Lingerie

Three pairs of undies I made using the overlocker and discarded T-shirts. For all of these I followed the excellent step-by-step tutorial by TomKat Stitchery and two patterns - my true-and-tried Shkatulka pattern and the Megan Nielsen Acacia Underpants. Both of these patterns came free - the Shkatulka is free for my size and you can get the Acacia for free when you subscribe for the newsletter.

These are the Shkatulka undies, which where the first I tried with the overlocker, when  I still didn't have enough black bobbins, so one of the threads is light blue. I like the fit of the Russian 40 size (xs), my only gripe is with the height of the back, which I am still trying to reduce, without narrowing the leg openings. For this pair I used lingerie elastic.

 

These are the first of the Acacia Underpants, size 2, using lingerie elastic. Although I cut the elastic at 85% of the circumference of the openings, I got the lettuce effect and the undies do not hug me. The leg openings and the waist are wider than needed and I'm not sure if I have to go up or down a size for better fit, but these are not a success.

 

The second Acacia pair is however even worse. I decided to try the method, suggested by Whitney - using strips of elastic cotton knit instead of lingerie elastic, attaching the strips the same way as you would for the neckbinding of a T-shirt. Although my navy cotton knit is very stretchy and with excellent elastic recovery, it does not hold the undies steady and I do not feel them comfortable.

All of these notes are not a criticism of the pattern and the methods for constructing undies, but rather a review of my failure to fit the pattern to my preferences. I'm going to try a third time the Acacia, going down a size and using different fabric, to make sure that I've explored all avenues.