Burda 6202 with Roses

A simple set I made this week for Gaby - raglan blouse Burda 6202 and a pair of panties from the remnants of the fabric. I bought the fabric from a store for Italian textile, where I shop fabrics from time to time and I think it is the same print as this fabric I sеwed for Gaby last year, but in different colors.

I asked for 1 m of the fabric, but when I returned home and washed it, I found that I had only 82 cm. I was of course, a bit upset, but I still managed to make exactly the blouse I had in mind, with a pair of panties, as I had planned it, so all was good in the end and I was even super proud with myself and patting myself on the shoulder for my fabric-Tetris mastery :)

The pattern I used is one I've been rediscovering lately - Burda 6202 raglan top. I made a similar one for myself early in the summer and I soon found, that I did not like the wide elastic, so I replaced the elastic with a cuff and I've been wearing that blouse with preference ever since. So, I thought Gaby might enjoy a similar one as well. It is, of course, another matter when she will get it, but as the pattern is more or less classic, I don't think passing fashion would be an issue.

Pattern: Burda 6202 from Burda Catalogue 1 / 2020

Size: 36, shortened

Fabric: cotton knit fabric, 82 cm.

Time to make: 2 days

Pattern: Megan Nielsen Acacia

Size: 0

Fabric: cotton knit fabric

Time to make: 1 day

 

Lingerie

I've piled again some new makes, needing photographing. 

Because lingerie takes so little fabric, soon after embracing clothes sewing I was hooked on making our own lingerie, mostly for myself and husband.

Although my first experience with Megan Nielsen Acacia Underpants was not very successful, I went down a size, changed the shop, from which I buy the elastic, and now these are my go-to undies for myself. I made two new pairs, using fold-over elastic for one and lingerie elastic for the other.

Pattern: Megan Nielsen Acacia Underpants

Size: 0

Fabric: cotton jersey

Time to make: 2 days

I also sewed two pairs of boxers for husband. Cotton boxers are his preferred underwear in these hot summer days and I've perfected the Shkatulka pattern to fit him comfortably.

Patter: Shkatulka Men's Boxers

Size: 52, modified

Fabric: cotton

Time to make: 2 days

Movie Night Pajamas

A few lounge wear items I made recently for Gaby - Love Notion's Leggin's size 14 and the top of Women's Movie Night Pajamas by Sew a Little Seam.

I had been eyeing this yellow butterfly bamboo knit for a while specifically with these pajamas in mind and when I finally decided that I like it enough  - it was gone, just about a meter left. I bought the remnant and made the top of the pajamas, but now I'll have to find a matching fabric for the bottom. 

I chose the crew neck with the placket style and long sleeves, but I don't think I'll be making more pajamas with buttons - so much work for nothing. Still, I wanted to experiment with the placket as I also bought a piece of fabric, intended for a t-shirt with a placket, so the practice on these pajamas was definitely useful.

Pattern: Movie Night Pajamas by Sew a Little Seam

Size: 0-2, shortened

Fabric: 100% bamboo knit

Time to make: 2 days

 

I had about 30-40 cm of fabric left, so I made a matching bikini.

Pattern: Acacia by Megan Nielsen

Size: 0 

Fabric: 100% bamboo knit

Time to make: 1 day

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.