Sewing for the Soul
It’s been a bit quiet around here lately. I changed jobs last month and the few weeks leading up to that decision were pretty stressful. I lost my sew-jo and most of my enthusiasm for almost everything else.
Sewing is usually my go-to defence against stress but when that fails me, going to the gym, riding my bike, and more recently, running, are just some of the other tools I employ to keep me sane. I wouldn’t call myself a fitness freak but my brain needs to be active and doing something to keep it on track.
With that back story sorted you can understand what a wonderful distraction the sneak peek at the newest patterns from Papercut were for me.
They jump started my sew-jo AND my fitness-jo!
I stitched like a wild woman then I reinstalled the Couch to 5k app on my phone, along with the entire season of Project Runway 12 and hit the treadmill. It’s winter here but we have the odd nice day when I can get outside. My goal is to get back to comfortably running 5kms and then join my local ParkRun every Saturday morning. I run slower than I can hand stitch but I can run, and I feel good!
So, enough about my pavement pounding goals, let’s talk PATTERNS!
There are three new patterns in the collection, cleverly called TRI:
The Soma swimsuit which includes the one-piece plus two bikini and two pant variations, that’s 5 options in one pattern.
The Anima Pant in three lengths, with or without cuffs.
And finally, my favourite, the Pneuma Tank with optional drapey over top.
On top of these three patterns Katie has also re-released four previous patterns with new variations and all are also now available as PDF downloads.
Coppélia, Ooh La Leggings, SJ Tee and Undercover Hood.
If you already own one of these older patterns, don’t panic, there will be tutorials on how to mod them on the Papercut blog soon.
Pneuma (translation: soul) is my favourite of this collection because I have given far too much of my precious fabric money to Lululmeon (except for this year since I am RTW Fasting). I really like their workout gear but they are super exxy and so I may a squealed just a little bit when I saw the line drawings for the Pneuma Tank.
It’s been tricky lately to get finished garment photos. The weather doesn’t co-operate on the weekend and after work it is too dark. Luckily last weekend was beautiful and sunny so I headed into town to meet Kat and Nikki for a mega-photo-shoot-catch-up. We chose the ANZAC Memorial which has just undergone a huge restoration as part of the lead up to ANZAC Day’s 100th commemoration in 2015.
It’s pretty there with lots of great background variation but, more importantly, has lots of bushes and other nooks for quick and (kind of) discrete outfit changes.
The Pneuma is really easy and quick to sew and the instructions are written for a standard sewing machine but you can also use your overlocker or coverstitch machine.
The cross over straps are a really nice feature and super easy to adjust when sewing. I recommend safety pins when you attach them to test their length or you may get stuck like I did, unable to get out without sticking yourself with the pins.
And then your husband will laugh and laugh and laugh…
The extra black straps you see are my sports bra underneath. I guess didn’t actually need to wear a bra for the photos but obviously I do need one for exercising.
I have paired my Pneuma with a knee length pair of Anima pants. They are sewn in a medium-weight grey marled fleece with the cuffs and waistband contrasted in black.
They are really comfy but actually a bit thick for exercising. Also I cut a size medium, a decision based on the combination of thicker than normal fabric selection and me worrying about needing extra booty room. They are a bit too big so next time I will use a merino or merino blend and cut the small size.
They have a wide elasticated waist with drawstring (that I didn’t manage to capture in any of the photosgraphs, oops) and I used eyelets for the tie holes instead of button holes, copying from a pair of RTW track pants.
You can whip these up really fast on an overlocker. I just threaded up all 4 spools and went nuts. You only need to top stitch the faux fly and waistband on your sewing machine and then you can put them on while you sew the second pair ;)
As per usual Kat and I ended up with about a million and one photos…but this time we can blame Nikki ;)
I had 2 weeks off between my old and new job when I sewed these up so I also made a long pair in thicker fleece to keep me warm while temporarily unemployed.
Nerdy Husband calls them my Please Don’t Wear that Crazy out in in Public Pants and I’m happy to admit that they were never sewn for exterior excursions but they make me smile and they give you a different perspective on the pattern.
They are also really warm and perfect for winter.
I already have a second Pneuma in the works and plan to pair them with some cropped Ohh La leggings (pattern and fabric for which have been sitting on my “to sew” pile, literally, for months) and I also caved and added the Undercover Hood to my pattern collection. If they work out I’ll need another pair, of course, plus Pneuma #3 and #4, and two more pairs of Anima pants and then I am sure I will be 100% weaned off of Lululemon.
Which means more money for fabric ;)
Yeah!
Photography and modelling is hard work…
I was so, so good!
Little teaser: I also made the Soma one-piece, but those photos will have to wait for some beach-appropriate weather.
THE DEETS:
Pattern –
- Papercut Anima Pant, size M, full length
- Papercut Anima Pant, size M, knee length with cuff
I want to make another knee length pair (or two) but next time I will use a merino, or merino blend and cut a size S
- Papercut Pneuma Tank, size S
Fabric – Various fleece from Spotlight. Lycra and cotton from The Fabric Warehouse
Other notions – Cord, eyelets, various elastic, bra strapping
Filed under: Sewing Projects Tagged: Anima Pant, ANZAC Memorial, Papercut Patterns, Pneuma Tank, Secret Sewing
