Sewing Athletic Fabric With Katie

January 11, 2026

In all my years of sewing, there is one fabric that I haven’t really ever sewn with  - athletic fabric!  This is kind of crazy, especially considering that I love sewing swim and they are quite similar.  A few weeks ago, my daughter mentioned that she would really love a pair of royal blue leggings and since I knew Raspberry Creek Fabrics carried a blue athletic fabric, I took it as my sign to give it a go!  

Right off the bat, I was impressed with the fabric.  It is a nice thickness and has a nice hand.  The wrong side is ever so slightly brushed and the right side has a very slight sheen - comparable to some high end athletic fabric RTW clothing.  It washed up very nicely as well.  

I don’t really ever wear leggings, so I was on the hunt for a pattern.  Thanks to the hive mind of my Instagram account (@madebykates) I received several good recommendations for patterns including the Peg Leg by Patterns for Pirates, anything from Greenstyle Patterns, and the Jackson by Styla.  Because I wanted something fairly basic and straightforward, I went with the free Jackson Leggings.  I chose to do the high waist option.  Another thing I liked about this pattern was that it included instructions for assembling the legging with a regular stitch (like a serger or stretch stitch) as well as instructions for flatlocking the seams.  Flatlocking is a great way to give it a ready to wear look, as well as a way to play with different colors of thread on the seams.  I’ve wanted to try it and so decided to give it a go!  It took me a few samples to get the look I wanted, but the end result was great.  I used a two needle coverstitch on top of the flatlocked seam, but you can use a twin needle as well.  I used a black thread on the royal blue and it really popped!  

Of course she needed a jacket to go with her new leggings, so I went with the Reef Sweatshirt by Greenstyle.  Instead of flatlocking the seams, I used another technique to topstitch the seams.  After sewing the seams as the pattern indicated, I did a wide coverstitch straddling the seam.  Again, this really elevates the garment to not look homemade and more like ready to wear.  I used an athletic ribbed fabric that I’ve had in my stash for a long time for the bottom and sleeve bands, but the athletic fabric could have been used as well.  

Overall, I’m sold on sewing athletic fabric!  I’m thinking it would make a fantastic pair of wide leg pants that could be sold as dress pants but wear like secret pajamas.  I’m thinking the Love Notions Bridget Trousers or the True Bias Ayla pant.  

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