​I’m a selfish sewer.
 
There—I said it. I prefer to sew for myself as a hobby and for self-care. The process of taking something from raw material to final product is cathartic for me and helps me manage stress.
 
The effect of this craft therapy is that my husband has to live through an apartment covered in fabric scraps and an ever-growing hoard of fabric with little to no tangible benefit. Sure, he gets the residual effects of me being in a better mood, but he doesn’t get cool new clothes like I do.
 
Until now.
 
Greenstyle Creations just released a new men’s short pattern called the Motion Shorts. The overall design is similar to that of lululemon’s Pace Breaker Shorts, with a 5, 7, and 9-inch inseam, optional liner, and pieces that allow for color-blocking, if you are so inclined.
 
So how did it sew?

 Like most Greenstyle patterns, the Motion Shorts pattern is structurally sound, easy to follow, and requires little to no work when it comes to printing and laying out the pattern and fabric. If you print at home, there are no-trim pages. If printing at home isn’t your thing, you can also access print-shop and projector files with your purchase.

​I’m not going to lie, I messed up at a few steps during the construction of these shorts and had to become best friends with my seam ripper. While the directions aren’t too hard, you’ll definitely want to read through the pocket steps a few times before sewing so you don’t miss crucial steps.
 
My Motion Shorts turned out okay, but it took a lot of seam ripping and curse words to get to that point.
 
Other than the pockets, these shorts are an easy, quick sew. I used a serger and a home machine—I don’t have a cover stitch and was fine.

I love working out. I became a 6AM workout person a few months ago, and honestly it's been life-changing. What I don't love is constantly running out of clean sports bras and discovering that fact at 5:30 in the morning.

I've been sewing for a while, but I've been struggling to find a sports bra pattern that meets my very specific criteria:

• Easy to sew. (Sorry Endurance bra, but I just don't do zippers.)
• Supportive. My girls aren't big, but I do HIIT and they will bounce around.
• Scrapbusting. I sew a lot of workout pants and have a lot of athletic scraps that I want to use.

Enter: The new Greenstyle Creations Power Sports Bra. Let me walk you through the qualifications, and how well it meets them.

Easy to sew: From printing the pattern to finishing the sew, this bra took me about three hours, and about 30 minutes of that was spent trying to find my clear elastic.
Supportive: I wore my bra to one of my HIIT circuit classes this week. Other my workout partner asking if Darth Vader was on my sports bra, I didn't notice it at all. I felt comfortable and supportive, even while doing burpees.
Scrapbusting: ​This entire bra was made from scraps from a pair of Greenstyle Inspire Tights. So, basically, I got a bra and a pair of tights with a yard and a half of fabric. You really can't beat that.

Want to get the pattern for yourself? Get it here. 

This blog post is chock full of affiliate links. So, if you click on one, I'll get a fee from Greenstyle Creations, that I will honestly use to buy more fabric and patterns.

It's been a while since I've written. I'll eventually share more about what's been going on, but for now, I want to talk a bit about the new Solo tank that I just tested for Greenstyle Creations.
If you've read any of my other posts, you probably have noticed that I love Greenstyle. I work out a lot, and because I'm not a small woman, it can be very hard for me to find ready-to-wear workout clothes or sewing patterns that fit well. Greenstyle is one of the few pattern companies I trust to consistently take the time to make clothing that fits body types like mine. I haven't been doing much testing due to my sewing hiatus, but I will always, always test for Greenstyle when I'm chosen to do so.
Enough about my love for Greenstyle. Here's the important info about the Tank:

It goes up to size 3XL, which is what I tested. (But I think I'm ready to drop to 2X!) The front of the tank is a similar silhouette to most workout tops, and a bit looser than Greenstyle's Lille Racerback. The good news? This tank is long, long enough for me to not have to do any adjustments, and I'm 5'10"!

The true beauty of this tank, though, is the back. It's low enough that you get more skin free, but not so low as to be uncomfortable or indecent. I haven't done any burpees in this yet (the post-workout glow in my photos is courtesy of a workout at McAlister Training, but I didn't want to get the tank dirty before photo time, so I just swapped gear after class), but I can imagine it'd be a dream for high-rep workouts when you're dripping sweat and regretting most of your life choices.
You can get your own copy of the Solo Tank here (Affiliate Link).

This top is a one yard wonder.
Yes.
Seriously.
I got a size 3XL out of one yard of the Fabric, which means that this is a great stash buster, or way to use up those pretty custom fabric that you bought without a project in mind. *cough cough*