Leather Leggings

I made some leather pants/leggings but I have to say, they are not real leather. I am really big on animal cruelty free. I see people walking the street in leather and I think, "if they can do it why can't I". So I headed into Cleggs in Melbourne and found myself some good look faux leather! The girls are so helpful, they helped me find a beautiful fabric called Rebel Leather Look Vinyl. Oh if only you could see the texture and feel it. It's 57% polyester and 43% polyurethane. The right side looks like soft animal hide leather but the inside feels soft and gentle. It does not have a plastic look or feel and it has a small amount of give in it (bonus).

I used McCalls pattern 4444. There was a write up on it in threads over 12 months ago.They claimed it was the best leggings pattern ever. So I had to buy it back then and it has sat in my pattern basket ever since! 

There are 4 different styles of leggings which gives great variety, and I chose to make view D as I had seen leggings like this with the leather sides at numerous retail outlets. 

They where extremely easy to make and only took about 4 hours including the alterations for my large hips. I am wrapped with the finished product and am looking forward to making a few other things with my left over faux leather. 

What did I learn? Heaps!!

Needle; always use a leather/denim needle, size 100/16 or 90/14.

Foot; use a walking foot, roller foot or teflon foot. You need to change the foot so it feeds smoothly. Some research suggest that the leather can stick to the feet or plate. I didn't find this at all, perhaps because it had a soft wrong side. I played with some scraps for a while and then decided to cheat! I used my 4thread overlocker for everything except the top stitching. I think it worked ok. If the foot is sticking to the fabric some suggestions are baby powder on the fabric, tissue paper between the fabric and metal or sticking scotch tape onto the sticking side of the fabric. Hmm I'm not sure about the sticky residue on the fabric or on the needle! 

Machine setting; I had the stitch length at just under 3, and also had to reduce the tension until it ran smooth. 

No PINs; If you pin the leather it leaves pin holes. So I used clips. In some of the tricky spots I did pin, but I kept within my seam allowance. You could also use paper clips if desperate. 

No BooBoos; for the same reason as no pins. If you make a mistake and unpick, you will be left with perforated holes and an ugly mess. 

Stay tuned for my next faux leather attempt. Special thanks to Christeen at Sew n Sew sewing school for a lovely sewing day and assistance with the alterations. 

Ta Meagan