It's Sew Down Time

When I emailed my friend Caroline to say that I was sewing panties yesterday, she replied that they were something she'd always enjoyed sewing, quick and pretty. It's been YEARS since she's sewn any. Maybe she will again. She really enjoyed learning about bras this past summer.

Caroline and I have done a lot of learning together. We've been friends since we were sixteen and connected over sewing. We can talk sewing for hours and our eyes don't glaze over and roll back. It's wonderful. Now that she lives over two thousand miles north of me, we go on regular sewing vacations. We're taking a workshop together in February. In the early 80's, when she lived here, we took local classes to learn how to sew panties, teddies, camisoles, slips, nighties, and active wear - everything lingerie-ish except bras. It's fun to be putting those skills to use again.




I wanted to test two different patterns - the hipster (top) and the highcut panties (bottom). These are both Kwik Sew patterns. The hipsters are ...

... Kwik Sew 2100. The pattern comes with full brief, hipster, and bikini panties in sizes 4 to 13 which are IMHO just numbers because when I looked at the measurement chart and the size they wanted me to sew and compared it to my current RTW, I ended up sewing four sizes smaller, which fits quite nicely. The same sizing issues happened with...




... the master pattern for the high cut panties from the Kwik Sew Beautiful Lingerie book. I downsized from their suggestion and sewed the medium and it was still too big.




Here are the two finished samples. I tried the high cut panties on, took them off, and will give them to someone else. They were too wide, too high cut on the leg, and too long in the body. Not good. In contrast, the hipsters were quite comfortable. I wore them around for the rest of the day to determine any changes for the next sample.




Here's the altered pattern. The leg wrinkled at the side because the join of my leg was much higher than the line of the pattern. I've raised the leg line 2" at the side on the front and back curving into the existing line. The back crotch width was fine; the front crotch width was too wide. I've taken 1" out of the width tapered from front to back and 1/2" out of each side of the crotch on the front piece. At first, I was going to take out a wedge as illustrated above however, since it'll simply shift center front, I've decided to take that taper off at the center. It's quicker, easier, and basically the same adjustment. I've also lowered the entire waistline by 1/2" and the front by an additional 1/2" to accommodate my tipped waist. Today, I'll sew another sample and wear it around to make sure it's comfortable before mass production.

Lorrie wrote: I noticed that you don't use a traditional ironing board. Or do you have one tucked away somewhere for shirts and things?

I think I have one tucked away in the furnace room. If I do, it hasn't seen the light of day for years. The sleeve board works just fine for shirts. It's great for seams too. I use it for almost all of my fashion pressing. Large flat sections are done on the big pressing surface.

Carrie wrote: Where is the best place to buy silk organza?

I have no idea. The only piece I've ever bought was for this pressing cloth and I picked it up at the Snip & Stitch in Nanaimo when I was there for a workshop. It wasn't cheap. Lindsay T has a new blog, Shop the Garment District. I believe there was a comment earlier on about organza. It would be right near the beginning as I don't read the blog regularly.

ParisGrrl wrote: Here's an easy way to make tiny bows....

Thanks for the instructions. I figured it was going to be some method like this. When I find some pretty ribbon, I'll get enough to make a bunch. I almost put off lingerie month until March because I'm going to Nanaimo in February and plan to stop at Fabricana in Richmond on my way down. This is a large fabric store with an extensive bridal section. I'm hoping they'll have some lace and ribbon accessories for lingerie that I can't find here which made me wonder if I should wait. Oh well. If I concentrate on the basics this month, I can do more pretty pieces later.

Heather wrote: You always have such cute fabrics! Is this a cotton knit?

The fabric I used for the pajamas, neck ring, t-shirt and bra was a rayon cotton blend. Very pretty, soft, lovely to wear. I'll be on the watch for more knits like that.

SDBev wrote - Sewing down the stash is a repetitive goal as a person discovers just how very much they've accumulated! I will always have a stash because I have the same problem you did at Fabricland. I can't always walk into the store and find fabrics I love in colors I love so when I find a "good" fabric, I buy it.

Exactly. I just have to stop looking right now. I've allowed the stash to grow significantly beyond the boundaries that I set which is not good. Partly, that's because I find such amazing sales and the fabric hasn't cost me that much. However, there reaches a point and I'm at it.

I was talking about this with a friend the other day. She used to work at Fabricland. We were commenting on how if a fabric is not on sale, just wait a week. If it's really expensive, wait a few months and it'll be marked down 70%. Wait a bit longer and it'll be in the bargain center for $5.00. Wait for sale day and you can get it for $2.50. Certainly that's not true for every fabric. Some sell out earlier. However, it's true for a lot of fabric and is how I've bought most of mine. I don't see the fabric, I see the potential, and I'm curious to follow it up. Right now, I'm focusing my curiosity on what I already have in stash. Perhaps after my trip in February I'll have the space and desire to look again but right now, it's sew down time.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a stashed up box of lingerie supplies to have fun with during lingerie month. I don't need anything more.