Trend Mashup: Velvet, Faux Leather, and Athleisure
If you’ve hung around these parts long, you know my motto is pretty much comfort first. Which is why the athleisure trend is so hot- lounge-wear that you can wear outdoors? Who can turn that down? Not me, certainly- and I have a stack of joggers and sweatshirts to prove it.
But I decided to push the envelope on this trend a little bit with my latest make- crushed velvet and faux leather Brassie Joggers. When this crushed velvet first arrived on my doorstep as part of the latest Bee Box, I was a little stumped- I’ve made a Green Tee and a Bellavista top from velvet, and I didn’t want to just go the top route again, as I have a sneaking suspicion there might be a limit on how many velvet tops one should own.
Since I’ve decided dresses aren’t really me (detailed explanation in my Hits and Misses of 2017 post), that left me with bottoms or jackets. As much as I’d love a crushed velvet Midway Bomber, I didn’t have that much time around the holidays, so I decided to pull out my TNT jogger pattern- the Brassie Joggers by Greenstyle Creations.
I’ve lost count of how many Brassies I’ve made- I think maybe this is #9? I’ve done several hacks for them, and even a sew-along (check it out here), so I knew I would love them, even if the fabric was a little out of my comfort zone for post-holiday day-wear.
A common complaint with many joggers patterns is that the pockets don’t hold much- so I decided to use my internal pocket hack from the Sew along, which makes them far more functional. I think the key here is that if the pockets are topstitched to the front, they can’t “droop” a little to hold an item- by switching to an internal pocket, my phone stays in easily because it can kind of “fall down” a little bit. Ok, clearly, I didn’t major in engineering, as that was a terribly untechnical explanation, but you get the idea. I also slimmed the legs of the joggers along the out seam by 3/8″, for a more fitted look.
The fabric was a little challenging to work with, sliding all over my cutting table like a dog on roller skates (can you picture it?), but I managed, and all was going well until I went to attach the waistband and cuffs. Every time I tried to stretch them to fit, the velvet would roll like crazy, creating uneven edges. After unpicking them a few times, I decided to save my sanity and use a contrast fabric instead- and, since i was in an unpredictable mood, I pulled out some faux leather from my stash (used before on my Tallinn sweater).
I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I love it! I paired it with a lace front raglan from White House Black Market (but SO easily copied with your favorite raglan pattern and some black rayon spandex and stretch lace), and all of a sudden I had an outfit! (Just don’t look too closely at my toes….my pedicure budget got re-appropriated to fabric this month. And last month. Ok, fine. The month before that too. Maybe I should just give up and change my motto to bad toes=good clothes! Who is with me?)
Curious about my previous Bee Box makes? Check them out below!
May: Harbor Knot tank and Brassie shorts
June: DIBY Duchess Skirt from navy striped liverpool
July: Green Tee Cardigan Hack and Lago Tank
August: Mommy and Me Cora Culottes
September: Lane Raglan gathered back hack
October: Little Laurelette Dress
November: Plaid Lane Raglan and Skinny Pants for the baby
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