In between projects (a little bit of knicker making)

I'm sure that by now you have already seen way too many images of my homemade undies so I'll just let you know that yes I'm at it again.
Same Kwik Sew pattern, maybe a few different fabrics (this time I splurged and brought some bamboo knit from Fabulous Fabrics...woo-hoo!).
I must say that knicker making is becoming a regular feature in my yearly sewing calendar. Every few months or so (as seasons change or a new wardrobe item demands) I'll pull out [my now] TNT pattern and cut a batch out. Then sloooooooowly (only because I find it a bit tedious after the cutting!) over the next few weeks sew them up. Maybe it's time to shake things up a bit an try out a new pattern? I have quite a few "retro" (circa 1980's) underwear patterns in my stash BUT the Jalie 2568 pattern has caught my eye recently, so who knows ;)

And to those who DIY their own...

Happy Undies Sewing!

Kate :)

Undies bonanza

 So after my pluck-inducing ramble yesterday I thought I might show you the fruits of my undie sewing labours:

Sorry not a great pic but you get the idea. Actually I made three pairs of black undies, which takes the total made up to seven- one for each day of the week yay! 
By far my favourite pair from the lot are the rose printed. The fabric was out of a $5 remnant/scrap bag from Potters Fabrics (currently closed for trading but fingers crossed they reopen in some form). All fabric from Potters was of highest quality and this knit is no exception:

 Plus who can resist the chance to wear mega rose blooms on their butt? 

The turquoise, lime green + black animal print/floral knit also comes from Potters. Yes it does look like bather material (as pointed out when I was pinning them up at a recent BSCP MeetUp) but the fabric is much thinner, more thin top weight, and it tied in nicely with some pale blue lace I had kicking around:

Lingerie elastic stash- unfortunately not enough of the deep pink for a full pair :(

 The pale pink undies were remade from a t-shirt that got ripped shortly after buying. I was just able to squeeze one complete pair, plus several crotch linings, out of the top. 

 The label of the brand was screen printed to the inside back of the t-shirt and I ended up with some of the printing on one of the pieces I cut out. I shows through a little on the resulting pair of undies, but as I figure it's only going to be me seeing them who cares? (Oh yeah and you the reader, but if you've read this far then obviously pics of my underwear doesn't shock you ;)

Below is a pair of the black elastic pinned up and ready to sew.

Played with the contrast on this pic so you could see the details. Photographing black on black is the PITS!

The black fabric was recycled from a tunic style wrap that I found at an op-shop. The triangular style of the original garment did nothing for me but the fabric was made in Italy and lovely to touch, a great quality knit.
 Since starting underwear making I'm always going through my clothes and wondering what would be better as underwear :)

Technically I think I've pretty much got the stretch-and-sew movement of knicker sewing (required to match the elastic up evenly to the fabric) down pretty much pat ;) In fact this time round I almost enjoyed it by the 7th pair, as I could do it while half watching Mad Men on TV! 

Something to be said for repetition.
The pattern I used for these knickers was Kwik Sews 2100. I think (looking at the cut and style) this is a fairly old pattern. The sizing and style labelling is a bit odd (hipster cut is described as bikini and vice versa) and the crotch section rather wide, but still it was a good first pattern to cut my underwear making teeth on. Now that I know what the issues are I'm sure I can tweak it to get -more or less- a even better fit.
I've made underwear up from this pattern before, you can check it out on this post here.

Also you can read my pattern review on sewing.patternreview.com here.

Happy Sewing!

Kate x

Avoiding the "Pluck Of Shame" or "Guess what? I made undies! (again)"

Underwear making has been in full swing this past week (in the sewing moments I actually get after the kids are in bed and housework + cooking is done...). 
So for my efforts I have 5 new pairs of undies to show! I know this might not sound like much but for me ever since I made my first pair of knickers I have been hanging out to make more! 
 Yes I could go down to the local supermarket and buy a pack for close to what the elastic and thread for these guys cost me, or even spend a few more dollars and get a really nice but pricey pair from a proper lingerie store, BUT will they fit me properly?
Most importantly - to use a phrase coined by another sewist on a blog/forum I read recently (sorry I can't remember where) - WILL I have to do the "Pluck Of Shame"? (I did come up with my own term for this phenomenon "HBS" or "Hungry Butt Syndrome" ....somehow I like "Pluck Of Shame" better ;)
 Unfortunately the answer for most store brought underwear is yes, YES I will have to do the "pluck" if I wear them (sorry if that's TMI).
 I've tried cheap, I've tried expensive and so far in many years of buying underwear there have only been a few islands of pluck free sanctuary in a sea of ever upward creeping ass coverage.
Frankly - in my case- there just isn't enough fabric to cover my decidedly pear shaped behind (thanks genetics!...and chocolate), plus even if the fabric coverage is generous usually the shape is all wrong!
I discovered - mostly by accident- after making my own that if I scoop out the rear leg seams (the one that makes the elastic sit under your butt checks) and make them a bit rounder then "voila" undies stay where they are meant to be! No other magic required!

 

I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only person to have thought of doing this and that if I actually did a little research I would have come across this method (or something similar and probably sooner) on the Internet. Still I'm a little bit chuffed I came up with a solution to my "pluck factor" problem on my own! ;)  I actually have seen a similar thing done in lieu of a FBA on the side seam of t-shirts, which is what gave me the idea :)

 Of course this does make my undies look a bit more "boule" shaped once the elastic is added (pulling in that extra bit of fabric) and they are off the body:

 BUT (or is that butt?) as long as they look OK -and work like they should when on- I'm more than happy!
   
Here's to D.I.Y underwear!!!

Happy Sewing!
 Kate x

Kwik Sew Knickers

As few pairs of knickers/unmentionables/granny-bloomers I made a few months ago using Kwik Sew 2100 :

 The black ones at the bottom are by far my favourite and are the comfiest pair of undies I have ever owned :D   
Strangely Kwik Sew calls them "bikini" cut but they are definately more hipster style. The beige and spotty undies are referred to as "briefs".
There are a few other kinks to this pattern- sizes run large and the sizing system is different from the usual Kwik Sew S,M,L,XL etc - but once you have worked through this it is a pretty good basic knickers pattern to have.
I am hoping to be making many more of these in future as its great to finally have undies that fit without riding up :)