Tag: elastic

Skull & Rose Print Knickers

Red and black skull print knickers

This is pair of knickers number five. This time I started with Kwik Sew 2100, the most striking aspect of which was the ridiculous width of the gusset, especially as the sizes increase. I modified that part of the pattern to make more anatomical sense, and I was impressed by the instructions for putting together the lined gusset. It’s a bit fiddly but you end up with no raw edges on the inside, which makes these knickers very comfortable to wear.

I didn’t like the way that the original knickers were so puffy, so I decided to combine a stretch and a woven fabric to try and make them a bit flatter. They are more streamlined than they look in the picture (the mannequin’s so small I can’t stretch them right out), but they’re still not how I want them. I really need to buy a lingerie-drafting book, so I can work out how to do this properly.

I’m trying really hard to avoid using entirely stretch fabrics because there’s so much more interesting variety in wovens, but I’ll have to get the pattern absolutely right if this is going to work. These need the print panels to be smaller and the jersey panels to be bigger, to allow more stretch around the legs.

I also tried two different ways of applying the elastic – the waist has the elastic turned to the inside, and around the legs it’s on the outside. Each method is a two-step process, so there’s no time-saving in doing it one way over the other, but I think aesthetically I prefer the elastic on the outside, which I didn’t expect. Maybe because it looks more like something you’d buy from a shop, which is what I usually try to avoid.

[Later…]
In fact, I liked the elastic on the outside so much that I trimmed off the waist elastic and sewed it again to match the legs. Much better.

Skull Print Skirt

Mini skull skirt

So, this is a bit of a departure from the type of thing I’ve been sewing lately – in fact it’s a skirt pattern that came from my first business, about eight or nine years ago.

There are four layers of skirt altogether, each with four panels for fullness. The inside three layers are black net, trimmed with red gathered lace. The top layer is skulls-and-roses print cotton, trimmed with the very last piece of black gathered broderie anglais in my stash. Fabric Land haven’t had any of this in stock for a long time, and I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without it. It really is absolutely my favourite kind of trim.

(Is it silly to have a favourite kind of trim? I do, anyway.)

The waistband is another favourite – red bomber-jacker elastic, also from Fabric Land. it’s made in the same way as all of my elasticated skirts – simply divided into quarters and zig-zagged into place.

I haven’t worn a skirt this short for years – in fact I’m not at all convinced that it’s actually long enough to cover my bottom, or that a person of my advancing years should be seen in it at all. I suspect I will be very grateful indeed for a pair of black leggings to wear underneath!

Koi Carp Knickers

Koi Knickers

From Cloth Magazine again. These are made from a lightweight printed cotton, leftovers from a skirt and a corset.

This time I experimented with applying the elastic in a different way. First I stitched it to the outside of the knickers, and then turned the elastic to the inside and used a three-step zig-zag stitch to finish it off. I also modified the pattern slightly, cutting in in two at the crotch and adding a seam allowance. This allowed me to separate the front and back, so that I could use this directional print without any of the fish being upside down.

I’m still not totally convinced that I like the style of these knickers. However, I can confirm that they’re really comfortable to wear, and they’ve survived the washing machine – so that’s a plus!

Butterfly Brocade Knickers

Butterfly brocade knickers

Knickers: Pair Three.
Once again from the pattern in Cloth Magazine.

This pair turned out not to be such a success. The fabric’s a polyester brocade, which doesn’t drape as well as other fabrics. I also used a different type of elastic, thinking that the ruffles would look pretty with the golden butterflies. Unfortunately the elastic isn’t very strong, so it doesn’t pull the fabric in as much as it needs to.

Basically this means that unless I change the elastic, these knickers are just going to fall down! So they’re now on a pile waiting to be unpicked, which is a bit of a shame. Still, this is the point of a learning curve, so I can’t mind too much.