Tag: knickers!

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.

Knickers!

Knickers!

Today I went shopping to buy some sketchbooks, which is something that I do at the beginning of every year. While I was in the art shop I spotted a little magazine I hadn’t seen before, called Cloth.

I had a quick flip through, and spotted some instructions for making a pair of knickers. They looked easy and fun, so I decided to give it a go. These little spotty numbers took about an hour from start to finish, including printing out the pattern and gathering up all the supplies.

They’re made from a non-stretch fabric, so that when you add the elastic they go all ruffly. I’m not 100% certain that’s a look I like, although the pictures in the magazine of knickers made in silk and with ribbons and ruffles are absolutely adorable!

I think I might make a few more pairs of these – I have loads of lingerie elastic in the stash, and they’d be especially comfy in stretch cotton recycled from an old t-shirt. Not as glamorous as this spotty pair, but lovely and comfy.

The pattern is available online, but I heartily recommend that you buy the magazine. They have a really nice mix of projects, ranging from these simple pants through to building a sheepskin lining for a jacket. They also have a comprehensive section of sewing instructions, so that even a complete beginner could pick up the magazine and have a go. I’ll definitely be looking out for the next issue!

Knickers!

I’ve been meaning to do this for ages, and only just got around to it – I turned an old t-shirt into a pair of knickers!

You need quite a big t-shirt for this. If, like me, your bum is bigger than your chest, there’s no way you’re going to get a pair of knickers that fit you out of a skinny-fit t-shirt! If in doubt, try the t-shirt on, and make sure it goes round your bum with room to spare. You need seam allowances too, don’t forget.

Before

After:

(The picture’s now on the back, in case that’s not clear from the photos. The last one is of the inside.)

I probably won’t be posting these to because I’m really not very pleased with the way they’ve come out. They fit me, and they’re wonderfully soft and comfy, but the finishing is frankly awful. The tension in the elastic is uneven, and I hate the way that there’s a raw edge on the gusset inside. How annoying is that going to be after a couple of washes, when it’s all rolled up?!

The knickers I normally wear don’t actually have a gusset, so I’ll probably leave that out next time. The edges are all overlocked, with pretty elastic topstitched to the outside, so I think I’ll follow that example on my next pair as well.

Now to search Ebay for some pretty knicker elastic…