26 replies to this topic

[Marjolein]

Have any of you ever made your own dancewear? I'm knitting a pair of legwarmers at the moment, and I'm planning to sew a wrap sweater and a shrug. I think it's fun to do and a lot cheaper than buying stuff.

[Balletlove]

Good for you Marjolein!

I make most of my skirts myself (I have quite a few...I think I have about 20 or so) and I have made a leotard.

Relatively speaking wool is quite expensive to buy where I live (it is all imported) and thus it is much cheaper to just buy a sweater and legwarmers hence I don't even go down that route.

The parts that I like about making my own is the ability to have quite a few more than if I was buying them, get something unique and get it to fit perfectly.

[wembley]

I've knitted legwarmers (a lovely toasty warm alpaca/wool mix), made several wrap skirts, made a wrap around top, and used to make my own leotards. I stopped making leotards because it was so hard to get a flattering leg line on me- at least with commercial meotards I can try them on and see the leg line. I don't sew much now, mostly because of a lack of time.

[LaFilleSylphide]

I cut up tights to make shorts, shrugs, tops, leggings, headbands, and bandeau bras... that's about the extent of it for me. I tried to knit, but for some reason, I can't get past 4 inches of length before I lose patience. It take me forever to even get that much, quite honestly. I want to knit my own leg warmers so bad!

[Marjolein]

I must admit that knitting the legwarmers is taking a long time, but I'm nearly there! It's a thin yarn and I'm knitting on dpn's which is making it quite slow. But they'll be finished by the time it gets cold enough to really need them.

[missvjc420]

I loom knit leg warmers, I have a red pair and one half of a baby blue pair so far. I have chiffon and grosgrain for skirts, but am waiting for a proper cutting table to work with such a slippery fabric. I have plans to use my looms for sweater parts this winter. Crafting and sewing are two of my hobbies.

[gimpydancer]

There's probably a thread on this somewhere, but I'd love to have a shrug for the winter as our studios aren't too cold but it would be nice just for the beginning of class before I'm warm.

I could probably buy one much easier (and cheaper) but it might be fun (?) to knit one. Is this something that would be difficult for a beginner? I crocheted a few years ago and have attempted some knitting but being very practical I need the motivation of something I might actually need and use

If it is reasonable for a beginner to attempt, any suggestions as to patterns, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

[appleblossom]

I make skirts. and have made warm up tights. about to venture into the world of leotards - i have the block patterns but havent had the time to put them together.

[balletbroke]

Hi there

Anyone know of any online patterns? Or even simple commercial patterns?


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[missvjc420]

Kwik Sew & Butterick make leotard and unitard patterns for adults and children.

[ballet valet]

I loom knit leg warmers, I have a red pair and one half of a baby blue pair so far. I have chiffon and grosgrain for skirts, but am waiting for a proper cutting table to work with such a slippery fabric. I have plans to use my looms for sweater parts this winter. Crafting and sewing are two of my hobbies.

I read somewhere to use spray starch on chiffon or other slippery fabrics. The stiffer fabric
will be much easier to cut and sew and will wash out when you are done. Worth a try!

[Balletlove]

There's probably a thread on this somewhere, but I'd love to have a shrug for the winter as our studios aren't too cold but it would be nice just for the beginning of class before I'm warm.

I could probably buy one much easier (and cheaper) but it might be fun (?) to knit one. Is this something that would be difficult for a beginner? I crocheted a few years ago and have attempted some knitting but being very practical I need the motivation of something I might actually need and use

If it is reasonable for a beginner to attempt, any suggestions as to patterns, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Gimpy

Provided you know how to cast on, cast off, knit and purl, I would think that it would be fairly easy to knit... depending of course on exactly what you mean by a shrug, sorry but we seem to call things by different names to what they are called overseas and even between America and Europe it seems to be so different ... if you are meaning something that looks a bit like two sleeves with a bit across the back which is what we call a shrug I think it wouldnt be too difficult although depending on the wool you choose it may take quite a while...

If you want to PM me with what you have in mind to use for wool and whether we are talking about the same thing, I am sure that I could work out a pattern for you... you got me thinking with the crocheting (my new discovery and latest hooby) I think I might like to crochet one although as we are heading into summer down here I know that there is no way that I am going to motivate myself to start that now.

[Balletlove]

I loom knit leg warmers, I have a red pair and one half of a baby blue pair so far. I have chiffon and grosgrain for skirts, but am waiting for a proper cutting table to work with such a slippery fabric. I have plans to use my looms for sweater parts this winter. Crafting and sewing are two of my hobbies.

I used to find the hardest part of sewing a skirt was cutting it out... the more perfect it is when you cut it out the easier it is to sew (I dont have an overlocker, so I use the rolled seam foot on my sewing machine to do the hem... it works veyr well particularly for short skirts where you dont really want the "frilly" look that you get when you pull the fabric while overlocking it)... what I found that works very well is to very carefully fold the fabric and pin it to the pattern with only just enough pins to hold the pattern in place... then use a cutting board (like the ones everyone uses for scrapbooking) and a rotary cutting blade (looks like a little tiny wheel attached to a yellow plastic handle which you just roll around the edge of the pattern).

[LaFilleSylphide]

Maybe one of you can help me. I've heard that those high-cut SAB skirts are super easy to make, and there are a few threads discussing them. However, I must be slow because I still just don't get it. I've even heard someone say, "Draw a pattern like a toilet seat". Doesn't help at all. Can Anyone tell me how to make this skirt? Email me a pattern with notes on how to get the waist to fit correctly? It must be relatively simple since young girls who can barely sew are making their own all the time. I mean.. it's a slip on skirt, how in the world does one estimate what shape and size the hole in the center's going to be.

[gimpydancer]

Thanks Balletlove for your response. I think I might be better off buying one I vaguely remember something about casting on and off...

Let me know if you do crochet a shrug (yep, sounds like we're talking about the same thing!), for some reason crocheting seems easier to me than knitting. I might attempt it NEXT winter