Clothes for yoga (including Burda 11-2014-113)

I recently felt sufficiently well that I decided to join the gym near where I am now living. I am not a HUGE fan of the gym in the ordinary run of things, but the big appeal to me was that, unlike running or walking outside, there was no danger that I would get stranded feeling ill halfway through and a long way from home. At least with the gym if I don't feel well I can just sit down for a bit.

My VERY RED Simplicity 2369s

One of my favourite gym things is yoga, which I've done on and off for about 12 years now. In the last few years I've had little opportunity to do anything other than videos and yoga podcasts at home, which I tend to do more or less in PJs or some ratty and mis-matched exercise clothes. Now I'm going to two classes a week at the gym because they come free with membership and I actually need to look at least somewhat presentable. I repurposed the two purple pairs of purple knit trousers I made last month as yoga-class-suitable, but I decided I also needed one more pair, due to laundry-related laziness. Very boringly I made another pair of Simplicity 2369 (the previous pair being one of the afore-mentioned purple pants) about which I will say no more than: still very wide-legged, and in this case VERY RED. VERY VERY RED. I wore them to class on Tuesday and there was everyone else in sober and serious black and me in my VERY RED trousers and a top with lurex sparkles. My commitment to sparkle motion yoga is INTENSE, you guys.

My VERY RED fabric is just a cotton blend jersey with a not-very-exciting amount of stretch and poor recovery. I've been putting off sewing it for ages because I was pretty sure that I'd struggle with the lack of recovery if I tried anything at all fancy with it. In fact, wearing my very red yoga pants to class revealed that yes, they are going to sag out at the knees and butt when I do yoga in them. However, while I'm willing to put in a certain amount of effort to have a respectable outfit to wear to class, it doesn't extend to caring if I have saggy butt pants by the time I leave.

I used about half of my 3m piece (bought from Croft Mill in 2012) for Simplicity 2369 and decided to use the rest to make a close fitting top, also for yoga (although NOT for wearing with the red pants, as otherwise I look like Father Christmas Does Yoga, which, no). I knew from the outset that I was going to struggle to bind the neckline without stretching it, so, in a spirit of experimentation, I decided to make up a pattern that was kind of off-beat for me, because I was prepared already for it all to go wrong. Which, you know, on reflection kind of doesn't make sense from a logic point of view, but there you have it: my thought processes, ladies and gentlemen.

The top I picked is from the most recent issue of Burda 11-2014-113. People were really divided on this top on the PR forum. Some were like: YUCK WHY. Some were enthusiastic. I really liked it, but then I also really like wearing layers including the sort of sad 1990s skater boy thing of wearing a t-shirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt, which this sort of mimics. I was most doubtful about the puffy sleeves, since I need no extra help in the shoulder width department and certainly none at all in bicep size.

Burda 11-2014-113 sample and tech drawing from Burda

 The top actually comes in sizes 34-42, and on my current measurements I am about a 44. I was prepared to grade up, but when I compared my current knit sloper to the pattern, the 42 was a pretty good match to my size without any change. I made mine just a tiny but bigger through the bust -- 0.5cm on each seam line -- but that's about it. I actually wanted the hip to be quite close fitting so it wouldn't slide up while I am in upside-down poses, but this was less successful. I'm always a good size smaller through the hip in Burda and Ottobre than I am in the shoulder/bust but I couldn't mentally process needing a size 40 hip so I used the 42 as drafted... and it's very slightly bigger than I wanted. f

Burda 11-2014-113 my version in red cotton jersey

As you can see from my photo, the fit is a BIT snug through the bust -- those tell-tale folds at the armpits in addition to a bit of obvious strain over the apex -- but I am not overly concerned. You can also see from the photo on me (more so than the photo on Flossie) that I did indeed have a problem with the binding the neckline and it ended up more stretched out than I like. It's also REALLY WIDE at the neckline. SO VERY VERY WIDE. Like, I had to take a bunch of shots so I didn't get my bra strap showing. Also, I'll have to wear something under it for yoga because, um, leaning over shows off my ENTIRE BUST to the world. Not ideal.

Other than that, even though half way through I was like WHY AM I MAKING THIS THING WITH PUFFED SLEEVES OH MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME, I really like it! The sleeves below the puffs are really close fitting which I like a lot (and also really long, I am so glad Burd draft for people with monkey arms like me). I do need to figure out at some point how to do a square shoulder adjustment with a raglan pattern. As you can see on the right hand as you look at the photo, I tend to get that gape at the shoulder line if I don't. I have fixed it on the Kitschy Coo raglan tee (actual pattern name escapes me) but I forgot to make the alteration on this one.

In conclusion: I plan to be outstandingly visible in my yoga classes in these.

Next up on my sewing table is the Ottobre zipper hoodie I've been saying I'm going to make for two months now, followed by a bunch of gift sewing.