lovely lycra

I’m sure you are as shocked as I am that I am blogging two days in a row! That hasn’t happened in years! Anyway, as promised, I did make some running shirts for myself with my new coverstitch machine and my serger (I used flatlock, hence the colored seams).
I am thrilled to have the coverstitch machine, but I haven’t yet mastered it. I really wanted to use Woolly Nylon in the looper so that the stitch that is against my skin would be nice and soft. I haven’t been able to perfect the tension with the Woolly Nylon, though, so I have been forced to use regular serger thread in the looper, which results in a scratchy stitch. Not very practical.
With the green shirt in the top photo, I reversed the stitching in the neckline so the serged part is on the outside. I think that will be a good solution if I never figure out how to employ the Woolly Nylon, but for some reason it was awkward stitching the neckline that way, and the neckline wouldn’t lay flat.
So, the first top I made was this one. I used some leftover fabric from a few years ago. This fabric is weird. It is pretty meshy, and yet it is weighty, so it’s a little hard to sew on. When I sweat, too, it kind of sticks to me. That’s not the best look.
The second top I made is the maroon one. While that pattern might be fine for a regular T-shirt, it’s not ideal for a running shirt, because the sleeves fit too well. I need a little more room around the arm for my vigorous arm swinging (okay, not really, but it sounds good, doesn’t it?). So, I adapted that pattern and created the one in the top photo. I wore that green shirt running the other day, and it was super comfy, and I was relatively pleased with myself until I got home, took off the shirt, and noticed sweat spots on the boobs. To make things worse, there was a sweat line underneath, so it looked like a smiley face of sweat. I think this issue may be resolved with the proper jogbra (a padded one from lululemon), but who knows.
So, I have some more running shirts to make, plus I do have to work on those PANTIES. I still hope to overcome my technical difficulties, but really, I am not very technical. If you have any suggestions out there, please feel free to share!