Two More Agnes Dresses

July 22, 2017July 21, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Last summer I bought some gorgeous floral material to make my favorite Flirt Skirt to wear this summer. I still haven’t done that. I have, however, made two more dresses from the hallå agnes swing top & dress pattern.

This first material has the design as the red top I made, but in blues and I made it as a dress. Here’s the front:

This dress comes together really quickly with serged seams, and serging used to attach the neckline and armbands.

I had thought I’d change how I attached these bands, but decided to make another change I’ll tell you about below.

Here’s the side view:

Here’s the red top just as a reminder to see the print on it.

I know my hubby loves blue on me, so I think this blue dress will be his favorite.

This forth agnes is a dress too, in black, white, with little bits of yellow.

The yellow isn’t very visible in the photo, so here’s a close up:

I think four agneses is a good place to stop for now. I really do love this pattern, and am living in this dress this summer.

One Change

Although, I’m loving all my hallå agnes dresses and top, but there’s one little element I wasn’t loving. The seams are all serged on these dresses and the top. That’s great. The seams all looks nice and neat this way.

However, once these were washed, I found the seams at the neckband and arms were flipping or folding in half. It wasn’t visible from the outside when I was wearing it, but I could see it when I was putting the garment on. I didn’t like it.

Here you can see how the seam has folded up:

My fix for this was to use my coverstitch machine. It worked beautifully too. I’ve finished all my dresses this way now, and no more flipping or folding seams.

One of the things I did to help line up the stitching was to use the markings on the presser foot. That first grove was my guideline. It worked out really well.

Drafting Again

My new wires are here and it’s time to start drafting again! I’ve done a few drafts now, and that’s led to a couple of questions. I’m one or two answers away from drafting, what I hope is, my perfect bra pattern.

Happy creating!

Another Pair of Panties

October 22, 2016December 27, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

When I’d made my recent matching bra and panty set, I only had enough beige cotton for one pair of panties. That was all I made.

Full set on table 2

However, this pair isn’t perfect. Wearable, and pretty, but not perfect. As well, I do like a second matching pair for my sets.

Do you remember I showed you the two gussets overlapped?

Gusset

I’m going to add length to my gusset. I found the longer one is more comfortable.

When it was time to re-draw my pattern, I pulled out the original KS 2286. Interestingly, I compared both pattern pieces (my drafted one, and my traced KS 2286) to the original pattern. My traced 2286 pattern is narrower and shorter than the original. My self-drafted one is narrower still. I’m going with the self-drafted pattern piece for the width and adding back some of the length.

I had just enough lace left over from making my bra and the first pair of panties to make a second pair of panties. I forgot to mention, the gorgeous lace I used for this set came from Merckwaerdigh‘s store. The cotton is from Bra-Makers Supply, and the lace trim is from Frog Feathers on Etsy. Three of my favorite vendors.

new-panties

Here are my new panties. I’ll include a few other photos so you can compare.

Here’s my first drafted pair.

panties on table

They look similar, but there are differences. The longer gusset makes my new pair look more French cut than my first pair. Although they’re both Hipsters.

Here are a few construction details:

Again, this time because I’m working with a lace front, I reinforced the sides of the lace with a knit interfacing, and add some lingerie elastic to the inside of the front waist.

interfaced-lace

I’ve also used my pinking rotary cutter to trim away the extra cotton Lycra for a nice neat look behind the lace.

pinked-edges

Lastly, these are done and just what I want. They are bow-worthy.

bow-worthy

The bow is from the same polka dot tulle I used to make my version of the Heather bra. It’s a pretty and very delicate touch.

Happy creating!

A Review of Sewing Panties Construction & Fit

September 17, 2016December 27, 2017 ~ Michelle ~ 125 Comments

Welcome to Michelle’s Creations for the Canada Cups – Cross Your Heart Relay blog tour, 2016.

I hope you’re enjoying all of our makes and reviews so far. This time around, I’m reviewing Beverly Johnson’s new Panty class and so is Deb, my booty buddy, from Sprouting JubeJube. Make sure after you read my post, you hop on over to read Deb’s thoughts on the class. If you started with Deb’s review, welcome here! I do know Deb has been really busy with all her makes and has them all here in a separate write-up than her class review.

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Don’t you love Craftsy? It really is the best. They offer online classes that never expire, and in so many different categories (sewing, cooking, gardening, painting…); the instructors they get are the best and they answer your questions; Craftsy offers kits and supplies as well. They really are great!

You’ll see in my sidebar menu, I’m an affiliate with Craftsy. I decided to do this because I can do this without any compromise. I really do think they’re great. You won’t see me stand behind everything. But Craftsy, I do.

Back to Sewing Panties Construction & Fit. I started watching. I watched the class half way through the first night. Then got up the next morning and watched the rest of it. I felt ready and confident to draft my own panties which was something I’d wondered if I could really do before the class.

Beverly assures us that drafting our own panties isn’t hard. It’s just a few simple measurements. Then she proceeds to show us just how to do it. This photo is from Craftsy showing Beverly making her master panty pattern.

She was absolutely right! It’s not hard.

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The drafting of the panty is very reminiscent of Suzy Furrer’s Sloper classes. Once we’ve drafted our pattern, Beverly moves on to show us the three basic styles of panties – Brief, Hipster, and Bikini – and how to make each one from our own master pattern.

From those three styles, Beverly shows some more variations like making your own French cut panties. There is also a style with the seams in the front. I had just been looking at the Make Bra DL21 pattern. I’d read great reviews on them and how the seams didn’t show at all. I’m going to try my hand at drafting my own!

My big question is how will my class-drafted pattern compare to my favorite pattern?

Before I made a pair up, I wanted to compare my class-drafted pattern to my favorites: Kwik Sew 2286.

Here are both back pattern pieces – the black outline is the class-drafted pattern; the white pattern piece is my 2286 pattern:

back 2

The pencil wasn’t showing up very well in the photo, so I redrew the lines in black on my computer. The class-drafted Hipster hits the center back exactly the same as my 2286s. The hip sits a bit higher on the class-drafted pair. As well, the class-drafted back is a bit wider in the hip and gives a little more cheek coverage. I had no idea my 2286s were cheeky!

I was thinking about the size difference, and remembered Beverly does suggest in the class to start with a 20% reduction when drafting the pattern. Clearly, my 2286s have more than 20% reduction, which shows even more on the front piece.

Front

Again, the front is bigger on my class-drafted pair. And the Hipster line sits a little lower. The leg opening on the front of my class-drafted pair (again, outlined in black) is definitely lower, and that would be something I’d want to change.

Gusset

The class-drafted gusset is shorter and although you can’t tell in the photo, it’s a touch narrower as well. I’d even narrowed the gusset pattern piece on my 2286s.

For my panties, I’m going to use my favorite 2286s like I often use my sloper – to help me get the fit I want. I will change the leg opening on the front, lengthen the gusset a tiny bit, and since I haven’t found my 2286s to be too small at all, I will narrow the class-drafted pattern.

It’s time for new panties! New, drafted-to-my-measurements, incorporating-all-the-aspects-of-my-favorite-pattern, and matching-my-new-bra new panties. These are not just any panties!

panties on table

Oh, I like these. I incorporated the lace application on the legs the same as my 2286s, and did a lace front panel to match my bra.

I wanted to show you a few more details. One of the things I’ve learned making my own panties is the side seam is a weak spot when you’re using lace on the front like this. So, for these panties, I used a 1/2″ strip of knit interfacing to reinforce the seam.

reinforement

As well, having a lace front isn’t quite the same without some elastic. It will often be too loose. So a little bit of lingerie elastic behind the lace is hardly visible, but makes a big difference when you’re wearing them.

Elastic behind the lace

I like everything to look as nice inside as out. I pin my lace out of the way and use my Pinking blade to trim away the excess fabric.

Pinking the edges

There’s only one more thing to add. This is one of the bows I made for my bra.

One more thing to add

Here’s my matching set.

Full set on table 2

I love them both!

Set on Catherine 3

I loved making self-drafted panties, but that wasn’t all I made. As well as making these panties, I reviewed a pattern.

Here are the panties I made:

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Yes, it’s the Pin-Up Girls Boy Short Collection.

Along with covering Beverly’s newest class, Deb from Sprouting JubeJube and I are both reviewing panty patterns, but not the same pattern. I’m reviewing the Pin-Up Girls Boy Short Collection. Although I know what pattern Deb is making, I’m not going to tell. You’ll have to go to Deb’s blog to see her pattern review and all her makes. She really did make some lovely panties, and we found out we love the same materials. Really. We have the same Cotton Lycra stash. That’s all I’m saying.

Let me show you the Boy Shorts I made.

Front of panty

They look just like Boy Shorts, but they also looked bigger than what I usually wear.

comparison

And they are bigger. To be totally honest here, they looked HUGE to me! It’s mostly the different shape. Boy shorts have material over the leg and what I usually wear doesn’t. Oh my! Here they are being compared to my favorite Kwik Sew 2286s. I know what size not to use so my next pair will fit.

The best part of these panties is the back. I made view 4. They really have a super cute back and I will use this feature in the future.

Back lace detail

Isn’t that a lovely detail?

I want to thank Bra-Makers Supply for providing me with the Pin-Up Girls Boy Short Collection, and Craftsy for providing me with the class Sewing Panties Construction & Fit.

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