Panties

Stocking the Panty Drawer II

~ Michelle

This is just a short and sweet post.

I have been happily making more makes. Soon I will have a very full panty drawer and a full bra drawer too.

I really love this lace trim from Libelle. (It’s on sale too.)It works wonderfully with black, but there’s also brown and ivory in the pattern too. I decided to try it with a couple of pair of KS2286 panties in ivory.I think they’re equally as adorable as this lace trim on black.   What do you think? Do you have a preference?

Here’s the side and back view.

Then I decided to try the lace trim along the waistband without cutting it in half. Yes, I do like this trim on ivory as well.

I have four more pairs cut out on my cutting table and my panty drawer will be full to overflowing.

Happy creating!

Stocking the Panty Drawer

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I decided it was time to restock my panty drawer with some new makes. All my pretty new bras deserved to have pretty new matchy matchy rather than old and much worn.

I have a few favorite patterns, so decided I’d make a few of each of those.

First up, one of my all time favorite panty patterns is Kwik Sew 2286. It’s an out-of-print pattern now, but it does turn up on ebay and etsy from time to time.

  I love this pattern for a hipster panty. In fact, one of the first panties I ever made were a clone of some La Vie En Rose panties. These are pretty much the same pattern.How adorable are these 2286s? I love the leopard lace trim on these too. That trim was cut in half lenthwise to make it narrow enough to use. It’s actually 3″ lace trim. I’ve done this before and it didn’t fray at all!

Another favorite pattern is the House Morrighan Clover Boybrief.   

It’s a great modern take on a boyshort. It also has some curve built into the pattern. So rather than the sides being a straight side, they have a slight curve to them. I love that.

This pattern is called a boybrief, and unlike other boyshort patterns, it doesn’t have that center front and back seam.Lastly, to fill out my panty drawer, I made another pattern I’ve used before and one new one.I made the Sigrid panty by B,Wear, and one of their newer patterns – the Agnes.

Here are my new Sigrid panties.The Sigrid panty has some curves built into the pattern too. Lastly, here are my new Agnes panties.You might have noticed, the Sigred and the Agnes look pretty much the same from the front.But they don’t look the same from the back.The Agnes doesn’t come up as high, and is a bit cheekier. Agnes has an option for what style of back you want too. You can have the Brazilian (Agnes), or a thong style (Astrid).

I have one more pattern I want to make. The Studio Costura Eva panties. I love the leg detail on these panties. However, I really love my hipster height for a panty. Hmm. I might try to hack them. That just might be a plan for 2022.

Happy creating!

Matchy Matchy for Viola

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

The weather might be turning cooler here in Canada, but I won’t even think of that when I look at these pretty matching Viola Josey bra sets.The colors are so vibrant, I really wanted to pick that up in the panties. So I didn’t go with just one color. I love the pop of turquoise in the lace trim. I think it coordinates well with the turquoise elastics in the bra.

No basic black here.

For the second pair, I decided to match the purple color in the bra.These are adorable too.

  For both pairs of panties I used the House Morrighan Clover Boybrief. I think these sets will cheer up the coldest day!

Since sewing these, I decided my lovely new Viola bra needed a bow. So I’ve added an adorable lavender bow in the center of the bridge.

Happy creating!

Seamless Clover Boybrief

~ Michelle

If you remeber last week I was planning to try a boyshort pattern with the fusible elastic. I looked through my patterns, and chose my favorite one. The House Morrighan Clover pattern.

The reason this is my favorite ‘boybrief’ pattern is there are curves built into the shape of the pattern. A lot of boyshort patterns don’t suit a curvy shape. And if you’re wondering, by curvy I mean actual curves. I’m not using it to refer to plus size. This pattern starts at a size 6.

So I chose my favorite pattern. Then I thought how the gusset was too narrow on the last trial. So on this one, I added 1/2″ to the sides of one of the gusset pieces. The other I left as it usually is.  

This way, when I fold over the larger gusset, it will enclose the sides and make a nice neat finish – and not be too narrow.

I also added 1/2″ to the leg openings. I didn’t want a shorter boyshort. I guess if you want a cheekier look don’t add the 1/2″.

Here are my seamless Clover boybriefs.   Oh, I do like these.  

These turned our perfectly!

One fusible elastic user beware: You can’t see the front when turning it over and ironing it. Check before you iron! I got a pucker.

That little pucker? It’s fused in place. I learned my lesson to really make sure this was bonded from the first pair I made. Now I’ve learned to check before I fold over the material and fuse it again. Other than that, these really turned out perfectly. 

Happy creating!

Still Playing with Fusible Elastic

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I loved trying the new fusible elastic on my most recent pair of panties. I’d purchased a whole role of the HeatnBond, so decided to have some more fun with that.  Yes, 10 yards of it will last me a while.

Here’s a stock photo showing how it’s used.I may do a whole panty using the fusible elastic, but for my next one, I wanted to see how it was around the leg opening.

One issue I might experience is I usually pull the lace around the lower leg  curve of the back of the panty. I don’t want things riding up or moving around, and just a little tension there really does keep everything in place. I won’t be able to add that tension with the fusible elastic.

    I think these are almost as equally adorable as my first pair. Hmm. I don’t love how narrow this gusset is. That’s something to change on my next try.

And I’ll share a warning – this tape doesn’t love curves at all. After struggling a bit to add it to one side, I ended up tearing off short strips along the second side.  It does give a very neat finish, but sadly, just what I was thinking would happen happened. The back doesn’t hug the way it usually does.You can see the difference in the photo below. The lace being applied with a little tension makes a big difference.This is the same pattern, same size. It’s the same fabric even. So the only difference is the tension that’s been applied.

I was thinking about it and I think this fusible elastic would be best used on a boyshort pattern. 

Look at this boyshort from BMS. These leg openings are pretty straight.   This fusible elastic would be best used on a pattern like this. I think I’ll look through my patterns and see which boyshort patterns I have that will work well with this type of elastic.

Happy creating!

Seamless Panties

~ Michelle

I don’t know how many of you watched The Great Bra Sewing Bee this August. I loved it! In fact, I’m going to make sure I have the whole year’s access next year.

There was one class I was watching, and I had to rewind the class. What did I just see? It was the Panty Drafting Based on Inspiration Images class with Angela Gough.

At one point in her class, she used a stretch adhesive tape on the edge of her panty. She ironed it, and folded it over and ironed it again! No seams! No sewing! You can see the panties she made near the bottom of her blog page here. 

What? I’ve never seen anything like that before.

I sent off a message to Bodil of B,Wear, and I asked her what this magical tape was. She said she was already looking for it because at the time the video was released it was only available at the Sewing Chest in the UK.

    Well, Bodil got some in and sent me a sample with an order. I couldn’t wait to try it.I pulled out one of my favorite panty patterns – Kwik Sew 2286.

I didn’t have enough for the whole panty. I actually didn’t have enough for the whole waistband. But that was okay. I had also purchased some HeatnBond Ultra to test. I used them both on these panties.I used the Fusible Iron-on elastic sample Bodil sent on the back of the panties and it bonded perfectly. I used the HeatnBond on the front, and it didn’t bond perfectly. I had to redo it because after handling the panties it was coming undone.

    After a second press with a hot iron, it seems to have bonded now.I’m very happy with my new seamless panties. I can’t wait to have more fun this way.

Happy creating!

Matching Sigrid Panties

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I gave my blog an bit of a makeover. Well, just a small one. I decided I’ve sewn a lot of things since I’d originally posted those photos, so I chose something newer. What do you think?Above is the one I’ve been using.And I chose this Watson for my new header. Do you have a preference?

Sigrid 

I wanted some matching panties for my new Jessica’s Twin bra. So I decided to make another pair of the new Sigrid panties.

For these, I only had a little bit of the burn-out mesh left over, and not even enough for the front of the panties. So, if you look closely, you’ll see a fairly well-matched seam down the front.

Here’s my new set:    Oh, this mesh!

I’m a little sad I don’t have any left. Well, one tiny little square that I can’t throw out. I’ll find something to do with it.

The sheer part looks white on my display, but I think it’ll look more like the bra when worn.    This is also the last of my lovely Café au lait beige. It’s a little darker than a lot of the beige cotton Lycras I’ve seen, and I like it too. The lace trim matches the cotton Lycra perfectly, and both are the same Café au lait as in the burn-out mesh.

Here’s the side view:

And lastly, the view from the back.

Such a pretty Angie and Sigrid set.

There are more fun things on my cutting table at the moment, and I look forward to sharing them with you as well.

Happy creating!

The Sigrid Panty

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I saw a call go out to test the new Sigrid panty by Bodils Wear, and I thought I’d love to test a new pattern. Panties are usually a quick sew, and I love new patterns. It seemed like a perfect idea. The only problem I had was I got sick with a bad cold at the beginning of March, and then my son came home at the end of March with a bad cold. I guess they weren’t the same colds, because I got sick all over. 

(With a pandemic going on, I was constantly checking to see if I had a fever, or any of the other symptoms that were connected to it. Thankfully, I did not, and I am finally on the mend.)

The Sigrid panty was designed for Bodil’s daughter, who couldn’t find that perfect panty pattern. So she went to her mom and her mom drafted a pair for her. She loved them so much, the Sigrid pattern was born.

The Sigrid panty is a quick sew, with two styles. There’s one thing about this pattern that is very different from other panty patterns I’ve sewn. Although it uses stretch fabrics, it’s not meant to stretch when worn. Usually, when working with stretch, you make a pattern smaller than your actual measurements. But this isn’t the case with Sigrid. 

So my first impression was, these are going to be way too big! But they’re not. And they’re incredibly comfortable on too. Really. Incredibly. Comfortable.

I won’t make you wait any longer to see my newest make.These are my 2nd Sigrid panties. My first were the test pair, which I didn’t finish. The very big difference between my waist and hips made that pair unwearable. Whenever I’m testing a pattern, I make it as is the first time to see how things go together. Often that means things will not fit that first time though, but it gives me a good idea of the pattern.

This second pair fit perfectly, and I think they’re adorable. For this pair, I altered the pattern to fit me. On the Sigrid, my waist fell into a size 6, and my hips into a size 12! Those just don’t go together easily. So I made an 8 waist, and pulled the lace trim a little more when sewing it on to give it a bit of a gather. Not a lot, but just pulling it in a bit helped.

  The back of this panty has nice coverage too.You can see a bit of the gathering at the waist on the back more than you can on the front.

Do you like the lace trim I used for the leg openings? I looked everywhere in my stash for black lace trim, and it seems I don’t have any. But I did have this great animal print. It was too wide as it was for the leg openings, so I cut it in half! I pulled out my pinking rotary cutter, and I love it. I’ve cut lace before, but always where there was a clear line in the pattern. I’ll have to see how well this wears to see if I do it again.If it does run a bit, the three-step zigzag will help it not fray too much. 

Lastly, there was one aspect of this pattern that I really appreciated. The seams all lined up so well. I loved that! I’ve used my fair share of PDF patterns, and more than a few of them didn’t line up perfectly. I can handle that. Cut a little off here, or stretch to make sides or seams meet. But that wasn’t needed here. They lined up perfectly – so much so, it stood out to me. Well done!

I hope you try Sigrid, and like her as much as I do.

Happy creating!

March BMS Challenge

~ Michelle

Underwear has not been around forever. The first underwear you might recall might be what is affectionately known as “granny panties”. This month, we celebrate 100 years of underwear! Whether you make thongs, g-strings, granny panties or even underwear for men, the choice is yours!

I decided this year I wouldn’t do the whole BMS Challenge, but would pick and choose the ones that appealed more to me. However, I’m already feeling a little regret that I didn’t do the February Challenge.

The February Challenge was to make a baby doll nightgown using one of the PUG patterns as a base. My first thought was I wasn’t interested. But over the last few weeks, I’ve seen so many baby doll nighties being sold in retail. Way to be on-trend, BMS!

My Challenge Entry

My March challenge entry is fitting perfectly with my personal needs as well. As much as I love using lace on my panties, lace doesn’t stand up well, or long. It was time for some new panties.

This time though, instead of being all matchy-matchy, I’m going with my feelings and just being happy playing with colors.

Here’s my first pair of panties. Just a cute neutral. This is a dark beige with some adorable animal print trim. I really love the lace trim I’ve used at the leg openings. I just love a scalloped lace trim.

Next was another beige, but this time with a little more color play. I think these are so fun, and I love the lace trim at the waist.

Oh, that’s pretty. I got this from BMS.

Next I used some lovely CL I got in one of Bodil’s Mystery Boxes.

Isn’t that a gorgeous knit? I really like these. I didn’t have any narrow trim, so I followed the design in the lace and cut it in half to use for the legs.Here’s a close-up of the lace at the waist. You can see the line going through the design. It made it very easy to cut and use for the legs. I’d probably put the scallops on the inside next time though. It was a challenge to match them at the seams this way.

Lastly, I had a little of that lovely CL print left over, and there was no way I wanted to throw it away. One last pair of panties it was.For these ones, it was a basic grey heather for the back and white lace trim at the legs and waist.

These are my own self-drafted panties, but I did get my inspiration for them from Rad Patterns.

I hope to be back with another post in a few weeks. Until then, as always,

Happy creating!

October BMS Challenge – Fall into Fashion

~ Michelle

October – Fall into Fashion – Have you “fallen” for a gorgeous look from ready to wear, but want it to fit your body? This challenge is about “falling” for fashion and re-creating the look for yourself by cloning or copying a ready-to-wear look. Be ready to be inspired!

It took me a little while to decide what I wanted to copy from RTW for my challenge entry this month.

One of the things I thought about was a lovely bra. This is the Dream Catcher by Freya. Look at that little peep hole on the bridge! Isn’t that adorable?This is lovely, and I may copy that little peep hole feature at some point.

I also love the Prima Donna Milady. Oh, this was a nice bra.

A foam cup for some amazing lift, and a vertical lace cup over top.

As much as I love both of those ideas, time was not on my side. When I realized October was half over, and I looked at my schedule, I knew it was time to pick a project that I could fit into my schedule.

I thought back to some other RTW lovelies I have wanted to copy, and then I remembered a really adorable panty. This is the Panache Quinn High Waist brief. On, this is pretty. Yes, this is my inspiration this month.

Here are my own pretty lace-hipped panties. I chose not to do a high cut brief. I used to love high cut briefs when I was in my 20s… before I had kids. I’m much happier with hipsters these days.

The don’t look so different from the front or the back.There is a peek of that lace in both views.

But the side view. That’s where we see the design of these panties pop.Ooh, that is so pretty. This lace is so soft too, so these cotton-Lycra panties will still be so comfortable, as well as very pretty.

To finish these lovely panties, I used the same lace I used for the sides for the trip at the waist. I simply trimmed it below the embroidered part, and attached it the same way I attach elastic lace trim.I just may have to make more of this design.

Happy creating!