Simplicity 1111: Workout Tops

This past week or so, now that I finally finished up all my school student evals (I hate evals...they are just one letter away from "evil"), I have been working on some tops to coordinate with the PB Jam Leggings (from Fehr Trade pattern company) I just sewed up. I got the new Simplicity 1111 workout pattern from JoAnn during one of the $1 Simplicity sales (love $1 sales!).

View B: Cross-Front Top

View D: Plain Top

This is what the Simplicity description has to say about this pattern: "This great active wear pattern for miss features dress or tunic with either racer back or cross front all with built in bra." This is what I have to say about this pattern: "It does NOT have a built in bra; it has a LINING. Big difference. If you plan on using this activewear as activewear, a sports bra is a must."I thought maybe I could fix this problem since the pattern is designed with negative ease built in...if I went a size smaller on the bra part of the pattern maybe that would give some compression to the bust and maybe create the "built in bra" effect the pattern description states. Nope!

I used the same material for each of these tops as I did for my leggings - Supplex from Spandex World. I am really, really liking it! It's incredibly soft and has substance. It's easy to work with, no curling, no rolling, pretty stable. It stays put where you want it when you work with it. It's great for all that Bikram Yoga sweating! I only wish it was possible to find it in prints and patterns, not just solids. Oh, well! Maybe someday.

Now I have coordinating tops for my leggings!

The pattern suggests tricot for the lining. This is an aside gripe, not about the pattern, but about JoAnn Fabrics. Would you please label your fabrics as what it is, not make up your own names for it???? It is so frustrating to newbies like me. Grrrr! Thankfully, a helpful employee showed me exactly where they keep it and JoAnn calls it "swimsuit lining." How would I have known that???? JoAnn Fabrics nearly lost a sale on that one to Amazon/Fabric.com. They have on other occasions for the same reason...pattern calls for something that I have no idea what it is and JoAnn is going around making stuff up! (Not that JA has much great fabric to begin with....)

One thing I DON'T LIKE about this pattern is... The underbust gathers! Um...they were NOT well placed, at least for me. They were centered off to the outside of my bust, making the chest front pull really weird. I had to reposition the gathers by bringing the interior gathering line by about an inch when I did my second top, View D. I have not yet corrected my first one, View B.

Since I can't wear it stand-a-lone and need to add a sports bra, it ends up looking kinda weird since the sports bra is compressing and there's these weird bust gathers with nowhere to go. This is especially bad on View B. (I was wearing a normal bra for the photo shoot, so the problem may not be obvious.)

A Few Finishing Notes

On View D, I added some piping between the bust and the torso piece. Unfortunately, it wasn't my best piping job, and after fiddling and fiddling, I said "good enough." Sigh...

Full Coverage Back

View D's Back: easy to move!

Overall, I do like this pattern. I will probably make View D again because I use my workout wear hard and it's a pretty easy pattern to play with color and fabric. Once I fixed the bust gathers, it fits pretty well.

I will probably not make View B again. The criss-cross top just seemed to move weird during class, mostly because of the wide shoulders and the full coverage on the back. I suppose I could tweak them some, but...