Tuesday, November 2, 2010

It's Tutorial Tuesday - recycled merino wool running pants


This one's for the joggers! First, star out with a really big merino sweater (I believe mine was a mens XL, and I wear a medium in workout pants, and a 10 in jeans), and lightly felt it, so that it's still stretchy, but won't unravel when you cut. Now, make the shorts in this tutorial, making the back end pieces slightly bigger than the front pieces if you are using compression shorts as your pattern, like I used for these pants (I didn't do this, wish I would have, but wasn't the end of the world), and making the leg part as long as your sweater will allow. Ok, you should have shorts now.



Now cut the arms off of your sweater, so the tops are straight across. These will be the bottom part of the legs.


Now take the legs and tuck them inside the bottom of the legs of the shorts, so when you look inside the "tube" you see no seam. Remember that your shorts should still be right sides out at this point.



Now sew 2 seams, 1/4 inch apart, all the way around.


Now you're done! This seam is on the outside, for comfort, and the second stitch around exaggerates the seam, so it ends up looking like shorts over pants, instead of just having a weird seam. I think that if you have a serger, you could serge the legs to the shorts, but since I don't have a serger, I don't know if that would work. If anyone serges the legs on, will you come back and let us know how that turned out?

Here I am in all my running gear. I went out running in this outfit the other day, when it was 40 degrees. Everywhere I had wool (my funky hat tied into a beanie, my runner's mittens, my pants), I was comfortable from start to finish. I had synthetics (my shirt & jacket), I ran hot and cold the whole time. That wasn't a surprise though, since wool is naturally insulating, breathable, and moisture wicking. The added bonus of using wool for running pants, is that you don't have wash them every time, like synthetics, because of their antibacterial properties. After I run, always before I shower, my clothes usually stink [I can't believe I just posted this on the internet], and they go straight into the hamper, but I turned my running pants inside out to air, and the next day they smelled fresh as a daisy!

8 comments:

NeedlesAndKims said...

You continue to amaze me! Thank you for sharing all the new, fun stuff you make!

pms said...

Love it! Just a note... one MAY be lucky to find on occasion a merino wool LONG knit skirt. I am 5'4" and I was able to make running tights that go *almost* to my ankles with NO seam! I removed the elastic waistband from the skirt and made the waistband the natural binding for the ankles (cut out the pieces upside down.)

YOur is a PERFECT solution for those that are taller- which is most! I will definetely be trying these for my girlfriend.

Resweater said...

Thanks, Needles And Kims!

PMS, I'm going to start taking a closer look at the skirts & dresses in the thrift stores. Maybe I could find a knit merino dress to use, and then I can make them without a seam!

Tina said...

I need to start looking for more sweaters! The ones I made before you posted this tutorial came out good, but I am excited to try making a pair of these also!

Can't wait to go for a run:)

Marmot said...

Great stuff! I've been looking for this tutorial. Thanks a lot, I will try this solution.

Unknown said...

I appreciate you taking the time to share this and other tutorials. I'll be on the lookout for some merino sweaters and skirts. Thanks!

Joan said...

Kris, I made your leggings for my daughter back in the middle of winter -- finally got a photo recently and posted it today. (It's here at http://thegreensheep.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/tuesday-treat-2/. )Thank you so much for the idea! Now my surfer brother in CA asked if I could sew him something like a wetsuit liner for the trunk area. Hmmm...I'll be working on this one!

Resweater said...

Joan, I love them! Thanks for the mention on your blog! I subscribed :)