends 2-way stretch fabrics, I know they mean the type of fabric I would call 4-way stretch. The type that stretches both cross-grain and length-grain. As an aside, Beth has also written another, more in-depth article on Understanding Knits you can read here.
Photo Credit: BurdaStyle website |
I'm actually wearing the 4-way cotton spandex in the photo below, and these are super duper comfortable. In fact, I had to retrieve them from the dirty laundry basket to photograph them as they are usually on the girl. Her only complaint, is that the fabric seems to be already 'pilling' and 'wearing'..... a fabric issue, not pattern issue.
Trying to show a little of the decorative stitching down the outer leg seam.
Bleached out the photo to try to get the cotton spandex gray to photograph well, but alas. Hopefully you can see a little of the structure of this pattern.
A closer view of the overlapped waistband. For my recent pair, I shortened the waistband a little to pull in the back waist for an even snugger fit. No elastic... and these really do stay up. All pairs are a size 36 at the waist, graded to size 38 hips. Added 3/8" seam allowances because I knew I'd be using my serger and sewing small seams. 1" hem. A quick sew.... maybe an hour or two after cutting out. Am thinking I'll draw a traditional waistband and add elastic next time to compare.
This will be my June 2018 Burda Challenge project. Meg is doing a great job pulling together the monthly 'Challenge' projects logged at Burda's website, so you might want to see what others are creating, as well as be sure to log yours in there too if you should be participating in this project. We have some highly creative and talented folks in the Burda community, let me tell ya'!
In conclusion..... this pattern is well drafted and I will definitely be making more.
These photos include the new racerback tank top that was recently made.
Happy Sewing All! :)
These are lovely leggings - I have the pattern and must give it a go as I hate tight elastic in waistbands. I have sort of figured out what Burda patterns need, but I have to tell you Burda does use the 4 way stretch terminolgy as well - so I think really one just has to sort of know what to use. Clearly leggings need to stretch in both directions. I sometimes think patterns that suggest 4 way stretch are better done in 2 way stretch.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. With sewing, it's always a learning curve.... and to sort of think out each project in all its components. I think you'd like the pattern. It's a snug fit, as per leggings, but pretty comfortable with no binding. Look forward to seeing yours. :)
DeleteThese look great! It sounds like a really good pattern.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! It is!! :)
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