boxers

A Couple of Kitten Briefs

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

My son and DIL love cats. They have two, and call them my grand-kitties.

I saw this gorgeous stretch rayon fabric and knew exactly what I wanted to make for my ‘kids’.

  Isn’t that adorable for a couple of cat fans? They were both going to get undies with cats on them.

His 

For my son I used the PUG Michael pattern. It’s similar to SAXX in that it has a cup for support and comfort.

I’ve made this pattern before and my son likes them.In the past I’ve made a front opening for these briefs, but I was thinking these would be more for sleepwear than daily wear. As a result I didn’t make the front opening this time.  I think he’ll like them.

Hers 

For my DIL I used the House Morrighan Clover Boys Brief.

I really like this pattern, and sadly it’s not on Etsy anymore. None of the House Morrighan patterns are. I don’t know where they can be found now. 

Oh, both briefs are so cute. 

They were both fun to sew, and the material is cute and so soft.

I don’t have a lot of experience sewing on this type of elastic waistband, and the first time I did a few years ago, it looked terrible! This time I did much better, with just one little pucker at the back on hers.

Happy creating!

November BMS Challenge – Movember

~ Michelle

November – Movember – Once again, we welcome Movember by making some menswear. in 2018, we released a free pattern for a men’s tank top. So many women wrote to say they used that pattern for themselves! This month is about creating menswear…OR using a menswear pattern to create something for a woman. Should we release a new menswear pattern? Maybe, just maybe…

Ooh, a new pattern. I love new patterns! I haven’t heard anything more though.

For Movember,  I’m going to make my son another pair of the Michael Men’s Underwear. My son loved the last few pairs I made him. He’s also told me he wears the ones I make as often as he wears his SAXX.

I have to tell you, a couple of years ago, I bought a few yards of the thick plush elastic for the waistbands thinking I’d make him more briefs. Then my son told me he really didn’t like the elastic I used. So, scrap that idea. I put the elastic in a give-away bag.

Fast forward a bit. The Angie comes out and you can use that same lovely plush elastic on the bottom of that bra. And my son comes and tells me he really likes the elastic on the new briefs I made him. I pause and tell him he told me he didn’t like it (thinking all the while how I got rid of a few yards of it!). He says no, he didn’t like the elastic on the first couple of pairs I made him, but loves the most recent ones. Sigh.

If you look at these photos, the elastic all looks the same, but it’s not. The black & white print pair have elastic I bought at the fabric store. It’s not the same as the plush elastic I bought at BMS – so says my son.

The good news is I don’t need to buy elastic again. I bought a men’s underwear kit from BMS and it comes with this nice plush elastic. I’m all set to make him a pair for Christmas.

I’ll make him the same style as I made him last time – with the flap and the opening.Believe it or not, I couldn’t figure out how I did this. I had to sit down an re-read my old blog post. I just wasn’t getting it when I first started to sew. But once I saw what I’d done, I got it again.

Here are my son’s Michael Men’s Underwear.  They don’t fit my dress form as well as my panties, but this works better than pinning them on my dress form.

I decided to use fold-over-elastic on the opening. On the last ones I made, I simply serged the edges. I like how finished this looks.On the side view, you can see just how ill-fitting they are. There’s not as much of a difference between the waist and hips on these. And that will fit my son much better than something more curvy.And the back view.

Lastly, here’s the inside with the sling.   So these are fully equipped. They’ve got the front opening and the sling.

I recently saw a pair of his favorite brand that were sleep pants. Hmm, I think I need to take a look at a pair of those to change up my Michael pattern to make sleep pants.

Happy creating!

House Morrighan Ivy Briefs

~ Michelle

I was asked to test the Ivy Brief pattern by House Morrighan. Ivy can be a full brief, but also comes with a few other style options. For options, this has different heights, a front panel or plain front, bands or elastics for the waist and leg openings, and even a maternity height so it will fit comfortably under a pregnant tummy.

Ivy

I made Ivy briefs using a partially-completed dress. The dress’ skirt fit, but the top was too small. It had been in a do-something-with-this pile for over a year, and I finally did something. I re-purposed it. The material is a nice soft cotton Lycra.

Here are my Ivy briefs.These are a very comfortable brief. They feature either bands or elastic at the waist and leg. I’ve never used bands before on any panties I’ve made. I’ve used fold-over-elastic, and lingerie elastic. I’ve also used lace trim (my favorite), but never bands. So, I tried the bands. They are really nice. And they are very comfortable.

The pattern comes with the band pieces too. If you’re not comfortable cutting out with ruler, you don’t have to with this pattern. I really like this feature.

Here they are from the side.  These are also my first serged briefs. I usually sew my panties on my sewing machine, but as the pattern instructions say to serge or zigzag, I thought I’d try the serger for them. They come together very quickly.

Another nice tip this pattern suggests is to sew down those bands with either a twin needle or a small zigzag. I really like that tip. I don’t like when serged seams are poking up inside a garment.

Here’s the back of the brief.    Bottoms are always a little droopy on this display, but I’m glad I can display bottoms now.

The back does have a center seam, but it’s not noticeable at all when they’re being worn. When you look at the pattern, you’ll see that back seam is curved as well, to fit even better.

Smaller Sizes

I tested Ivy for me and then, because it’s such a quick sew, I offered to test it in the smaller sizes. Again, Em was the smallest size they have, and she fit perfectly into the one size this time.

I had just enough cotton Lycra leftover from when I made an Agnes dress to make these.For Em’s briefs, I decided to try the elastic waist and leg option. Just to see how the pattern worked that way.

I think it worked quite well. And I know what size my display is now! These are fitting it perfectly.What was that I said about bottoms being droopy on this display? No, they are not! These look perfect. Yup. My display is a size 6.

So we know they fit my display, but how did they fit Em? They also fit Em perfectly. She agreed, they are very comfortable.

The Ivy Brief pattern was just released, and it’s on sale this week. You can find the pattern in House Morrighan’s Etsy shop.

Happy creating!

Michael Men’s Underwear

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

More Birthday Sewing

I had some other sewing plans for my son’s birthday besides the robe. I made him two more pair of the Michael boxers from Pin-up Girls’ Men’s Underwear Pattern.

The feedback from my son, who is an avid SAXX wearer is these are good, and he wears them.

To make up these boxers, I bought two bamboo kits like the ones shown above from Bra-Makers Supply (BMS). The last time I just used cotton Lycra from my stash. His news ones will be a lot more neutral in color. A nice gray with plush black elastic, and a navy with plush black elastic. I think he’ll enjoy both.

Here’s the last pair I made. (Definitely not neutral.) He also didn’t like the elastic I used for this pair (not from BMS).

Although the kits from BMS say they are bamboo, the material in the two kits was different. The gray heather is firmer, and doesn’t have the same hand as the navy; it was also easier to sew.

I should clarify that last comment. The underwear isn’t difficult to sew at all. I’d simply misplaced my washout tape and the waistband was a little more tricky than usual.

 Here’s the navy pair with his robe.

And here’s the gray pair with his robe.

My son will be well covered with new briefs and a robe.

Here are both pair of the Michael boxers.

 There. All the birthday gifts are sewn. I still have a bralette to sew, but after the robe and boxers, I think I’ll really enjoy it. Then some selfish sewing!

Final Thoughts

 My son loves them both! He’s worn them both already too. He does say they are not the same as SAXX, but hey, he’s wearing them. He also likes the plush elastic that Bra-Makers Supply sells much better than the elastic I sourced locally.

Happy creating and Happy Canada Day!