Tag: underwear

Selfish Sewing

Sew-Knit-N-Stretch 206, 1969

I work on alternate Mondays, so the two I’m at home have been officially designated “Selfish Sewing” days. Days when I can try out new patterns and work on my own wardrobe, without worrying about whether I should be sewing for the Eternal Magpie shop.

My Panty Girdle (with Crotch Piece) pattern arrived at the weekend, so that was the ideal candidate for my first day of Selfish Sewing!

Sew Knit N Stretch 206

I wasn’t sure what size to make (there are no measurements given anywhere on the pattern!), so I decided to go with XL, which is usually around a vintage size 18. As you can see, the pattern’s nested really nicely, so I can still make other sizes if I need to. As it turns out, in the fabric I’ve chosen (which is just a printed jersey t-shirting), the size XL was almost perfect! The only thing I need to change on the next version is to make a small sway back adjustment, by taking an inch or so out of the centre back seam at the top. Excellent!

I left out the suspender attachments on this first try, mainly because the fabric is nowhere near strong enough to hold them up. If I do decide to make a power mesh version for wearing with stockings, I think I’d probably need to cut a size smaller, to make them more like a proper “control” garment. As it is, they fit really nicely in jersey, are very comfortable, and I think this first pair will make quite serviceable summer pyjamas.

Sew Knit N Stretch 206

The cotton jersey t-shirting was a piece I had left over in the stash, as was the little lace panel. As you can see, these shorts aren’t going to win any prizes for glamour or beauty, but they make a fine wearable muslin, which was the point of the exercise. Before I make more, I need to acquire two things – some stretch lace for the legs, to stop them from riding up, and some stronger elastic for the waistband. The piece I used is nice and soft, but it lacks recovery – when I stretched it out to stitch it into place, it didn’t stretch back as far as it should have done, which could be a problem once they’ve been through the wash a few times!

The instructions for these were more comprehensive than those for the bra slip, and they had lovely little step-by-step illustrations. The only one that was a little bit tricky to understand was the diagram for the waistband elastic – it was too small to really see what was going on, and I think if you didn’t have experience of applying lingerie elastic, you could get yourself into a bit of a muddle. I’m particularly glad that my sewing machine has both a triple straight stitch and a triple zigzag – those are absolutely invaluable for sewing strong stretch seams. The triple zigzag also makes the top stitching look very professional, although all this triple stitching does use up an awful lot of thread. Two complete bobbins, for a garment that only takes half a metre of fabric!

I think the vintage-inspired wardrobe is making good progress – I just need to make a few more of everything now!

Improving on Me-Made May

28/5/14

You may have spotted that I didn’t post very many photos from my Me-Made May escapades. This is partly because I mostly look like some kind of strange triangular bag lady (I like layers, and most of my clothes are comfortable-shaped), and partly because it turns out that I only wear about four outfits, over and over again, with very minor variations. How boring!

28/5/14

Towards the end of the month I made a last-ditch effort to wear some of the smarter clothes in my wardrobe, only to discover that when I put them on… well, suddenly they’re not so smart any more. This dress is now very firmly on the “waiting to be chopped up and turned into something that doesn’t look like a giant floral sack” pile. There’s just no point in wasting time and fabric making clothes that require waist shaping in order to look nice, when waist shaping isn’t something that I actually have myself. Although, having said that, my other vintage dress (also made from an Advance size 18½ pattern without alterations) fitted really well and looked lovely!

17/5/14

See? I still don’t have a waist, but the dress looks smart, not like a huge great cushion’s attacked me while I wasn’t looking. I think this is partly down to the fact that this dress has a smooth skirt rather than miles of pleats. (Also: not a selfie, vintage-style foundation garments, not layered with t-shirts and bloomers and giant boots on account of it being freezing at work.)

Lace crop top

Sadly, even if I did have the budget to wear lovely things from Kiss Me Deadly every day, the fibromyalgia simply wouldn’t allow it. But, the whole Me-Made May experiment did reveal that I am very much lacking in the Me-Made underwear department – despite the fact that I spent plenty of time and money on the London College of Fashion’s Structured Lingerie course back in 2011. I bought this lace when I came back, in a fit of enthusiasm, and it’s been untouched in a box ever since, along with a metre and a half of pink, and four metres of a prettier-than-it-sounds grey. This particular lingerie is about as unstructured as you can get (no wires, no fastenings, nothing), but I used a lot of the skills I learned on the course to make it. The pattern itself is from Sewing Lingerie, a Singer reference book, where it’s described as a “sleep bra”.

The wide stretch lace that I used to make this is actually really affordable, and comes in lots of different colours and patterns. If this one (and the pink one I’ve just finished, and the two or three grey ones I’m going to make next) turn out to be comfortable, I can feel a drawer full of these coming on before Me-Made May next year!

Blooming Lovely

black & red bloomers

Today I have been mostly making bloomers. I made a pair on Tuesday afternoon, from some deep purple cotton lawn, which I wore to work on Wednesday. They were so comfortable in this heatwave we’re having, that I got up today (my day off) and made four more pairs!

Please excuse the creases on the black ones – I tried them on when they were finished, and they were so comfy I wore them for most of the day! They’re cotton lawn, trimmed with broderie anglais trim that I salvaged from a skirt that wore out years ago. The red ones… I’m not quite sure about. I love the trim – it’s vintage white nylon lace, with a little row of red machine-embroidered roses running through the middle. Worn with the right dress over the top they might look great, but at the moment all I can think of is Christmas!

Red & white bloomers

This pair’s better – a slightly different shade of red, trimmed with inch-wide nylon lace. I want to stand on an embankment and wave these at a train, though I suspect I might get into trouble! And yes, I know that Jenny Agutter waved a red flannel petticoat, not a pair of bloomers, but wouldn’t it be a fantastic image to recreate? Both red pairs are polycotton, left over from my Steampunk costumes. I’m not sure why I had so much left, or why I decided to make two pairs of bloomers given that I have no other red clothes to wear them with, but I like them anyway.

pretty pear trim

The white ones though, they’re my absolute favourites.

I pulled the fabric out of a box thinking it was going to be the slightly stiffer polycotton, and was thrilled to discover that it was actually a piece of cotton lawn, just big enough for a pair of bloomers! But look at this trim, isn’t it absolutely adorable? Little pears, for goodness’ sake! I have no recollection of where I found it. It could have been a random Fabric Land bargain, it could have turned up in one of my vintage haberdashery boxes. I only had a small piece, so I’ve been waiting for the perfect project to use it on – and here it is!

Kiss Me Deadly – Paradise Girdle


Photo © Kiss Me Deadly

A few weeks ago, one of these turned up in the post. No, not a lovely blonde lady with a pointy dagger, but a Kiss Me Deadly Paradise Longline Girdle.

Given that during my recent wardrobe purge I threw out every single piece of uncomfortable lingerie I owned (which to Paul’s dismay was nearly all of it), this might seem like a bit of a bonkers purchase. And it is, a little bit. But in its favour, it’s stretchy, it doesn’t dig in anywhere, and best of all – you can colour it in.


Photo © Kiss Me Deadly

Yes, you read that correctly. The design itself is black and white, but every Paradise girdle is supplied with a set of paints and a brush, so you can paint your own. I chose the pearlescent paints, because I like the subtle effect in this picture, but you can also choose from sparkly, glittery, or glow in the dark! Kiss Me Deadly are awarding prizes for pictures of the finished result, so I’d probably better get a move on and colour mine in!

I do need to make a small alteration to mine first though. Despite the advice on the KMD website to order this particular garment by your waist size rather than your hip measurement, I went the other way. This means it’s a little bit too big for me at the top, but I’m glad I went for the larger size otherwise I think it would have been too constricting for me at the bottom. Please note – my body is a very odd shape, thanks to 20 years of IBS and three lots of abdominal surgery, so if you’re buying one of these I would still recommend following the fitting advice on the website! However, I have the technology to take in the side seams at the waist without disrupting the technical construction of the girdle, so I’m going to do that before I get the paints out.


Photo © Marks and Spencer

Recently, Catherine wrote an article for The Lingerie Addict about What It’s Like to be a Woman with a Disability in the Lingerie Industry. This was particularly well timed for me to read, having just thrown out all my bras and replaced them with distinctly un-glamorous (but tolerably comfortable) brightly-coloured cotton crop tops from M&S. (Yes, they’re for children. Yes, that makes me feel weird.) Some of my health issues are different from Catherine’s, some of them are similar. And let’s just say that the multiple mirrors in a Marks & Spencer changing room do very little for the self-esteem of a woman who’s almost forty, overweight, in constant pain, and trying on children’s underwear as something of a last resort. That was not the most enjoyable morning I’ve ever had.

But, I did realise that if these crop tops are comfortable enough, then I could probably get away with one of Kiss Me Deadly’s more unstructured bras, like the Van Doren. (I love the style of the Fifi, but just looking at that narrow band makes my ribs hurt!) If this is a picture of the back of the Van Doren bralet (which I think it is), that nice deep strap and wide elastic combination looks very promising indeed.

First things first though – time to make that alteration to the waist of the Paradise girdle, and then get the paints out! Honestly, clothes you can colour in? Best. Idea. EVER.

Vintage Underwear

Vintage Underwear

On Saturday morning I went to a local antique shop, looking for a wooden hand that I could use to display gloves. (As you do.) I didn’t find one, but I did find four lovely pieces of vintage underwear that I snapped up with great glee!

Vintage Underwear

First out of the basket was this petticoat. It’s in perfect condition, just a few rust spots here and there, and it actually fits me! I’ll just need to shorten the straps, and unpick the tape that’s been used to create gathers under the arms. Then I can wear it underneath the dresses I’m planning to make from my new pattern.

Vintage Underwear

Next up was not one, but two pairs of great big drawers! They’re decorated with drawn threadwork on the legs, each in a different style. Both pairs are a bit damaged. One has a lot of yellowing and a hole in the crotch. The plan for these, I think, is to cut away the worst of the damaged fabric and put in a whole new panel. I’ll also need to replace the elastic and drawstring at the back.

Vintage Underwear

The threadwork is gorgeous though, so fine! I genuinely can’t tell whether the spots in the middle of the squares are made by hand or machine. They’re so even!

Vintage Underwear

The other pair has a simpler design, but no less lovely. These have been repaired quite a lot, and will need a fair bit of work doing if they’re going to be rescued and returned to a wearable state. There’s a small tear at the front waist, and the drawstring channels have come apart on both sides. The crotch is intact in this pair, and in fact looks to have been replaced. The stitching is so tiny that the seams are virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding fabric. There’s also quite a large tear in the back of one leg, that’s been mended in a similarly delicate way.

Vintage Underwear

Both pairs are monogrammed with the initials “MR” just to the left of the centre front.

Vintage Underwear

And last but not least, there’s this pretty little camisole. More modern than the other pieces, it’s overlocked on the inside, and made from lawn rather than densely woven cotton. I can’t tell yet whether the straps will need replacing, or whether they’ll be fine after a good hot iron.

Vintage Underwear

The ribbon that’s threaded through the channel at the front definitely needs replacing though, and there’s a tear that will need to be mended. There’s also a double row of stitching around the waist, that must presumably have once contained elastic. This one’s not as carefully made as the others, which makes me feel less bad about altering it rather than trying to preserve it. In fact, I’m thinking that I might turn it upside down, and make it into a pretty little petticoat or summer nightdress for my niece.

Not bad, for a completely unexpected find!

The History of Underclothes

This is my new favourite book. Originally published in 1951 (the Dover edition above is from 1992), it’s a detailed history of underclothes (the clue is in the title!) from the medieval period to the 1930s. The information is collected from magazines and catalogues, as well as museums and the study of extant garments.

The tone of the writing, as you might expect, is rather dated, and reveals perhaps more than the authors intended about 1950s attitude towards underwear! But the descriptions are invaluable, and extremely detailed.

I only wish that the book had continued to write about one more decade. At the moment I’m interested to learn about underwear of the 1940s – specifically the Utility Clothing Scheme. There’s quite a bit of information out there about CC41 clothing, but I haven’t turned up much about the underwear. Was it included in the brand? Were people expected to just keep wearing the same old worn-out underpants? Did many people make their own? I’m still at the “googling vaguely” stage of research at the moment, so if anybody has any links that might be useful, please feel free to share!

Ghostly pants…

Ghostly pants...

Here I am, showing my underwear to the internet again. Please excuse the glimpse of my horrid garden beyond, I’m far more embarrassed about you seeing that than I am about showing you my knickers!

These started off life as a teddy, but I made a mistake while I was applying the elastic to the top. It didn’t fit right, and the straps kept falling off my shoulders, so I decided to take the scissors to it and try again. This is the result – a pair of french knickers in lovely soft bamboo fabric.

The centre front and back are finished with french seams, but I got a bit lazy at the side seams and just overlocked them. The legs are lazier still – just a lettuce hem run straight through the overlocker.

I wanted to use a soft, wide elastic as I thought that would be more comfortable than a narrow lingerie elastic that might dig in. I deliberately didn’t cut them on the bias, mainly because I didn’t have enough fabric to do that when I was cutting an entire teddy, and also because the fabric has such good drape that I didn’t think it was necessary. I may change my mind as I wear these, but they’re so soft that I think they’ll be fine.

Now all that remains is to wear and wash them a few times, and see how they cope with actually being worn. If they’re as comfortable as they look, I can foresee plenty more pairs of little bamboo shorts in my future wardrobe!

Floral fabric and vintage knickers

1980s underwear

I had intended to spend this morning sewing, but the temperature in the Shed soon put paid to that. It took an hour and a half for the little heater to force its way into double figures. Brrr! I think this is perhaps the only disadvantage of working in a Shed in the garden – it’s blooming cold when it snows!

By the time I’d spent half the morning sending work-related emails (on a day when I’m not at work, more fool me), it seemed pointless to start something when I have to go out this afternoon to catalogue some more beetles.

So, here are my latest bargains from the weekend!

The fabric is a £3.49/m cotton from Fabric Land, and it’s creased because it’s been through a 60° wash and the tumble dryer. This is a much harsher treatment than it’s ever going to receive once it’s a dress, so I can be confident that it won’t shrink or otherwise misbehave in the wash once I’ve spent ages making it. Paul mumbled something about cushions when I showed it to him. Rude.

The pattern was a bargain from my local Sue Ryder shop, in the centre of Reading, which has a large Retro and Vintage section that I love to bits. I’m not sure whether 1988 (the date of this pattern) counts as either Retro or Vintage, but it was 25 years ago… which certainly makes me feel old!

Anyway, the pattern only cost £2, and although some of it’s been cut up and sellotaped back together (argh!), the part that I really wanted is still intact. That’s the two different styles of french knickers, which I plan to make both in printed cotton and in bamboo. The pattern’s a size too small for me, but I plan to cheat it by sewing with smaller seam allowances.

I wonder whether I actually do have time to run up a quick pair now, before I go off to my beetles…?

What’s with all the underwear?

I was chatting to a friend who reads my blog posts when they pop up on Facebook, and he wanted to know why I’d been making such a lot of underwear recently.

There are two reasons, really. When my latest work contract came to an end, I thought that making simple little knickers would be a good way of using up some of the smaller pieces in my fabric stash. This has turned out to be far more complicated than I’d thought (don’t things always?) because of my apparent inability to draft a knicker pattern that I actually like. Once I’ve got that part sorted out I’ll be good to go, but there’s going to be a lot of trial and error along the way.

This ties neatly into the other reason I wanted to make my own underwear – I can’t find anything that fits. In my goth clubbing days I used to wear corsets, but because I’m so short-waisted they didn’t fit properly. So I decided to make my own. The same goes for bras – despite being allegedly an “industry standard” size, it’s painfully apparent that there’s no such thing. I don’t think I’ve ever worn a bra that’s actually fitted me well and been comfortable.

But, despite my overwhelming desire to be comfortable, I don’t want to head into my forties in boring old underwear! And when I went window-shopping online to see what else was out there, I discovered that most people’s idea of glamorous underwear is either horrid thongs and scratchy lace, or vintage-inspired pieces based on shapewear. And to be honest, I’m not really interested in being squished into someone else’s idea of a mythical “ideal” shape – I’d much rather wear something that fits the shape I actually happen to be.

So, I’m trying to design some underwear that fills a few important criteria:

  • MUST be comfortable!
  • Preferably made from a natural fibre
  • Pretty and luxurious without being scratchy or squashy
  • Can be worn everyday, rather than saved for “best”

I’m nowhere near there yet, but that’s what I’m working on, and why!

Cupcake Knickers

Cupcake shorts

I thought these might be an improvement on the teeny-tiny strawberry shorts, but they’re not.

They’re bunchy between the legs, the satin bias tape is stiff and horrible, and the elastic’s all rolled up inside the casing. Very disappointing. I was hoping that these would work in the organic cottons, which are a similar weight to quilting cotton, but now I’m not sure.

However, I remain hopeful that if I actually decide to be brave enough to try these out in a lighter fabric, I should get a better impression of what they’re actually going to be like. Next time I might add a seam down the front and back, so I can cut them on the bias. I think that would look pretty in a nice washed silk dupion.

I definitely want to make these from woven fabrics, and I really want them to be floaty and pretty, not stiff like cotton boxer shorts. What I really want is to make them out of silk, but because silk is expensive I have a mental block about using it to make prototype garments, many of which are going to be unwearable.

Thankfully a friend of a friend gave us the name of a shop in London that sells silks from £2.50 a metre – if you don’t mind buying ten metres at a time. So even after you add in the cost of getting to London, that’s still most definitely a bargain!

I think it might be time to splash out on some more appropriate fabric, so that I can make as many prototypes as I need to without worrying about the cost.