Panties

A Beige Shelley Set

~ Michelle

I’m pretty sure I’ve used that title before, and will likely use it again. I really like my basics and I like the Shelley pattern by Bra-Makers Supply. Here’s my most recent Shelley:

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I need to make some proper-fitting foam inserts for photos. I don’t like all the wrinkles! However, as a bra, this is my best yet. I love it. It’s kind of funny because I saw this lace on the Bra-Makers Supply (BMS) web site, and ordered it right away. When I got it, I was putting it with my other laces, and lo and behold, there was another order I’d placed before for the same lace. Yup. I know I like it when I do that. It wasn’t the first time, and I doubt it’ll be the last. I did that with a Merckwaerdigh lace as well.  It’s good to know I really like it.

For this Shelley, I did what I did for the last couple of bras I made. Rather than making alterations to the cup to make the larger cup fit into the smaller cradle (Omega shape), I went in-between the sizes. The cup corresponds to a 42 wire, the cradle I need is a 38. I used the 40 cradle. The wire still fits. In fact, BMS say with their patterns you can go up or down a wire size if you need. That makes it perfect for me. The fewer alterations, the better because one alteration leads to another and another.

I thinned the area under the cup even though I used the larger elastic. You can see that here:

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Beverly, The Fairy Bra Mother, did a very informative blog on how to do this and I’ve been doing it since. You can read her wonderful instructions here.

I also lowered the bridge, adjusted for a flat spot I have and added a vertical dart to the pattern to take out a little excess under the arm.

It’s so wonderful to have learned to do this, and from now on I can have perfectly fitting bras. That is tremendous!

Another sparkly idea that came from Beverly was to add some Swarovski crystals to the bra. Pure brilliance. So, I added a little bling to the bra too. This bra has bows and crystals.

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I attached these sparkling little delights on the bridge just above a ‘floating’ piece of lace. I say it’s floating because I only sewed the sides of it into the seams of the cup and cradle. I used the Swarovski Hotfix Crystal Tool to attach the crystals and love the result. The only change I’d make here is one that will make it a bit easier for me – attach the crystals before inserting the under wires. However, as much as the tool seemed to want to wobble a bit, the end result looks nice and straight.

The back is quite basic.

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There is a small pucker where the hooks and eyes meet the band, but it’s not the very large wrinkle showing in the photo. That was just me not catching that the band wasn’t on Catherine (my dress form) perfectly straight. I was fighting a cold and forgot to check to see if the band fit properly into the hooks and eyes. I think there’s a 1/16″ little tuck there because I  didn’t want any edges sticking out.

Now, for matching panties.

You’d never have known it by following my blog, but I do love matching bra and panty sets. For a long time I was on a quest to find cotton because I love my cotton panties. Once I found my source at BMS, I was working on getting my bra fit down. All the materials for my bras and panties come from BMS except the elastic lace I used on the waist bands – that came from Frog Feathers on Etsy.

Here’s the first pair of panties I did:

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I love these. Nice soft cotton and matching pretty lace. Who could ask for more? I used my favorite Kwik Sew 2286 pattern and altered it. I did go up a size because the cotton just didn’t have the same stretch as some other knits I’d used in the past. The alteration I made was a simple one. Rather than cutting the front on the fold, I traced the whole front out and then cut off the one side of the front. I added a seam allowance to both sides creating two new pattern parts.

I did run into a bit of a snag not having thought it all through enough. When I was adding the lace to the waist band, I realized I didn’t want to cut off the scalloped part at the top of the lace. So I just ended the elastic lace where the other lace started. Next time I will add the elastic lace to the band before sewing these two parts together.

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Having that little blip happen helped me with my second set of panties though. Here’s my second pair:

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Yup. I love these too. It’s the same base pattern, but on this one I traced the front out and laid my lace over it. I wanted the scalloped edge at the top. So with the lace on top of the pattern, I drew a line where the lace ended. Then I traced that part again and added a seam allowance. For this set, I added the back waist elastic first. That wasn’t going to work for the font though. For the front I added a bit of left over upper band elastic. It’s hidden behind the top of the scallops.

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Here it is from the inside. I didn’t want to leave the front without any elastic, even though the lace is a stretch lace.

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Here they are, my two new matching panties.

Happy creating!

For My Mum

~ Michelle

My Mum was saying she’d been watching The Shopping Channel and saw a cardigan the same as I’d made her, but in black. She said it was $150, and wanted to know if I could make one for her for less.

I can hardly imagine a little peplum cardigan costing that much, but I assured I could do it for a lot less than that. And I did. It’s an early birthday present for her. My Mum will be 89 this Spring, but I thought she might want to wear this before it warms up too much.

 It was the same McCalls pattern I’ve made a couple of times now, in fact the same style even, so I didn’t need the pattern. I also have some Ponte material.

Once again I’m revisiting McCalls 6844. I think I’ve made most of the sizes now. I had originally made a size Small for my Mum. This time she wanted a size Medium. She wants it big enough to wear things under it. So, my Mum is getting her way. I made her the size Medium – even though I seriously doubt she needs it that big.

The only other change I made this time was to use the serger. My hubby helped me re-thread it (again) and I oiled it (again). The repair man did say to oil it well, so three times is well, and it hums away now. It’s actually hummed away well enough to do a few projects with it.

So here’s my Mum’s McCalls 6844:

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I dressed it up a bit with a pretty scarf just to add a bit of color. Black on black against beige really doesn’t show much.

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I really love the shaping on this cardigan. It flatters, well, it flatters me and my Mum and we’re pretty different when it comes to our shapes. She’s always been very thin-hipped, and I’ve been curvy for as long as I can remember. This cardigan flatters both of our shapes.

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Even the back has a nice shape to it.

I loved having the serger working and making such quick work of this. Every time I’ve sewn it before I not only double-stitched it – where I’d sewn the regular seam and then a second one 1/4″ away from the seam allowance. Then I did a zigzag over the trimmed edge. That was a lot of work. Serging my way through this project made it seem super quick and easy.

One last comment. I made the size Large last time I made this for me and it fits me loosely, which is what I wanted. However, I’ve wondered about making myself a more fitted version as the envelope photo shows a more fitted cardigan.

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So I thought before I send this off to my Mum, I’d give it a quick try on to see what changes I might want to make to a size Medium. And I did try it on, but I didn’t get a photo of me in it! I had another parcel going to the post off that day, and wanted to get them both sent off. Let me just fill you in here on my thoughts.

The first material I used had a lot of stretch to it, and if using a knit like that, I could easily go with the size Medium. However, the Ponte doesn’t have as much stretch and it felt snug in a few places like the arms and across the bust and hips. I could probably make the Medium/Large cross if using Ponte.

Did you notice I have a new badge on my blog? Amy, from Cloth Habit is starting another bra sew-along – and it starts today! I can’t wait. I had so much fun on the last one she did.

Happy creating!

My First Watson

~ Michelle

The Watson bra pattern from Cloth Habit is showing up all over the place on blogs. And it is an adorable pattern. I also seem to have an addiction to bras and bra patterns, so I had to try it. I also think Amy (of Cloth Habit) is wonderful. I admire her sewing, and participated in her bra sew along two years ago (can it really be two years ago already?). So when Amy said she was releasing a pattern, I wanted to try it.

The Watson bra pattern isn’t something I’d tend to think about for me. I need support, and this isn’t a support bra. However, it was too adorable for me not to try, and I do wear leisure bras around the home from time to time. The other aspect that was making me hesitant was the material used for the Watson. I usually use duoplex and power net. When I do use Lycra, it over those other very supportive materials.

An interesting aside to this is last year I’d read about a French lingerie company and how they didn’t make structured bras, only soft cupped bras. Their philosophy was a woman’s natural shape was the most attractive shape. I dismissed it at the time thinking that definitely wasn’t for me, but I notice more and more soft cupped bras are appearing in both RTW and patterns. Amy may be right on trend with this.

Here’s my Watson:

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I really love this. but it’s not perfect. This was one of those projects where I had to fight over ever step.

I chose some fabric I had left over from a Merckwaerdigh kit I bought a few years ago. I made a bra from this too, but it just seemed too much of something. I don’t know if it was too much pink, or what, but I didn’t wear it. You can see it here. The Watson in this material? I love it.

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Here’s the side view. I put my oft-used foam cups in to fill the bra out. I really do love this material for the Watson.

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And the back view.

It really is an adorable bra. I do think I’ll try the longline version next.

There’s a little fabric left after making this, and a fair amount of the bright pink lace. I’m thinking of making Merckwaerdigh’s E-SH20 panties, View A.

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I think that will make a really cute set.

Do any of you follow Erin from The Sewing and Life Adventures of Emerald Erin? Erin has set a sewing challenge for herself – a bra a week! She said for a year, but then amended that the first three month of 2015. She is also open to having others bra makers send their photos to her and she’ll post them along with her own. That just sounds fun! You can check out her blog for all the information, and here’s the email to send your own bras to her: bra.a.week@gmail.com

One last comment; I had a phone call from my Mum. She wants another cardigan. She saw something on the Shopping Channel that looked the same, but cost $150. So now she wants one in black. She also wants a size bigger, which I question, but I’ll make it for her. I was planning another McCalls 6844 for me, so I guess two more are on my sewing list.

Happy creating!

That Just Didn’t Seem Right

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I bought another panty pattern, and this time I thought I was being so smart by buying one with three options in there. Kwik Sew 2100. It has a Bikini, Hipster and Brief option. Great!

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So I looked up my size, and then looked at the pattern. That can’t be right. At least that’s what I thought. I remember when I was just going to make panties again after not doing any for years, and my sewing pen pal, Naomi, warned me they’d look huge when I was cutting them out, but this?

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? You tell me. Do these look the same size?

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That smallest line showing to the right side of my traced Kwik Sew 2286 pattern isn’t even the size I need. I need a bigger size? As well, I’m looking at the Hipster pattern, and my KS 2286 doesn’t even come up to the Bikini line. The KS 2286 doesn’t list itself as a Hipster – simply a panty – but it compares really well to some RTW Hipsters I have – that’s why I like it so much.

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The above picture shows a little more clearly just where the sides of these two patterns are ending.

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This shows the cutting lines above the traced pattern piece. It’s not even the same height as the bikini option.

And one last photo:

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Here is the KS 2286 traced pattern over the traced KS 2100 traced and cut out. That’s quite a difference. Both patterns say they are designed for stretch knits. I think I’ll look at my 2286 pattern again.

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And wanting to play with the KS 2286 a little more,  I altered the pattern to a more asymmetrical front along these lines:

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Aren’t they adorable? So I changed my KS 2286 to look more like these.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays, and a joyous New Year!

Some Matchy Matchy

~ Michelle

I do like matchy matchy. Maybe it’s an indicator of my age, but I do like things to match. So, now I have my first (two) great fitting bras, it was time to make something to match.

I couldn’t find any ivory cotton, but did stock up on black, red, beige and pink. So, going forward I’ll have a nice choice of basics from which to choose. My most recent Shelley bra was mostly black, but had some red and ivory in it as well. So I chose red and black for my panties.

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Here’s my first pair. It’s a modified Kwik Sew 2286, which is basically a hipster. I copied the lace inset from Kwik Sew 2908, but I prefer how the 2286 sews together – no seams showing on the inside. The crotch seams are hidden between two layers of material and then when the lace is sewn on – you don’t see an exposed seam. The 2908 has the front and crotch as one piece, and then the back is sewn to that. It looks similar on the outside, but on the inside you can see the seam very clearly. In the past, I’ve made 2908 and modified it to do the seams the same as the 2286.

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And the set pinned on Catherine. They look long, more like a high cut here, but I’ve made them before and they are a hipster. My only disappointment is I’m not in love with this as a set. The lace is the same on the panty as the bra, but it doesn’t pull together quite as much as I’d wanted. I don’t think there is enough red in the bra to pull it off. However, it’ll still be a second choice option for me.

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Here’s the second pair I made. I like this one a lot better. I think it pulls together with the bra without any problem.

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Here it is pinned onto Catherine. That looks like a set. That’s much better. I really am happy with this set. This will be my first choice to wear.

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Here are both panties with my bra. It’s very fun to have my first set. The materials are from both Bra Makers Supply, and Merckwaerdigh‘s Etsy store. The panties are mostly cotton from BMS with that little accent of lace/Lycra from Merckwaerdigh’s.

Next I’m going to have to play with my pattern to make an asymmetrical pair – and I think I’ll go with the black & Lycra for that one.

Happy creating!

Fits Like A Dream

~ Michelle

My newest bra fits like a dream, but she isn’t peaches and cream.

For the better part of the last two years I’ve only worn my own bras. I did purchase a couple of bras too, but to be honest, the ones I made fit better – and they weren’t fitting perfectly. Because I was so used to wearing what I’d made, I thought I’d still wear my not-perfectly-fitting bras, but oh no. Once I had one that fit so well, I found the others just weren’t as comfortable. I have a list of things to sew, but one bra just wasn’t enough. So sewing another bra went to the top of my sewing list.

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Here’s my latest (and perfectly fitting) Pin Up Girls Shelley. And she fits like a dream.

I love that little pop of color on the power bar and bridge. That’s just fun. And I’m all about lace. So this bra is bringing together lace and a bit of fun and I’m thrilled.

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Here’s a better view of the power bar. Oh, I love that. This is such a beautiful pattern. There are so many fun things to do with it. Although the power bar looks like Lycra, it has the support of duoplex under it. I did the same on the bridge. The Lycra and lace are from an older fabric set I bought from Merckwaerdigh‘s store a few years ago. Everything else is from Bra Makers Supply.

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Here you can see the Sewy Rebecca I’d done with this material. You can also see I made the wrong size. I still have this bra in the bra drawer – it’s too pretty to throw away or cut up. Back to the material,  I don’t have a lot left, so I got creative in the placement of what I did use on the bra. I wanted to save some for panties. Yup, now that I have my bra fit down, I’m going to start making matching bra and panty sets.

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And the back of my bra. I did the 3 x 3 hook and eye closure again. I’m getting better at getting it done up and undone, and it really does make it more comfortable. Who knew?

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Here’s part of my stash for panties. That’s some gorgeous cotton/spandex from Bra Makers Supply, and my bit of Lycra left over from the kit from Merckwaerdigh, and some black lace for trim. I also found some pictures online for inspiration. I’m thinking of changing up my panties from the basic pattern I have now. I really love things that are asymmetrical, and love that I found some fun panties with just that look.

One of the best aspects of this journey I’ve been on with trying to find the perfect fit for my bras is the freedom I now feel in altering patterns. I used to feel they were somehow beyond my grasp and I wouldn’t think of altering them. I have no such fear now!

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And lastly, I’m trying to decide what color bows I want on my new bra. I’m leaning towards the red, or maybe red and black together …

I still have some fitting issues to plan for when starting out, but I did the same thing on this bra – I went up a cradle size from my wire size. This takes care of most of my cup alterations as it’s only one size different than the cup size I’m using. Is that clear?

Let me explain that a bit more. The Omega shape needs a larger cup size than wire. Let’s say I need a 38 wire, but my cup corresponds to a 42 wire. I’m meeting the two half way in between. By using the 40 cradle, the 38 wire will still fit, and so will the 42 cup. This one change eliminated a lot of alterations.

However, I still made a few. I thinned the bra under the cup  little more this time, so I ended up trimming my elastic under the channeling. I lowered the bridge 1/2″ again, and on this bra I adjusted for a flat spot I have. And I put in a vertical dart in the underarm area. I don’t think there are any other alterations I would even want to make on this bra.

Ah… a perfectly fitting bra feels so good.

Happy creating!

A Small Parade of Panties

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been asked why I don’t make panties. The funny thing about that is ever so many years ago when I was first pregnant, I hated the maternity panties that were available, so I made all my own panties, as well as some of my own maternity clothes. Then I don’t know what happened to making panties. I just stopped.

The question stayed with me. I have to admit, one reason I hadn’t made panties yet is because I love my cotton panties. But I also love lace on them and I can’t always find that. As well, I’d looked around for cotton to make panties and just wasn’t sure about so many sources, so I hadn’t ordered any. A quick call to Bra Makers Supply and I found out their Cotton Spandex Double knit is just what I’m wanting. It’s a blend of 94% cotton, 6% Lycra. I’m thinking it will be perfect. You can find it here. It also comes in the same colors as their Power net and Duoplex – I do like things to be matchy matchy.

I have a few panty patterns in my collection, so decided I’d try a couple of them to see which ones I preferred.

Here are the patterns I tried.

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The first one I tried is a throwback – high cut panties. I haven’t worn anything like this for years, but loved them way back in the day.

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I used some knit that was a gift from Naomi. Thank you, Naomi! These are a basic black knit with stretch lace elastic trim. The pattern is Kwik Sew 2075, view D. It was funny, when I was making these I would just start to do something, and then think, oh it’s been a while I better read the instructions. I’d read them, think yup, and keep going. It was amazing how much came back to me so quickly.

This high cut style is very comfortable on, but as I say, it’s been years since I’ve worn anything high cut. I think I now prefer something more of a hipster. So the next pattern I made was more along that style.

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I really like these. These are very comfortable and almost the same as a favorite La Vie En Rose pair I’d saved. I loved the La Vie En Rose ones so much I cloned the pattern. However, this is almost exactly the same. Only very slight differences, so I went with the pattern. This is Kwik Sew 2286. The pattern is mainly for tops, with one pair of panties thrown in. There is no option for a different view or style for the panties, but I really like these, so don’t know that I’ll look elsewhere. These just might become my TNT basic pattern. But then, there are so many pretty options out there from which to choose.

And the last pair I made is a friend’s TNT pattern. It’s similar to the pattern above, but this one is Kwik Sew 2908.

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These are the same black material I used on the first pair I made, but these have a sweet pink trim on them to match the black Fantasie clone I made with black and pink lace. I did change this pattern slightly. For the ‘gusset’ (I don’t like crotch, just as I’ve read some don’t like panties. And I do know it’s not really a gusset), the pattern has the gusset attached at the front with a single seam at the back. I changed this so the gusset has two seams – front and back – and that way I could enclose the seams completely. I’ll show that in another posting.

And I still have a few other patterns I’ve collected I want to try. I’m thinking of making one of Merckwaerdigh’s patterns next. I have E-SH20 and E-SHL 30 of hers. I also have one of Stretch & Sew’s patterns. Not pictured here is Ezi-Sew Ladies’ Knickers pattern and two more Kwik Sew patterns, 2100 and 2868. Seriously, I have a pattern addiction! But it’s way more fun than the OPI nail polish addiction I had. (smile)

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One last panty resource I have is The Make & Fit Panties book from Bra Makers Supply. So now I’ve practiced a bit again, and I’ve found my source for cotton, I see more matching sets ahead.

Happy creating!