Sewing Activewear - Green Style Creations Xpress Tank and P4P Mama Bear Joggers

I really love cute gym clothes - I chalk most of this up to years of dance lessons where creative expression is not only through your movement, but also what you wear. The high end activewear market has been churning out all sorts of interesting and fashion forward workout gear for years now, but I've been slowly dipping my toe in the water of sewing my own.

I love the tie back tanks that are all the rage right now and they seemed like something that should be fairly simple to sew. I can't remember how I stumbled upon the GreenStyle Creations Xpress Tank, but I loved the interesting cross back so much, I bumped it to the top of my sewing list.


I cute a straight S for this tank and used a light weight Athletic Brushed Poly (ABP) from Zenith and Quasar in coral. ABP is a tech fabric that is moisture-wicking, breathable, soft, stretchy and has great drape for the lighter weight version. I've really grown to like this fabric and it's something that I'm looking forward to using for more workout tanks in the future. Z and Q does pre-orders for ABP throughout the year as well as retail sales after pre-orders have been filled. Be sure to keep an eye on their site as the fabrics and colors they stock do change from time to time.

This pattern is *literally* one piece. That's it. The shoulder seams get stitched together and then all of the raw edges are turned and hemmed. The biggest downsides to the pattern are

1. You absolutely need a full 1 yard cut to make this tank as drafted - I'm a master at playing pattern and fabric tetris, but you just can't do it with this one.
2. You are pinning and hemming for a while. It says this is a 20 minute project, but it took me longer than that. Maybe I'm just slow at hemming, but this one felt like it took forever. 

See? SO many pins.

All that being said, I love the finished product and am planning to sew at least one more. It's light, comfy and feels sporty, but cute for the gym. I might size down in the bust for the next one, but the fit through the hip was great. I've worn it to BodyFIT360 and Groov3 and it works well for both. These pics were taken as I was on the way to the gym, so no cute hair and make-up here - lol!


I also finally got around to making a pair of P4P Mama Bear Joggers (afflink) for the gym!(see the above pic) I used a heavier ABP from Zenith and Quasar in basic black. I've already blogged about my love for the Mama Bear Jogger pattern here and there were no changes except to add a band to my cropped length so they look like a true cropped sweatpant. Aside from the pure comfort factor, the style is something I've wanted for a long time, but could never find in the stores. Another reason why it's so great to be able to sew - you can make exactly what you want, when you want it! While I specifically made them for the gym, I haven't ruled them out as a perfect home lounge pant.