Are you a yogi who sews? Or a sewist who enjoys yoga? Then its time to combine your two hobbies and make your own leggings.
As I yogi, I love my yogawear, but became frustrated by two things:
- I like a high waistband – no one wants to see my pants in Down Dog! But most leggings are not high-wasted enough for my taste
- Fun yoga leggings made from decent quality material are expensive!
As all sewists know, sewing gives you superpowers and therefore the power to overcome these or any other obstacles. Here are some pattern ideas, with my reviews, as well as additional considerations and reading.
Patterns
My favourite: Patterns for pirates Peg Legs
Peg Legs is probably my favourite pattern and the one I used for my Geeky Yoga leggings (which, by the way, I am still happy to make for anyone who wants them even though I don’t officially sell them any more).
- The pattern is super simple to sew, with one piece for each leg – so you can definitely make a pair in an hour!
- The waistband is nice and wide
- Because you only have one piece per leg, you also only have an inseam (ie no outer leg seam), which looks nicer
- It’s free! So incredibly generous of Patterns for Pirates
- Lots of add-ons (which I haven’t tried) if you want to add a gusset, a pocket etc
BUT: bear in mind that you need fabric with enough stretch (at least 50% and 4-way stretch) as they are really quite tight!
Other contenders
Love Notions Resolution bottoms
The Resolution bottoms is a versatile and affordable set of exercise-type trousers, which includes a pair of leggings. They have a nice fit, come in lots of sizes and they are a little more generous so you don’t have to worry about your fabric’s stretch as much (25% stretch for this one and also works for 2-way stretch).
One of the design features is a yoke one the waistband, which means you can do some interesting things with them but it does slow the sewing down.
Seamwork leggings
I’ve been a Seamwork member for the past 5 years, and while I don’t use them as regularly as I should, you can get some really great finds in their catalogue. They also have three patterns for leggings (among other activewear patterns): the Manilla, the Aires and the Shelly leggings.
I made the Shelly leggings when they came out – their construction was slightly more complicated because of the gusset (more on that below) but overall a really nice pattern with a great fit. (sadly for me the fabric I used highlighted every bit of cellulite on my bum and legs so I gifted them to my yogi bestie Chiara). So definitely one to try if you already subscribe to Seamwork.
Indie patterns I haven’t tried but are worth a look
- Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings
- Hey June Sloan leggings
- Helen’s Closet Avery leggings
- Fehr Trade PB Jam leggings
- Sewaholic Pacific leggings
Melissa Fehr (of Fehr Trade) has also written a book, which includes a pattern for yoga leggings.
Also, of the big 4
Simplicity 8212 was my first attempt at yoga leggings (it’s the pattern I used for my starry print and unicorn leggings).
BUT the sizing huge! I had to make 4 pairs before I managed to get a decent fit. The starry ones are pretty loose although I do love them…
To gusset or not to gusset?
The logic of the gusset is to add to enable a wide range of motion by distributing the stress on the seam. That really makes sense, especially for some more extreme poses like the splits, standing splits or even the humble pigeon.
However, personally I have been practicing in my no-gusset leggings for the past 2 years without any issues.
Stay tuned…
For the next post, where I will discuss fabrics.
Do you sew your own yoga leggings? Do you have any favourite patterns I haven’t included here?
GEEKY YOGA 
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