Rustybobn Sews Panties
Come On! You know you want to!
Panties are one of those super-easy sewing projects that net a lot of skill-improvement and feelings of accomplishment. They're hard to show off, though, unless you want to put up a web page(!). I like to sew them because I can make them to fit my body, in the colors and fabrics that I want--despite what may be fashionable at the time. Hey...isn't that why I sew anything???
I did a brief web search and I didn't find a whole lot about panties out there. There is one site where the stitcher makes panties from hankies.... Check it out here: http://www.dab.hi-ho.ne.jp/runo/ht/howto01.html There are a few panty reviews among the Lingerie on Pattern Review. But you really won't find too much. Here's a brief look at panty construction from the Rustybobn point of view.
Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
Assemble your materials:
- Some stretchy fabric that you like. I enjoy using polyester knits from the bargain table. The one in this page came from Fabric.Com's Everythings $1.00 section.
- Elastic in two widths for waist and legs. You can use stretch lace (if you can find it), lingerie elastic, or regular elastic.
- A pattern, either from a regular sewing pattern, or lifted from a well-fitting pair of store-bought panties
- Sewing machine and regular sewing accouterments (scissors, pins, thread, measuring devices...)
|
These are some of the books that I have with panty instructions inside. These also include measurements for the elastic which can be helpful, especially if you have lifted a pattern from store-bought drawers--uh, panties. |
|
Each pattern will look somewhat different, depending upon who drafted it. This one has three pieces: front, back and crotch piece and came from the Kwik Sew Beautiful Lingerie book. The book offers the pattern as waist high with regular or high-cut legs. I wanted a lower waist, so I cut an inch or so off the top of this pattern. |
|
This pattern came from Kwik Sew's Swim and Action Wear book. You can see that the crotch piece is cut onto the front of the panty. I cut a separate piece for the crotch lining. This is the pattern that I'll use throughout this demonstration. |
|
This is the pattern that I traced off a pair of H*nes panties that I bought last year. They fit really well, and actually this pattern fits me better than either of the others. |