The Great Knicker-Making Mission, Part the Second (big girl knickers are mine)

I've successfully made BIG GIRL KNICKERS. It's taken me about fifteen pairs to get it justright, butI have learnt oodles about sewing in the process. Namely, I have learnt: patience, elastic sewing techniques, how to use my overlocker and basic pattern making. I feel pretty damn pleased with myself all in all (smuggy smug smug).

I've tried out a bunch of different fabrics and elastics during the sewing process, and I think I've finally found the perfect combination: t-shirt fabric for the main body of the pants, as it holds it's shape best, and lacy lingerie elastic trim for the legs and waist which looks tidier, is much easier to sew, and is generally more comfortable than the thin white knicker elastic.

The pattern that has been the most useful to me is the Cheeky Panties pattern on Burda Style (= free). The first time I used the pattern the pants turned out far too small (they were about the size of one of my thighs. I "tried them on" in front of Shan. He laughed a lot). The epic failure of this first pair was, I think, a combination of an existing sizing issue and the fact that the pattern was printed out smaller than it should have been. On my second attempt I blew up the pattern as best I could on my computer at home. This pair was better fitting but cut across my butt very strangely - as in, my butt was threatening to slide out, while the pants slid up.

No.good. I adjusted the pattern so that it sat more flatteringly and more comfortably across the butt cheeks, and divided the main pattern piece (originally one long piece to be cut on the fold) into two pieces - a front and back. This allows the pattern to be fitted on to t-shirts. Having accomplished all this, I made another two pairs, one of which is the pair below. On this pair I found that that the fabric was a bit too soft and stretchy to work with, and the elastic was all wrong (it stretched out the waistband of the pants). The other pair were pretty damn good though, despite being a little higher than I'd like. I was stoked.

The not-so-good ones

After all that missioning I was struck with a severe case of knicker-exhaustion and so I put the whole lot aside until this weekend - I think about a three week hiatus in all. However, I WAS GOING TO SUCCEED. I am, after all, a CRAZY OBSESSED KNICKER LADY.

The first pair I made this weekend totally highlighted the existing issues with the pattern, issues that I'm pretty sure have been caused by the "blowing up" process. Firstly, pants were too high (not very flattering) and the gusset was far too wide and pouchy, which gave the impression that I was (ahem) missing an appendage. Thus, they were not only comfy Big-Girl undies and inherently unsexy with that, but also wildly unsexy through their bizarre crotchy-largeness. And although I wholeheartedly recommend the wearing of comfy panties, I do have something of a reputation to uphold as a sex kitten, thus:

No indeed. There was TOO MUCH big girl undies going on for my liking.

So after much tweaking (removing two centimetres here and adding a centimetre there) and reading of my overlocker manual (finally! amaze!), I finally succeeded in making The Perfect Undies. They are comfy, not overly sexy perhaps, but certainly I feel as though the pattern is (finally) finalised. Which brings me to a conclusion: Underwear Making is not a Science. It's mostly trial and error, and in my case, mostly error.

My finished products! Very lurid.

Some HOTT underwear making tips for you:

1. The best way to sew on the elastic lace is to stretch the elastic while overlocking the lace to the edge of the fabric. Sew right side facing right side (i.e. the right side of the lace faces the right side of the underwear fabric). Then flip the lace upwards and sew the seam in place: this is me attempting to take a picture of this final step (sewing the overlocked edge to the inside of the knickers).

2. The best time to sew on the elastic is while the undies are still unseamed at the sides - that is, while they're laying flat. There is a good demonstration of what I'm trying to explain here on this underwear tutorial. I saw it, didn't think that much about it, and have only just discovered that it's by far the best way to apply elastic.

3. Patience is a virtue. Remember: you will always win against the machine, because you know how to love. However, you will win even more if the knickers look like something you might actually want to put near your butt.

4. Your boyfriend/girlfriend may not be as enthusiastic (ahem) as you are about wearing their old t-shirts around your lady parts.

ANYWAYS: I am planning to Start Again, and see if I can also make some wearable sexy undies. I had a go at making the string undies outlined in these two blogs, but ended up making the knickers faaaar too small. I threw them out before I took a photo because I was kind of embarrassed. I'll upsize the pattern this weekend and try again I think.

In other Sexy Homemade Knicker News, I had a look around for French knicker patterns again. I love the idea of wearing French knickers under my skirts all summer long - sexy and practical - so I am absolutely.determined to make myself (at least) A Pair.

Dudes, half the fun in this business is getting the pattern justright. I love the feeling of accomplishment!