Lingerie Secrets "High Cut Pantie"

There is nothing more pathetic than a well-loved pair of ladies underwear (panties, knickers, whatever), which have been worn to the point that the cotton crotch has become a tattered shred, barely even a memory. I could not in all consciousness part with $10 to $12 for a nice pair at Macy's without trying my hand at it, especially since it only takes a half a yard of fabric to make a pair.

For the 2010 Lingerie Contest on PatternReview.com, I chose to make another as yet unreviewed pattern, Lingerie Secrets' "High Cut Pantie". I bought a Value Pack Tricot bundle from Fabric Depot in Garwood, TX (http://www.fabricdepotco.com/ ) at half-price ($15.00) last month. They specialize in fabrics, patterns, and notions for lingerie and active wear. When I got my bundle, a minimum of 10+ yards of solid color fabric, I was delighted with the quality, though I realized I had enough fabric to make all the panties I'll ever need!

I also got a 300 yard spool of elastic. Again, rather overkill, but at $ 0.15/yard, it was a very good deal!

For the thread, I used a very small portion of a 1200 yard spool of YLI Elastic and Bobbin Thread. It seemed to have both strength and a bit of stretchiness to it. This pattern has 3 pattern pieces: front, back, and crotch piece. I used a cotton stretch knit from Spandex World for the lining.











Lingerie Secrets has you sandwich the front piece between the two crotch pieces in a technique similar to that used by Kwik Sew. It is very important to pay attention to wrong and right sides, as when you pull the crotch pieces away from the front after sewing the first seam, you will want the right side of the crotch main or lining pieces to face up on either side.























Here I'm marking the 1/4 inch seam line. I use a water soluble marking pen. Careful, sweaty fingers will remove those marks before you can get the fabric to your machine!

Here I'm "wrapping" the crotch lining around the front of the panty and to the back piece of the panty. After sewing this, you pull the panty pieces through one of the open seams at the side of the crotch. All crotch seams will be concealed.

Here's what it looks like wrapped.



















After the crotch is sewn, you attach the elastic to the legs, sew one side, attach the elastic to the waist, sew the remaining side seam, tack down the seams and you are done!




A beautiful pair of panties that look store-bought! And now for some numbers:

fabric---about $1.50
elastic---about $0.37
Thread--about $0.50

So we're talking about $2.37, compared with $10.00 at Macy's.


Oh, and these are incredibly easy to make. I noted the machine tension, needle, and elastic amounts on my pattern instructions. Next time I make this, I think I can do it in an hour.

Lingerie Secrets "T" Sport Bra

The first PatternReview.com contest of 2010 is the Activewear Contest. I had been wanting to make this "T" Sport Bra from pattern designer Jan Bones, who designs a line of patterns called Lingerie Secrets, for some time and had just the fabric. Her website is located here: http://www.sewinglingerie.com/ .




I bought this spandex fabric from Spandex World in 2008 with the intention of making a bathing suit with it. But when it arrived, I decided I didn't like the sequins and glitter for the pool. It seemed more like dancewear, so I put it aside. I decided this would be just the thing for a non-boring alternative you normally get in the solid color sports bras you buy in the store. So I decided to use this fabric to make my sport bra.




The Lingerie Secrets "T" Sport Bra comes in sizes Small to XLarge and XL1 to XL4, fitting busts from 32" (81 cm.) to 53" (134 cm.). One of the most attractive features of this pattern for me was the separate pattern pieces for bust cup sizes A, B, C, and D, since I always need to do a full bust adjustment on my patterns.

I made the size Large with the D cup pattern piece, to fit a high bust of 36 inches and full bust of 40 inches.

Before cutting the fabric, I tissue-fitted the pattern pieces to myself. What was I thinking?! Of course, it wasn't going to fit. The pattern is paper and the fabric is spandex! Of course, I forgot about that and panicked when it didn't fit. I added 2 inches to the sides and top before cutting it out. And after sewing it up; yeah, yeah, it was too big and no support either. Off came the 2 inches. It fit!

What an incredibly easy pattern to sew! There are only two pattern pieces: a front and a back.





At the sides, the extra fabric is tucked or pleated very attractively. However, Jan states in her instructions, that you may also gather this if you prefer gathers to tucks.

I also decided to underline my sport bra with cotton lycra for more comfort and breathability. Here is a picture of the completed back of the garment, showing the underlining.

And ta-dah! Below are some completed pictures of the front.

And here I am, just back from the gym, wearing it!

2010 Goals for a Great Sewing Year!

1) Sew more! I am shooting for 25 garments (2009 = 15; 2008 = 9).

2) Reduce fabric stash to below 400 yards.

3) Embroidery more with machine.

4) Maintain blog.

5) Enter contests on PR for motivation and inspiration.

6) Take a sewing class/workshop or two!