The Great Knicker-Making Mission - Part the Third (French knickers, twice)

The last time I blogged about knicker-making was in September of 2010! Last year, studying etc rather ate into my knicker-making time. This year, with my beautiful new sewing machine and much more time on my hands, I have re-discovered my knicker-making passion. Have I mentioned in the last five minutes how much nicer it is to sew with this beautiful machine? So very much nicer, an absolute pleasure.

This weekend I made two pairs of gorgeous French knickers from a very fine cotton & silk fabric. The fabric was possibly the most expensive fabric I've ever bought, but it's worth every cent - incredibly soft and absolutely gorgeous. I'm finally getting to a point in my life where I feel I can trust myself to sew well with expensive fabrics! There is nothing like a wisp of silk around your nether regions to make you feel freaking gorgeous and super extra fabulously sexy, and the cost of buying something in a similar fabric in a shop would be beyond ridiculous.

The first pattern I used was from the web. I'd completely forgotten that I'd seen it until Craft started publishing their best-ofs at the end of last year. You need to measure yourself in order to make your own pattern, but the instructions are very simple to follow and the knickers themselves are very easy to make.

I trimmed mine using some elasticated lace that I had lying around, but unfortunately when I went to elasticate the top of the knickers I didn't have enough of the fold-over elastic that is specified in the Craft directions. I just pulled the elastic through a casing which is not the most elegant of solutions but is totally fiiiiine.

The biggest issue that I found with this pattern is that I ended up making the knickers far too big. The elastic will be fine in terms of keeping them up, but they aren't very sexxxxy looking, really. I wonder if this is because I overlocked all the seams instead of sewing them regularly - there is a very generous seam allowance in the pattern and I used a fraction of it. Next time I attempt this pattern I'll shave an inch or so of the edges in order to get a better fit.

The finished product: not too shabby, I think. It's a shame that you can't see how amazing the fabric is from this photo.

 

For the second pair I used an 80s Kwik Sew pattern that I picked up via Trade Me. Strangely Shannon thinks his mum had this exact pattern which could mean that I'm wearing the same underwear as his mum - a little Freudian spookiness there.This was my second attempt at the pattern, the first being in a fine cotton which is shear enough to sit under slim-fitting skirts but tends to ride up rather.

This French knicker pattern has a number of major differences to the one above. Firstly, the fabric is cut on the bias which gives more drape to the fabric in the legs, and gives the knickers a bit of stretch as well. The second difference is that the knickers are made in only two pieces compared to the four above. The lack of the side seam does help to make the French knickers sit nice and flat under your clothes, as well as removing a step from the process and I'm all for making things much easier in my life.

Again, I overlocked all the seams on these knickers. I had a quick try on, and I think the added seam allowance makes them more comfortable than the last pair I made on which I allowed a 1cm seam allowance. This quickly ate into the knicker fabric, which, in turn, tends to eat into my butt.

 

 

After a weekend of beavering away in my den, I'm feeling that I've maybe finally cracked the French-knicker making. I'm going to have a go with the tweaks on the Craft pattern, and see if I can lower the waist on the Kwik Sew pattern as it's a bit higher than I really like.

ALSO: a valuable tip regarding the width of your elastic: you want a good centimetre wide elastic at least. Any thinner and you end up in a seriously dire situation, with your knicker elastic all twisting around and folding in on itself and digging itself into your tender tummy. There is nothing sexy about twisted knicker elastic whatsoever.