Discovery Trekking Fabrics - Review of Four Fabrics

Okay, okay, are you as excited as I am about the Discovery Trekking Fabric?? I have four different types and it's SO HARD to buy activewear fabric online, I figured this might be helpful for you!
Here's their main fabric website. I reviewing four of the fabrics from the Activewear category.

	Light Scuba - Print	Midweight Scuba	Stretch Yoga	Stretch Solar
Content and Weight	78% Poly 22% Elastane, 62" wide, 6.14 oz/sq yd	80% Nylon 20% Elastane 53" wide 9.49 oz/sq yd	SOLIDS - 88% Nylon, 12% spandex, 64" wide HEATHER - 48% Nylon, 45% Poly, 7% Spandex 9.92 oz/sq yard.	85% Poly,15% Spandex, 60" wide, 8.61 oz/sq yard.
Stretch	80% selvage to selvage 50% along selvage	50% selvage to selvage 80% along selvage (most stretch goes ALONG selvage)	60% selvage to selvage 70% along selvage	70% selvage to selvage 70% along selvage
Possible Uses	Lightweight bottoms, thin top.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, thicker running top. This almost as thick as a ponte.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, thicker running top, athleisure wear like a sporty dress, this sweatshirt.	Leggings, running skirts, thin jacket, running top, athleisure wear like a sporty dress, thin sweatshirt.
Tips for Sewing	Works well with 70 stretch needle. Cool iron (I used Poly - Level 3)		Edges tend to curl.
Misc.	Cold to the touch, thin but not at all see through, a bit of a sheen to it but not shiny, starts to lose print and turn white when stretched along the selvage. Does not curl along the edges.	A bit of a shine to the fabric. Seems stiff before you wash it. Very slippery. Edges do not curl. Imagine a thick Nylon swimsuit fabric. Because of the direction of most stretch, you may want to put pattern pieces perpendicular to pattern lay-out.	Warm to the touch. Squishy, matte fabric. More of a cotton-y feel to the fabric. Edges will curl  badly if you stretch fabric aggressively.	Cool to the touch, totally matte finish, cottony feel. No show-through even when stretched.

I also made a little video review on YouTube about the four different types of fabric.

Jalie 3881 - Rose - Sleeveless Button-Up Top

Okay, you guys know I'm all Jalie Fangirl, but I love this pattern, It's hot right now and I'm dying. Remember that I'm an Alaskan girl, so when I'm dying of heat, it's like 65 degrees. Anyway, DYING of heat lately. This is a loose, button-down (button-up??) woven top. It's a very simple design but with small details I love and a perfect Jalie fit. I made my standard size S. I love the regular, non-ruffle version for myself and the ruffle and bow version for my girls. I think it would be a great work shirt too to wear under a cardigan or sweater with the shirt tails peeking out.

I made my version out of a mystery poly (rayon?) woven. There is a ReMade store close to me which is basically a really cool Goodwill. It is local people donating local goods, and then local artists re-make them into awesome things. You can find lots of "need a little love" items to fully created art pieces. I love to go in there and look around. I've found a lot of great fabric there. This fabric seems to have birds (I like to think of them as bats) on a blue, green, and pink background. The drape is perfect for this pattern. 

I added my standard 1" above the bust (without disrupting the armholes) and the fit is perfect. I love the pleat in the back, the shirt tail hem, and the ever-so-slight hi-low hem. On this pattern, there are no darts for shaping. The only shaping comes from the side seams. 

I used small, pink 11mm buttons. Although, on these pictures, they look white. I never put a button on the collar stand because I never button my shirts up that high. See? Bats, totally bats. 

And, of course, when my kids are helping me take pictures, they pose me in all sorts of ridiculous ways. 

B: Mom! Take the cat! The cat wants to be famous. 

C: Mom, why are your arms all veiny and weird and stuff?

Me: It's SO HOT. 

C: What?? It's not hot. You're weird. 

B: Mom, why is your mouth open in every photo you take? 

Me: Touche, B, touche. 

(I'm wearing this top with my new Jalie linen shorts. I really love them and they go with everything!)

Here is the kid version I made for my little twinny. It's SO CUTE in this floral cotton voile. Although, it does mean I'll have to iron it, but maybe that's okay for a shirt this cute. 

Don't you love the fabric? And the ruffle bow tie? Although, I had the hardest time making a good bow. I finally had to watch a YouTube video on how to do it. 

Cute, eh??

Swimsuit: Julia Bottoms and Jalie 2446 Top

I recently made a Gigi swimsuit which I have, unfortunately, misplaced. How does one misplace a swimsuit, you ask? I have no earthly idea. I traveled to California recently to help out a friend and went to the World's Coldest Pool, so I know I had it there. Since I've been home, I cannot find it. I cannot verify that it ever made it home OR that it ever made it out of the dressing room of the room.  This is a long explanation for why I am making another swimsuit. Sigh. This time I wanted to use the new Jalie Julia pattern to make the bottoms because they are so cute and also so comfortable. I used Jalie 2446 for the top. I have used this pattern many times before but I've never made this view. I usually make the top from View A. This time, I used View B because I wanted to use some contrast FOE to match the bottoms.

For this suit, I used a swimwear Lycra/Nylon fabric and a nude swimsuit lining. The only modification I did was to not quite follow the Jalie directions using fabric binding and instead used FOE for the black border and the straps that ties in the back. 

Because FOE is a little wimpy, in my opinion, I sandwiched clear elastic in the straps while I was sewing them. This makes the FOE perfect for stand-alone straps. I will probably do this when I make my next Julia camisole too. It just gives it a little more structure. 

I really love it!!! Let's see, other details . . . I made a smaller size for the top because I knew I would not be using the seam allowances so if I made my regular size, it would be too large because of those unused seam allowances. I could have just cut off the seam allowances, but meh, this works too. 

I bought the fabric in Yardage Town last summer. I really love the colors and the print. And look! No rain!!!

New Jalie Lisette Skirt

I was able to test some of these patterns before they were released. One of my favorites was the Lisette skirt. It's comfortable, easy to sew, and classy once you are done. I made the version with the shaping seams along the side. I used a floral neoprene for the flashy panel on the front. And yes, I'm  wearing a super classy, shredded leopard t-shirt with it.

I really love that there are so many options with this pattern too. Not only can you change the length, but you can change the design lines too. It's a great way to highlight a small piece of knit fabric for the front. 

14 New Jalies!

You guys probably already saw, but Jalie just released 14 new patterns. I thought I would highlight my favorites for you (because I'm not a Jalie fangirl or anything . . .).

I always love their swimsuits for my girls. They are like me and are thin with long torsos so off-the-rack swimsuit don't fit them well. This pattern has the cutest wrap-around tie.

I also love this Mimosa pattern. It's a great basic with a ton of different options. I have one with the short-sleeved ties (I helped to test these patterns). 

I love this Adele top too. I want to make this in skirt length. And my girls with want 35 of these. 

I freaking love this pattern. I have made many of these already and the top and bottoms are SO COMFORTABLE! I love the shelf bra/camisole combination. I love that I can use up all my small knit scraps on the panties. 

I love the men's patterns this time. I will make a bunch of these for my son as pajamas and long underwear. 

Again, I love that this pattern is just for men. I will make tons of these for my son and husband. 

And how freaking cute is this top? I love it in the shoulder ruffle version and also the no ruffle, neck-tie version. 

What are your favorites? Do you have a top one or two that you love??

Jalie 2563 - Running Shorts (done right this time!)

Remember last week when I made these shorts but I did it wrong? Well, I did it again, but this time, I actually did it the right way! Yay me! What's funny is that there is not much difference in fit between when I made them wrong and when I made them right. Once main difference I did notice is that the waist was a bit snug last time and this time the waist is perfect. Also, last time the legs would creep up my thighs when I was doing squats. On this pair, I don't seem to have that problem. But really, that makes sense. The tighter legs on the correct pair would stop them from creeping up AND it would have been tighter on my waist on the incorrect pair. I used the same black Nike Dri-Fit for the main part of the shirts.

After the second go-around, I am convinced these are the best, no-frills, easy shorts ever. I've worked out in both pairs and they are my favorite me-made active wear shorts! 

Jalie 3458 - Flared Skirt

How cute is this skirt? Spring is totally here (I REALLY hope anyway!!) and my Spring sewing mojo is in full swing. This is the Jalie 3458 Flared Skirt. I used my normal size and I extended the panel four inches on the edges. That means this is a bit longer than the intended length. I wanted it to be work appropriate and the cover photo looked a little short for that. This skirt is dead-simple. It is four panels and one waistband with elastic. Easy!

I love circle skirt and half-circle skirts but they take so much fabric. This does not take all that much. I think it would especially fun in a striped fabric. I made this Jalie top a long time ago and I didn't even realize that I used the same fabric for the trim piece. 

I couldn't stop spinning in it. 

I love this skirt and I already have two other requests for more. Little Twinnies would like their own twirly skirts!!