Today we’re part of the Riley Blake Knits Love Blog tour, and I love what Jess did with the Zinnia Jacket. Plus, she has a FREE pattern link for those yoga pants, so make sure to read the whole post!
Hey sewing friends, it’s Jess from If Only They Would Nap, back today to join up with the Riley Blake Knit Love blog tour! Today I’m sharing my new workout wardrobe starting with a reversible Zinnia Jacket.
Lately I’ve been trying to get back into an exercise routine, and what’s more motivating than new clothes? I mixed and matched some fabulous Riley Blake knits for the jacket and some yoga pants.
I pieced together the Cottage Main Gray with a solid gray on one side, splicing the pattern pieces to add some color blocking. If you do this, make sure you add in some seam allowance to put the pieces back together. Riley Blake was so generous with the knits they provided for this tour, I had more than enough to make the jacket reversible.
On the other side, I used the Cottage Triangles Gray – and what’s not to love about these triangles?? Making the jacket reversible was pretty simple. I basically constructed two jackets and then connected them at the cuffs, bottom band, the collar, and sandwiched the reversible zipper in between the two layers.
Melissa’s note: to make this reversible, I would go in a slightly different order. I’d cut the front, sleeves and back out of each fabric. You won’t need extra collar, cuff or waistband pieces. Construct two jackets – one of inner and one of outer fabric – putting one collar piece on each jacket and the zipper and one edge of the waistband on one jacket. Sew the other edge of the waistband to the other jacket, right sides together. Then place the two jackets right sides together, folding the waistband, and stitch along the zipper edges and around the collar. Turn the jacket right side out through one sleeve, then apply the cuffs as per the pattern instructions.
These knits have a great stretch and they’re nice and solid. They are ridiculously comfortable to wear! I may just wear these as pajamas instead… which might defeat the point of making them for exercise. But at least I’ll be comfy no matter when I decide to wear them!
The fit is awesome; I only had to take the sleeves in a bit. Having sewn many of Melissa’s women’s patterns now, I love knowing where I’m going to fall on her size chart. The pattern came together really nicely, I just had to make a few adjustments where I didn’t use rib knit. Since the pattern called for ribbing, which is stretchier than my fabric, I had to cut those longer than the pattern pieces.
The Zinnia Jacket is such a great pattern for showcasing prints you love! And the Riley Blake knit prints are stunning and worth showing off. I used the prints in a bunch of different ways to give each side of the jacket a really unique look. Plus, maybe no one would realize if I wore it two days in a row if I turn it around the other side?
Just like I said when I made the Zippy Jacket, the pockets are my favorite feature of this pattern. I love the shape! They’re different and fun, and believe me, I need everything I can get to make my workouts more fun.
I also used some of the triangles to add a fold over waistband to my yoga pants. You can find the FREE pattern and tutorial for the yoga pants here. Yoga pants, jammie pants, wear every single day because they’re so dang comfortable pants… whatever you want to call them. 😉
I’m so happy with how my new workout wear turned out! You can find the Zinnia Jacket in the Blank Slate Patterns shop HERE.
The Riley Blake Knit Love blog tour continues on for the rest of the month, so make sure you check out the rest of the stops; you can find all of them here: RBD Jersey LOVE Blog Tour Schedule
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