Leggings for Mama

It may surprise you to learn that while I've cranked out almost a dozen pairs of leggings for Rosa and frequently wear leggings myself under dresses, my first by-me-for-me leggings came off the machine only a few weeks ago. Armed with a yard of lightweight cotton spandex from Girl Charlee, I used the same self-drafted legging pattern that I used for my swimsuit bottom. The fabric is actually much lighter than I anticipated, so it has a tendency to bag a little at the knees over time. I think a little adjustment in the knee area is all that's needed to fix that, though.

The most nerve-wracking aspect of the project was a detail that I've been wanting to incorporate into leggings for the longest time. Inspired by this image (which is now just an image with a broken link, as the item is no longer available), I wanted a button-and-lace detail on the sides. Fortunately, it was faster and easier than I anticipated -- a good thing, since I'm pretty sure I held my breath the whole time!

I'm so pleased with how they turned out! They're remarkably comfortable, and I actually remembered to make the back of the waist higher than the front. The waistband is a doubled length of white spandex -- I decided that I wanted a thicker fabric at the waist, and no one will see the difference in color!

Alas, no good pictures of me actually wearing  the leggings, but aside from the button detail, they're remarkably... ordinary. I'm so pleased that my experiment was successful, and that I now know I can get a pair of leggings from one yard of reasonably wide material.

Now excuse me while I go think up uses for the pound of dried lavender that just came in the mail!