Sportswear in action (once again)

And here are finally the pictures of my new climbing trousers in action! 
Some day, I should ask a third person to either take pictures or belay, so I can show off my me-made sportswear when lead climbing (or, more likely in Dutch climbing halls, toprope climbing). Both of those involve climbing on high walls. The climber wears a harness with a rope attached to it for protection and to lower him/her down after reaching the top (in a toprope set-up, those ropes are hung from anchor points at the top of the wall, when lead climbing you take them up yourself, fixing them to the wall at about 2 to 3 meter intervals). 

Where clothes are concerned, both bouldering (climbing on low walls with thick mats on the floor for protection, which is what I am doing in these pictures) and sport climbing require a huge range of movement but the boulder does not have to consider the fit of clothes under a harness. 

Anyway, in this picture, I am not really trying to climb the boulder properly but you get to see both my outfit and the bouldering wall. 
In most of the other pictures, you can see my design choices are working out: I can bend my knees without baring them and thanks to that gusset, I can get my legs in any position I am capable of, without being held back by my clothes.

I'm happy with these, I guess I'll have to make some more!

Sewing for climbing

People wear lots of different kinds of clothing for indoor climbing. Those who just come for a day out often wear their regular clothes while people who practice climbing as a sport usually choose some form of sportswear. There are brands dedicated to climbing wear too.

At the moment, I am usually wearing my old RTW sports trousers (sort of capri length). The trousers I made back in 2015 served me well for over a year but the fabric has suffered too much by now. I do usually wear some kind of me-made top though.

Because I know it can be hard to find the right fabric for sportswear (or outdoor stuff, for that matter), I thought I wouldn't mind buying new trousers for climbing.

And then I found out all you can buy are leggings... (and sweatpants, which are way to warm). Often bright, printed or shiny ones. And don't get me started about so-called yoga pants. Those are just leggings with a slight below the knee. I'm not sure I have pointed this out before but I really don't feel comfortable wearing leggings in a sport in which I am often suspended above any spectators...

Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided I would be better off trying to invent my own perfect version.

I sewed them up in a single evening and wore them the next. They're still on the washing line now, but here is a quick technical drawing:

I used a wide stretchy waistband which turned out to be way too loose (if I had not been wearing my harness, I'm not sure the trousers would have stayed on). I plan on cutting it off, making it smaller and inserting elastic for some added firm stretch.

The fabric I used for the rest is my favorite cotton/linen blend which is really comfortable but might not be durable enough for sportswear. 

I am very happy with the special climbing details I added: The long crotch gusset allows for an excellent range of movement and the pleats at the knees seem to work too. I may just pleat them the other way in the next version (they seem too tight the first time I bend my knees but are absolutely fine once they have been pushed open by that movement).

I will take pictures once the trousers are ready to be put on again...

Something sporty again!

One of the things I made in that bit of extra sewing time I had around New Year was a new sports top. The ones I made before were all sleeveless (in fact, they only had thin shoulderstraps made from lingerie elastic...) and although there is heating in all the climbing gyms I go to, it definitely a bit colder in winter. So, I wanted one with short sleeves.

Here it is in action at bouldering gym Kunststof (website is only in Dutch but there are some more pictures of the place) in Leiden:

To show the t-shirt properly, I've also made some pictures of flat on the table (not very good pictures, but they clearly show the details):

I used the pattern I made for my favorite climbing jacket. Princess seams, no side seams, raglan sleeves. I just cut it a tiny bit narrower. 
I had planned a sort of slit at center front which is why there is a a center front seam. In they end, I sewed it up entirely to get an easy-to-finish neckline. The slit would not have been particularly useful anyway...
The blue parts are made from the same textured sportswear fabric I have used for climbing tops before. The red at the sides is cotton jersey, the edges at the neck and arms are fold-over elastic.
It performed well on its first outing although, looking at some of the action pictures (not the ones I showed here, more boring ones in which I am holding the top hold), I wonder if I should lift the sleeves a bit. Maybe that would make it pull up a bit less when I lift my arms high... Not that I am under the impression that any garment could stay perfectly in place under such circumstances!

Sewing and climbing

Here's a promise: This will be the last post about rock climbing for a little while. In the coming weeks, I plan some normal sewing related blog posts. I'm thinking about some vintage magazine stuff, some modern sewing, some vintage and maybe I can even come up with a nice tutorial... 
But in this blog post, I would like to share some of the pictures from last weekend. 

Last weekend, E and I went to the Belgian Ardennes (if you live in the Netherlands, those are the mountains closest to home) with a group of people from our local department of the Dutch climbing and mountaineering club to practice our outdoor climbing skills. (because there are no mountains in the Netherlands, the vast majority of Dutch climbers starts out on the plastic of the climbing gym and only makes the transition to real rock later. The club facilitates that learning curve by training instructors who help gym-climbers to get their first taste of the great vertical outdoors in a safe way. The third person in some of these pictures is our instructor, a different one each day).
Of course, that in itself doesn't really qualify for page-time here, on my sewing blog (I don't have other blogs but you know what I mean). I feel I can show off my climbing pictures here because I only wore me-made clothes on that climbing trip.   

To be precise, I wore these jeans and this jacket (and sports tops I made too, but those can't be seen in the pictures). And (also not pictured) in the evening at the campsite I layered my old, fairly worn, green tweed double breasted jacket on top.

Both jeans and jacket were sort of experimental in pattern and design. 
The jacket was made as sportswear and does excellent duty as such. I had some doubts about the fabric when I first finished it but in every-day use it is fine. It may feel a bit synthetic when you first put it on but that impression doesn't last. Not even when I wore it when warming up in the climbing gym in late winter. And neither in the not-quite-warm-enough vaguely summer-y weather we had at the Belgian crags. 
The fitted shape makes it sit well under my climbing harness. The slightly (over)long sleeves and bottom edge mean creeping up doesn't become an issue and it has zippered pockets in such a position that the contents would only get crushed on very acrobatic moves (and I'm still a newbie on real rock so I don't really go in for those yet)

The trousers were originally meant to take a place in my normal wardrobe. They were to be my cool-girl-trousers. I had come up with this odd slightly baggy fit with a bit of added room at the crotch and upper legs. 
They are very, very comfortable and I sort of liked them but I never quite succeeded at matching them well with any tops in my wardrobe (the outfit with the jacket, in the original blog post, was by far the best look I ever found for these). They did see plenty of wear for hiking and for all kinds of activities where functionality and comfort are rated higher than style. 
So, it was only logical that I would take them rock climbing (I actually own one pair of RTW outdoor trousers but I don't like the fit of those. The waistline sits at a level that just feels uncomfortable). I could move really well in them and the fabric (fairly thick denim, softened by an early treatment with fabric softener and subsequent wear and laundry) proved sturdy enough to withstand two days of brushing against rough limestone. 

Of course, clothes made from such every-day-fabrics as these won't work well if I ever get into serious alpine climbing but for outings like this one, they're absolutely fine. In fact, I am thinking about making one more of each before my summer holiday...

Sportswear plans

Remember this top I made? 

Seen here fairly recently, when I went bouldering with my cousin and my brother. 
By the way, my cousin, the smallest gentleman in this picture, is still the only person who ever made a remark about the arrow on my back without me pointing it out...
I still like and wear it and the other tops I have made. After I started making my own, I just got too fed up with the way RTW tops creep up over hips to go back. I also still wear the just-over-the-knee trousers I made for climbing and, if it is not too warm for that, the cardigans.

But time has passed and life is not so kind to sportswear.

This is what that top, the most recent one I made, looks like now. 

I don't think the fabric is of poor quality or anything like that. What you see is just the natural result of certain types of climbing. Specifically, of climbing balance-y routes on vertical or less-than-vertical walls. If you are in the kind of route where you have to inch your way forward between very bad handholds (or even without handholds) you have to lean towards the wall to maintain your balance. Often, when doing that, even a flat-chested girl like me can hear the fabric of her top snag on the rough surface of the wall (and I have it on good authority that the guys aren't free of this either). 
This happens to all my climbing tops. 
And both pairs of me-made trousers have developed a hole at a knee. At different places on different knees, to be precise. If both had holes in exactly the same place, I should re-evaluate my climbing style...

In short, I could do with adding some more sports clothes. I'd like one or two crop tops (which I would only use for bouldering in warm weather), two or more normal tops (in which case it would be nice to try a new pattern) and two more pairs of trousers. 
For now, I am planning on using the fabrics in my stash although I have to say I am starting to think about real performance fabrics...
I think I will start with tops. So many types of lycra to choose from! For trousers, I am not so sure. I have no complaints about the fabric of the old pairs (other than that it developed holes before the stretch woven of my my RTW trousers did) but it is dark brown...  I'm still not drawn towards leggings though!

Oh, and I am thinking about making a bag for my climbing stuff. At the moment, we are still using an old sportsbag but that thing has clearly seen better days. These things are usually made from plastic-backed nylon and I can see the reason for that. And I just happen to have held on to an off-cut from the black-out curtain in our bedroom... The material seems very similar...

As usual, it is a case of "so many plans, so little time".  

Sportswear in action

I don't have time for a proper blog post about my new dress tonight (although I did take pictures this morning) but I thought this might not be completely off-topic.
Today, E and I took my brother J and my cousin D bouldering. We took some pictures just because it was fun. 

And that allows me to show you my my-made sportswear used in real action (instead of the pictures in which I pretended to be bouldering which I have used before). I have this one picture in which you can see that arrow design on my back really well and one which I just thought showed me doing some proper bouldering ;) 

More sporty stuff

This little jacket has been finished for the better part of a week but I was hoping for an opportunity to take some nice pictures. Which I didn't get...

Of course, I already have two of those but the first one, in blue cotton sweat shirting has stretched and shrunk out of shape quite a bit after repeated wear and washing. The other one is just a bit too warm for most of the places I go to for climbing. 

In this case, I decided not to go for the same pattern all over again. 
The old one had open pockets and turned out just a tiny bit short. So, this one has zippered pockets and is longer. It also has raglan sleeves.

The fabric is a peculiar, fairly heavy, mystery fibre knit which really looked like sportswear material. I found it on sale (only in this colour) and liked the stripes. It is almost like a panel print: there are about 70 cm of burgundy red between each set of stripes. I used sportswear lining for the insides of the pockets and finished all the edges with fold-over elastic. 

I am particularly proud of the way that worked for the main zipper. This is the inside of the jacket where all the stitching is on the black elastic, making it look very clean. 

For the pockets, I basically made in-seam pockets and sewed on the zippers over the openings. 

I am surprised at the retro-y look of the jacket. I wasn't particularly going for that but I like it. I'll have to wear it out to the climbing hall a couple of times to be able to tell you how well it does the job it was made for. 

Another climbing top!

Ok, I really hope I am not boring you with these. This top was actually made from the very same pattern as this one (which you can see in action here) and the only reason why I am posting this is the simple fact that the combination of fabrics in this one makes the arrow design on the back more visible. 
One day, I should go climbing with a third person so I can get some pictures of me climbing high walls wearing this (and a climbing harness)... Then we'll see if the arrow starts making sense ;)

I made this top because I really like wearing the first one. Initially I thought I didn't really need a top with a built-in sports bra but is very nice to wear, nicer than the one without. Which means that, to serve my current climbing schedule, I'll probably make another one. Although a new sporty cardigan and maybe warmer trousers will be up first.

You may notice that I am using handholds and steps in a variety of colours in these pictures... Yes, that is right. I am not climbing an actual route here. The part of the climbing hall dedicated to bouldering was very busy with lots of children so I improvised in a quiet corner. 

I think I did manage to show some moves which are belong to the repertoire of a slightly more experienced climber though...

Action pictures!

As promised, I have some action pictures of my new climbing top.

If you noticed these look different from earlier bouldering pictures, you would be right. Different venue and a different photographer. This time, my friend A was kind enough to take some pictures and we were not climbing at Klimmuur Den Haag but at bouldering hall Delfts Bleau.

In this one, you can really see that arrow on the back. 
Obviously, it would work even better if I made that in a bright colour. The silvery under-layer of the fabric in the arrow is reflective but is would really need something like flashlight to stand out. And it was just too light for that yesterday.

And I like this one because it gives some sense of the odd twists and turns you often get into when climbing. And all of them show quite a bit more upper body muscle than I thought I had...

Oh, and wearing this top yesterday also gave me the chance to try out. I'm quite happy with it. The shelf bra is comfortable, the straps are the right length and that V-front stays in place really well. 

Pattern development

Last week, I made yet another piece of sportswear. Another climbing top to be precise. 
I had hoped to illustrate it with some nice action pictures (like last time) but we had a change of plans today so we didn't go to the climbing hall after all. Hopefully, I'll get another chance in the coming week. 

I have written about the issues of Y-back sports tops and climbing (and other sports which lead to muscle development in the upper body) before so it will come as no surprise that I decided to stick with a design with shoulder straps (even though I should really order some bra sliders to make those straps actually adjustable). Those give more freedom of movement and are easier to change if I need more length at the shoulder in a few months.
This type of design would probably not provide enough bust support for sports like running but, as a climber, I don't have to factor in repeated bouncing so it is fine. 

On the topic of bust support, I did decide to try and incorporate a shelf bra in this top. My first one. I basically just made lining pieces for the top front and back of the garment. I made those pattern pieces the same size as those for the outside but cut them entirely from the least stretchy lycra I am using for this top. At the bottom of the "bra" there is a piece of wide, soft elastic.

Other changes to the design were basically just cosmetic. Instead of the old wide scoop neck, I now made a V. Slightly lower in the middle, higher above each breast. Nicely finishing a V in materials like this is a bit tricky but I think I really like the look. 

I also really wanted to improve on that arrow shape on the back. The earlier version didn't quite work and I think it could be such a fun design feature for a climbing top. This time, I made a seam between the tip and the shaft of the arrow so those could be at a right angle, making it look more arrow-like than the curved edge top the previous top. I also make the center back section higher and introduced side back pieces so the tip of the arrow could end lower than the edge of the top. 

The other design lines were basically drawn to accommodate for those. With an added bonus: I could remove the upper side seam! Of course construction would have been easier if I had not done that and in the future, I may curve those pieces at the bottom. Sewing corners in lycra is not the best idea.  

The material I used for the shelf bra, the bust pieces and the arrow is quite interesting. It may look dark grey in these pictures but it is actually a soft black mesh over a silvery background (which you can see in the picture of the back inside). If it catches the light in a certain way, it really reflects it. The black and the brown/red are materials I used for sports tops before. 

I'm looking forward to really putting it to the test. I'm trying to develop a design which works well for me but which would also work for others. First of all for a friend I often climb with. Of course, there would always have to be changes for body shape and personal taste but if I can get a full enough understanding of all the functional details and how they relate to this sport and the kind of bodies it creates, that would be great.
On that topic, I have also been wondering about fabrics. So far, I have been using lycra-ish materials. Especially the blue and the mesh-and-silver stuff are fairly thick and really intended for sportswear rather than lingerie or swimsuits. RTW tops all seem to be made from a more beefy fabric though. A nylon-spandex blend, according to the one legible tag I found. That stuff is matte and softer to the touch. 
So far, I have just bought fabrics I came across which seemed appropriate but I may have to look up Melissa's where-to-buy list for sportswear fabrics. 

Climb on, climb up!

With this top, I really wanted to wait with blogging about it until I had a proper picture...

Unfortunately for that, we were focussing more on bouldering than on taking pictures yesterday (I had a lot of fun doing that though). This picture shows my me-made sports clothes in action but it was taken in the corner of the climbing hall where the light is worst and we didn't take pictures anywhere else.

Last week, I started by making a plain and simple top with the back design I talked about before: Bra-style adjustable straps instead of the usual Y-back. I used fold-over elastic for the top edges and bra-straps, rings and washers for the straps. It fit properly but was a bit plain and, to make it possible to wear it without a sports bra, it would be nice to line the bust part. 

So, I sketched some colour block options and decided it would be great to make a climbing top with an arrow pointing up on the back panel. I kind of adjusted the rest of the design to that. 
The blue-ish material is a fairly plush sportswear material, the burgundy red is a fairly beefy lycra. Because the blue stuff is a bit thicker, I decided it might be fine in a single layer, even at the bust (although with a design like this, I could line it or even include bits of lingerie foam sewn to the lining). 

For the binding, I used strips of the red fabric. I cut them 10% shorter than the length they had to fit and serged them on, stretching to fit. Then I turned the strips over to the inside, zigzagged through all the layers and then trimmed away the excess fabric. 
I didn't have any matching lingerie elastic so I just made the straps from tubes of fabric. They are a bit softer than elastic straps and I just made them to fit. If I need longer straps in a couple of months, I'll just have to change them out for new ones. 

Based on my thorough testing so far, I have to say this top works well. It neither sags down nor creeps up and the materials are actually more comfortable than I had expected. I might try and make the arrow design a bit more obvious next time though, it doesn't really show the way it is now. 
There is more to try out, but this is a good start. 

Top issues

At the moment, I'm sort of trying to re-invent my sports-top. 
For indoor climbing, you don't really need special clothes. And you see climbers wear lots of different things, usually at some point between normal casual clothes, sportswear and outdoor stuff. I'm usually at the sportswear end of the spectrum (preferably no leggings though). 
So far, I have made two pairs of trousers for climbing and two cardigan/jacket-things. With those, I normally wear a normal vest top over a sports bra. However, those tops are fairly old and they are getting worn out and with those (RTW) sports bras, I have begun to notice something. Something which makes me re-think what I will make as sporty tops in the future

You see, as a climber, you develop the muscles in your upper body (and legs and core, but those are less relevant for this) and more so at the back than at the front. And stronger muscles get bulkier.
I can already notice that my sports bras have started pulling just a bit at center back. On a much more experienced and much stronger climbing friend, that pulling is so bad it is actually painful.
And it is really hard to find tops which won't have that effect.

The reason is simple:

This is the generic shape of a sport top (and most sport bras), both in ready-to-wear and in sewing patterns. You sometimes so some design changes but most of those are not actually functional. As far as fit and function are concerned, they stay true to the racerback shape. That shape allows for great freedom of movement, it makes it impossible for the shoulder-straps to slide off and it also does a great job at holding the garment close to the body so it can support the wearer's bust. All good things but to do that, it has one shape and one size. If the wearer does a sport which develops the muscles at the back and shoulders, that trusty top doesn't fit so well anymore. 
By the way, I would be interested to know if this is an issue which is specific to those of us who are climbing and bouldering, or whether it happens to everyone who does any sport which causes muscle development in the upper body. 

The first possible fix I am working on now is this:

I will basically replace the cut-and-sew racerback with bra-style straps which can be adjusted with sliders. The set-up is very similar to what I use for my racerback bras (which are still very comfortable). A shape like this might offer less bust support but, with my cup size, I'm not really worried about that. 

Another option might be to go with the same shape you often see for normal vest tops (like the ones I have been climbing in so far).

Those straps sit a bit further away from the neck and most of the material across the back is just stretchy fabric, not the more solid elasticated edges. I'll have to try it out but based on my (rather limited) experience so far, it might work. 

I am already working on the first top and I plan to try it out this week. I'll make sure to report back about it here ;)

Sewing sporty stuff... again

I had planned to show you a whole outfit today. Sportswear, that is. 
However, I didn't quite manage it. 
Yesterday I was working on the last and most simple piece, a top. I thought I could finish the top with lingerie elastic but the neckline was a bit on the deep side already. Perfectly fine as it was but too deep when folded back another centimeter. The obvious solution was fold-over elastic but I didn't have enough of it for the top. I'll buy more tomorrow to finish it.

I did make another, warmer, version of this sporty cardigan. The first one was made from thin sweatshirt fabric. It is nice and comfortable and I wear it a lot before and after climbing. Now, with autumn on the way, I thought I could use a warmer option. 
This one is made from a thicker knit, a mixture of wool and synthetic fibers. The fabric is not very nice to the skin and I recently found some material on sale which was kind of like the lining material of some sports clothes. 

So, I lined it. It is nicely warm and snug.

I also made a pair of trousers to climb in. So far, I have only worn RTW sports trousers but why not make my own? I know I prefer slightly loose fitting trousers over leggings and I like a length to just below the knee (far enough below the knee so the legs don't ride up when I bend my knees). 

My RTW trousers have a similar waistband: Soft wide elastic encased in fabric, with a drawstring. They also have pockets but those are useless for climbing and can be annoying because the pocket bags get pulled out with some movements.   

To hopefully get the right fit over the knee, I added knee darts at the front leg and elastic in the hemline (this is a picture of the inside where you can see the darts more easily). 
The fabric I used is a dark brown pique knit (the same stuff which is used for polo shirts). A stretchy but stable cotton fabric.  

Today, I put the trousers to the test. Because the person taking the pictures is also the person belaying when I climb high walls, I only have a picture of me bouldering in them. So, you'll just have to believe me when I tell you the trousers also performed well under a climbing harness. 
Before I started climbing, I wondered whether the legs were just a bit too short but they were not. In fact, the trousers were very comfortable. I may just have to make a few more pairs.

Sporty stuff - finished

This is the finished article! 

It's blue, it has a metal zipper with silver coloured teeth and red zipper tape, kangaroo pockets and the type of collar you make from just a rectangular piece of fabric (it's not a hoody. Hoods can look very nice but between my glasses and my long hair, they've never been very practical for me). And it doesn't have topstitching. I love to be able to avoid topstitching...

I drafted it based on my normal knit sloper (not a negative ease one).

This is how I was planning to wear it: With my climbing stuff. You know I don't wear leggings in normal life ;)

I think it really looks the part.

In fact, I liked the look of this jacket/sweater thing so much, I couldn't resist trying it with something a lot less sporty:

I'll tell you more about the skirt tomorrow but I actually rather like the look of the sweater with a great big skirt kicking out from under it...

P.S. If the climbing hall in yesterday's pictures looked impressive, bear in mind what I wrote about there being no real rocks to climb in this country. Here, climbing halls are not just a bad weather refuge and a place to get started if you're a real novice. They are the places where most enthousiasts do most of their climbing so they have to be high and elaborate to accommodate that.