My favorite sewing patterns for athleisure capsule wardrobe to sew yourself.
These are all easy, approachable garments with chic athleisure style. They’re much more than just simple leggings, tees and joggers. I have selected items that are upscale stylish so you can really wear them studio-to-street or track-to-town.
Top/tee. I like a couple of top/tees for athleisure. Sew these in your favorite lycra/cotton or bamboo/lycra: The Shirt Tail Tee has fun color blocking options built in (complete with stripe guidelines for cutting). It’s a cut-on cap sleeve with a wider scoop neck. I also like (similar cut on cap sleeve, but with long sleeve, turtleneck, tunic and dress lengths) Three Tees. Note, there’s a digital download PLUS size version of Three Tees that goes up to 4X
Sports top / cami / cropped tank – I love this FREE sports top/tank from Helen’s Closet called the Luna Tank. It’s swingy and cute – a great transition to summer, or for your indoor workouts over a sports bra. It’s not for yoga, for that, you might want to use this FREE one from Mood Fabrics. The Mood tank top goes up to a size 32.
Speaking of Mood, they have a whole line of athleisure sewing patterns for free here.
And Christine Jonson, the queen of stylish knitwear that’s easy to sew (she’s been designing for it since the 1990s), has a whole plus line that is stylish athleisure.
Legging – Leggings patterns abound. Try these options: https://www.sewdaily.com/product/loveland-leggings-sewing-pattern-download/ Basic leggings you can customize. Mood has some free ones (see above) and there are even lots of self drafted instructions – you need only a French curve, a straight ruler, a tape measure and some paper.
Jalie Cora leggings with all the pockets panels and details
Wide leg pull on knit pant : Hands on, my favorite is the Christine Jonson Perfect Pant Wide Leg in ponte knit. This has front and back seaming, inset pockets, a yoga waistband that you can fold over, and NO elastic – the negative ease and 4-way stretch fabric holds itself up!
I also love the Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Princess Seamed Trackpant for a slouchy wide trackpant.
Jogger – I love the Hot Patterns Tailored Trackpant – it has turn up cuffs so you can totally sew these in ponte knit and get away with them for a meeting or dressier function. But you can also put elastic in the cuffs or even add a banded cuff for a classic jogger look.
Sweatshirt – I love the Mile End sweatshirts from Closet Core – these unique paneled sweatshirts have several different options including hoodie, banded hem and gathered banded hem. Not your basic sweatshirt here, they are fun to sew and wear.
Turtleneck or mock neck– A great slim fit turtleneck is the Nikko from True Bias. Sew this in athletic wicking knit for a great base layer cold weather run or XC ski shirt, or a bamboo lycra knit for everyday wear.
Warm pullover in fleece – The wider mock neckline and interesting inset pockets of the Naughty Bobbins La Megeve top is wonderful to wear. I’ve sewn these in fluffy fleece and it’s ah-mazing. The pattern comes with stirrup pants (you can omit the stirrups for a lovely skinny pant.) This has pretty generous sizing, I made a L and I can wear it over a slim fit turtleneck as a second layer. Go down for a slimmer fit top.
Vest: I like an interesting vest, here’s a free no-sew Fleece one. And here’s another no-sew fleece one. These aren’t your typical zip up vests, but patterns abound for those if you’d prefer that, including vintage 1990s zip up quilted ones that are super popular right now.
Athleisure poncho – I love a poncho for Athleisure. I recommend two: The HotPatterns Glamour Poncho with stand collar and wide foldover placket or the JetSetter Poncho. Both are stylish in fleece or sweatshirt fleece and look fabulous over joggers and leggings.
And over leggings with sneakers or ankle booties, I love a slim knit skirt, try Base Wear Two from Christine Jonson Patterns or go a little edgier with this ruched version. Worn with a fleece pullover and vest, with running shoes, the skirt adds some fun to basic leggings and keeps you warmer. You can crop any knit skirt to mini skirt length for a great over-the-leggings cold weather running skirt or XC skiing skirt.
This Athleisure capsule is perfect for weekends, for a casual lifestyle like semi/retired or stay at home mom. It’s more than basic leggings and a tee shirt – each of these pieces has an elevated style that looks great and feels even better. Wear these with your favorite ankle booties, puffer booties, Uggs, or running shoes.
Color palettes for your athleisure capsule:
Soft neutrals in gray, cream, camel, slate blue and blush.
Black, white, fuscia, and slate blue offer a punch of color. If fuscia isn’t your color, try teal or warm golden yellow.
Classic navy, red, cream, white, stripes
Cool blues: my capsule in the video is in navy, slate, aqua, cream and gray