Whenever I see a solid cotton fabric it looks like a blank canvas inviting me to decorate it. I got a pair of gray leggings and decided they needed a little upgrade so I completed these poolside while my son was taking swim lessons. It is a short, portable and fun little summer project which is all I seem to have time for these days.

I brought my needle, scissors and thread in an altoid tin with magnets glued inside to hold the needles and scissors. I just placed everything in my lap and jumped right in.

Before I got started, I ironed some lightweight interfacing on the inside cuff of the pants where I would be stitching. I forgot to take a pic before I got started so here it is with all the stitching. I highly recommend you add the interfacing! It really added some much needed stability to the knit fabric. Knits tend to be loose and floppy and it is easy to pull the stitches too tight and cinch the fabric. The stabilizer really helped! I tried it with out and it was clumsy and difficult.

Pellon PLF36 Ultra Lightweight Fusible Interfacing, White, 15" x 3 Yards

Pellon

Above is what I like to use. You simply iron it onto the back of the fabric you will be sewing on. There is a bumpy, textured side which is the glue. That is the side to face towards the fabric. Iron on the front of the fabric with the interfacing underneath to adhere.

I made a really simple design using FRENCH KNOTS, LAZY DAISY STITCHES, and STRAIGHT STITCHES. I tried to imitate the design from the first cuff onto the second cuff. They don’t need to be perfect, just similar enough to kind of match. If you would like to learn any of the stitches above just click on the name to link to the blog post tutorial of that stitch.

You could keep it really simple like the design above or you could keep adding to your design.