Agility Tank Sports Bras

Since I'm not a terribly prolific sewist, I tend to shy away from combining multiple garments in one blog post. In this case, they were such quick sews that I'm alright with putting them together. I bought the agility tank pattern over a year ago because as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I haven't gotten around to making it because I was nervous, and I own a lot of sports bras so I wasn't in a hurry to get new ones. Recently I increased my level of activity by starting boxing, and so I use more athletic wear in a week and have an excuse to give the pattern a try.

This pattern was much easier than I thought it would be. Once I get around to creating it with an attached tank top I might change my mind, but just making the sports bra was really fast. I don't need a huge amount of support, so I just line them with a different knit fabric. I also like them to finish near the bottom of my ribcage, so they are a bit more longline than the pattern calls for. I opted to make one of each of the variations - a strappy back and t-back. I think I like the look of the strappy back better, and that is what I will make more of.

First I made the sea-foam green strappy back bra. One of the reasons that I finally made this is because 5 out of 4 patterns was having a contest that I wanted to enter. Those who follow me on Instagram might remember I posted a picture of this bra next to a picture I found on Pinterest, where I also tried to copy the pose. I didn't win the cover-stitch machine, but I did get a free pattern out of it! I think I'm going to get the riptide shorties so I can make a bathing suit bottom that actually covers my bottom.

My most amusing mistake with this bra was I started it with some elastic that I had kicking around without really checking the size of it. I ran out of the elastic halfway through, and ran out to pick up some more according to the pattern specifications. When I continued the work, I realized that the elastic that I started with was smaller than the elastic I bought, and this you can see that one set of straps is thinner than the other. Not a big deal, but kind of funny. I lined this one with a bathing suit lining fabric.

I decided I also wanted to create a galaxy print sports bra, mostly because I had the fabric already, and it wasn't really enough to make much else. Luckily I had enough to make almost 2 full sports bras, because I royally messed up my first try on this one, despite having already made one. I barely glanced at the instructions because I had very recently finished my first one, so I totally forgot to pre-stretch the elastic for the neckband. Turns out that is an important step, because it turned out awful. I re-cut both the front and back pieces in the main and lining fabric and started over and totally omitted the elastic this time (it was optional). From then on it was smooth sailing. I used the leftover main fabric from the first sports bra to make the lining of this one, and it is great against my skin.

I like this pattern, especially as a base. I might be making modifications in the future based on more inspiration. I didn't bother with cups for these ones, but I might in the future. This is also a maternity/nursing-friendly pattern, which will likely come in handy in a few years.

Details

Pattern: 5 out of 4 Agility Tank
Material: More scuba knit and some bathing suit knit from a random kijiji lady
Modifications: Kept some of the length I was supposed to cut off to make it more longline
Learning: Pre-stretching elastic is an important step!