The New Wave - Manta Wave Leggings

I'm back with some new new. I've had about 11-13 Named patterns in my email for about a year and change and I hadn't made one YET... until now. I started with something easy just to see what sizing was like. These are the Manta Wave Leggings.

They're wave leggings because they curve below the knee in the front and above the calf in the back. There are only two pattern pieces for this pattern, a top and a bottom. There also isn't side seams. This pattern is REALLY really easy to make up. The pattern instructions for these are only 1 page long (and that's including pictures lol)

Let me just say first that the people over at Named clothing have THE BEST customer service ever. I think this is the 3rd time that I contacted them saying I couldn't find one of the pdfs I ordered, or that the download expired and I needed whatever I had ordered again (MONTHS later) and they have gladly obliged each and every time. Even though their email states that the downloads will expire lol. I had every size of these Manta leggings downloaded EXCEPT the size that I needed after I FINALLY looked at the size chart 3-4 months after purchasing. Does that even make sense? lol Anyway, I needed a size 44/46 but they ended up reactivating my entire order of patterns from that purchase. Anyway, I cut the size 44.

The fabric I used for these are some remnants that I got from the remnant bin at JoAnn Fabrics. I finally got my mom to understand my addiction to the remnant bin. You just never know when a little bit of yardage will come in handy! I had .806 yds of the top fabric labeled "WUJI Biking Red Jet Set" and .556 yds of the bottom fabric that is unlabeled. I knew it was a type of athletic spandex though by the feel. I have minimal scraps left of the top fabric but I have enough left of the bottom to use them for another iteration of these.

The only directions that I didn't follow were for the waistband. Instead of what they said, I just sewed the waist band to the wrong side of the waist and flip it in so that it would be covered with the fabric. I used that swimsuit/lingerie zig zag stitch to topstitch it down. I used 1" wide elastic instead of 3/4" wide. I have half a mind to add a drawstring like my photographer suggested.

Sewing these were sooo so easy after watching first "Sew Smarter: 30 Professional Techniques" with Katrina Walker and then "Sew Better, Sew Faster: Garment Industry Secrets" with Janet Pray on Craftsy. From Katrina, I learned to walk the concave and convex curves together instead of pinning them and then you will see where it needs to be clipped and I won't have to use a zillion pins. From Janet I learned to forget pins altogether and I haven't sewn soo fast since I began sewing. I usually pin EVERYwhere and for everything but using her techniques has really help cut down my time AND i magically got a perfect intersection at the inseam.. wizardry. I definitely recommend both classes. This is not a sponsored post by the way... I paid good money for those classes lol (I bought like 15 when they were on sale around black friday)

With this version i had a small amount of extra fabric at the front. I believe that's because I didn't have the elastic tight enough. They keep falling for the same reason. I can't ACTUALLY work out in these (unless I add the drawstring) lol these will be used for lounging around the house, running errands, and cleaning lol  I was in the process of making a second pair in faux leather but I had decided to make some changes to the pattern first. I did a 1" full butt adjustment that I made sense of in my head. I also scoop 3/8" out of the crotch curve all the way to the waist, and I added 2.5" to the length of the bottom part of the leg. When I tried one leg of the faux leather iteration, I already knew it wasn't going to fit lol. The faux leather doesn't have the same stretch as the spandex I used for this first version so taking that 3/8s from the crotch was a bad idea. Also, the faux leather doesn't have ANY vertical stretch so it does not pull up the way the spandex version does. 

I've already resolved to finish the faux leather pair and give it to my friend if it fits her because she's shorter and skinnier than me lol She will have to deal with being twins in the fall though because I WILL be redeeming myself by adjusting the pattern appropriately. I realized instead of adding length to the bottom leg, I will need to add about an inch length to the top piece so that the waves will sit in the right place with the minimal stretch of the faux leather. I will also need to put that 3/8" back into the crotch curve... maybe even go up to a size 46.

So that's that with these! Don't these pics look like I'm in a Nike commercial? lol If any from Nike ever reads this, I'll gladly take sponsorship lol

Sidenote: It looks like Named is having a sale on more than half their patterns right now so go check out their shop! (this is not sponsored either lol)

This wraps up Indie Pattern Month for me. I would have joined the "1 pattern, 2 takes" contest but obviously my second take was a fail. lol It has been fun sewing all of these Indie patterns that I've been hoarding though! I was absolutely scared for nothing lol. I will be going back to my beloved Vogue a bit next month so the indies will be back a little later lol

Be back here very soon!

Tasha