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Activewear Secondary left navigation Search Secondary right navigation FehrTrade FehrTrade Sew Your Own Activewear Primary Menu Shop Tops Leggings & Shorts Menswear Accessories Book Book blog posts Buy – UK Buy – USA Buy – DE Activewear Sewing for Beginners eBook Pinterest makes Activewear Fabric Suppliers Cycling Sewing Suppliers Inspiration Gallery In Progress Magazines Inspiration About Press Search Blog 9 May, 2024 Gallery Black linen Bob trousers & a slate blue Versatili-Tee I’m still not sure whether I actually like this design of trousers or not, but my previous StyleArc Bobs are one of like three non-legging bottoms that still fit and aren’t uncomfortable, so making another pair was a necessity sew . My waist is 20cm larger due to being mostly stuck in bed for the past 8 months , but I hope to not be like this indefinitely. As a result, I don’t want to sew much for this body. I’m kinda thinking of this as a loaner body” while my real body is in the shop getting fixed, so I’m basically sewing the bare minimum that I need, unless it’s something that will also fit my real body later (like teeshirts and the cropped Hamilton jacket I’m working on). 25 March, 2024 Gallery A Birthday Cat Saraste Top It’s my 45th birthday today!! It’s not been a great year, tbh, with a truly horrific last 6 months, but to quote my friend Louis de Pointe du Lac , A shit life beats no life.” And maybe this birthday will mark the start of a fresh new year, eh? If you’re a long-term reader, you’ll know that I always like to sew myself something special for my birthday. With gaining so much weight from Long Covid, I wanted to sew something that would fit me now and still fit me when I go back to my usual body size. The Named Saraste Top from their Breaking the Pattern” book is one of my favourite ever patterns, so it was a natural choice. There’s mix and match pieces here that allow you to make a dress, shirt, or top with varying pieces. Here I used the body of the Top minus the ruffles, with the collar from the Shirt & Dress, and short sleeves from the Solina pattern. 22 March, 2024 Gallery A celestial Gina tee I own the very first Fibre Mood magazine but for some reason I’ve never made any of their patterns before. But when I saw this latest issue I bought it immediately and as soon as I got home from Cornwall I traced off four patterns from it – I want it all!! I even splurged on the viscose/wool jersey shown on the cover !! To ease myself in to a new pattern brand, I thought I’d start with one of the tees. You can either buy the whole Fibre Mood 03/24 magazine like I did (and trace off the patterns from the sheets), or you can buy any of the patterns individually as pdfs, too. I’m going to make the other tee for comparisons’ sake (also against a recent Burda mag tee), but I started with the Gina tee . It’s a boxy tee with slight, cut-on sleeves and cuffs and a wider than usual neckband. 20 March, 2024 Gallery Midnight blue Moji trousers Sometimes my sewing starts with a fabric. Other times it starts with a specific pattern. But this time it started with a wardrobe need – after 6 months of Long Covid spent almost entirely in bed, I have very few trousers that still fit me and I desperately needed more. Since the Seamwork Moji trousers I made back in 2020 are one of the few that do still fit, I pulled that out again to make another pair rather than have to print, adjust, and tweak a whole new size or pattern. When I I originally made this pattern I made heavy modifications to this pattern, so definitely read that post if you like this style because there’s easier shortcuts available now! The only thing I don’t like about the previous pair is that the CB rise is still far to low and they give me plumber butt” that I’m constantly hoiking up. So before I cut these out I added 7cm to the CB to stop the plumber butt”, and also added 3cm length to the hem. 14 March, 2024 Gallery Holiday lingerie sewing We recently spent a week down in our favourite corner of Cornwall, but instead of staying with friends, we ended up renting a house for the week. J worked at a local coworking centre for a few days ( The Workshed in Liskeard – highly recommend! Friendly, great space, super affordable, and extremely safe air quality!), but as I’m still on sick leave with Long Covid, I’d be alone in the house for three days. For some this might seem boring but to be honest I was really looking forward to the quiet, and it gave me an opportunity to bring my JL Mini (which John Lewis no longer makes! Boo!) travel sewing machine along and do some sewing while I was there. 11 March, 2024 Gallery Wrap trouser FAIL Yes, you may have judged from the title that this post does not have a happy ending, but I think it’s important to post about my fails – almost as important as posting about my successes. It’s been a while since I’ve had a project go straight into the donation pile without even hitting my wardrobe first, but it happens occasionally! This started because I have gained a ton of weight over the past 6 months I’ve been suffering from Long Covid . Not only have I not been able to exercise, I’ve barely been able to sit up or walk 5min for most of this time, so my waist in particular has ballooned up by several sizes. As a result, very few of my trousers still fit me, so I desperately needed to sew some more. And rather than sew some to a new, much bigger size which I don’t intend to stay in for long, I thought I’d try a pair of wrap trousers since they could adjust more easily with a changing waistline. 22 February, 2024 Gallery A grey ribbed jumper I was thrilled when The Fold Line included a free download of Paper Theory’s LB Pullover pattern in their advent promotion last year. I’ve made their Zadie jumpsuit ( twice! ) and their Block Tee (formerly Kabuki Tee”) as well and worn them loads. I’ve heard great things about the LB Pullover, too, but I balk at spending £11 for a really basic pdf pattern. I will happily admit that I was wrong though – this pattern is well worth the full price, even with its oversized shape and simple lines. It’s easy to mess up the proportions of something so simple, but this is expertly drafted. 13 February, 2024 Gallery A mauve waffle Gemma Sweater I’ve had some lovely waffle jerseys from Raystitch in my stash for quite a while now, both in […] 2 February, 2024 Gallery A Burda knit top with Old Hollywood glamour It doesn’t happen very often that I see a design inside a Burda magazine and I instantly have to make it. But when I saw this asymmetric, high necked, surplice jersey top in the January 2024 issue, I just had to make it! This pattern comes in two versions – I actually made no105, the top version. For some reason it’s not available to buy as a pdf but 104, the dress version, is . They’re basically the same and you’ll just follow the shorten lines for the top if you buy the dress. 25 January, 2024 Gallery A gold ribbed polo neck sweater Sometimes my garments start with a pattern, and I buy the fabric afterwards for it. Other times, I think up an item I want to sew and find the pattern and fabric to match it. And sometimes I start with a fabric, and think about how I’d most like to wear it and find a pattern from there. This top is one of the latter. I bought the Old Gold” ribbed jersey from Like Sew Amazing (£19.50/m) and I originally thought I’d make a sleeveless tank with a high collar, but when it arrived it was SO SOFT and I knew it should instead be a polo neck (turtleneck) sweater instead. Posts navigation Older posts About Me Melissa Fehr Fehr Trade was founded in 2005 by Melissa Fehr, but she’s been sewing in every scrap of spare time since 2001, also taking up running at about the same time. In 2013 both interests collided when Melissa released her first digital sewing patterns for activewear, and she hasn’t stopped moving or sewing since! So far she’s run five full marathons in her own-sewn gear, and also enjoys cycling and bouldering whenever...