Cotton Boxer Shorts

The first of the bundle of fabrics I had pledged to sew this year, is done. These two cotton plaids could have been short-sleeved summer shirts, but as I mentioned, husband hasn't worn summer shirts in years. He used to, but lately he prefers T-shirts, so the next best thing for these fabrics was to turn into boxer shorts.

And I can assure you, they made husband really happy. I know cotton boxer shorts are not everybody's choice, but husband prefers them and over the years I've perfected the pattern from Shkatulka.

Pattern: Men's Boxer Shorts with a faux fly by Shkatulka

Size: 52

Fabric: cotton plaid

Time to make: one week

I've had the pattern for at least three or four years now. I just checked and size 52 is still free for downloading, if you want to try them. They are quick and easy to make and they even come with a video tutorial. Years ago, when I made them for the first time, I found the video very useful and inspiring, so I do recommend the pattern, though I suppose there are plenty of similar patterns online.

This pattern features a faux fly, which makes the boxer shorts look just a tiny bit more professional and interesting. If you don't want to trouble yourselves with the faux fly, you can of course skip it and just sew the front pieces together similar to the back pieces.

For the elastic I've found, that the most comfortable and stable solution is two rows of 1 cm wide elastic - it is sturdy enough, but not too stiff, as a wider single piece elastic, which I prefer to use for joggers and pants.

The easiest first two fabric pieces are done, now on to the next project, something for myself :)

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

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.

 

Make That Look: Terranova Crop Top

In my favourite fabrics shop downtown I came upon a 50 cm remnant of this sweet viscose knit and I snatched it for a crop top for Gaby. This summer she's been wearing a RTW crop top by Terranova and I knew I could make her a similar one.

On a different note, RTW t-shirts now during the sales at the end of summer are so cheap, that to a non-sewist all that money I've spent into buying sewing machines, fabric, threads and needles (and I'm expecting my own labels to arrive any time soon) seem totally pointless. But it's never been about saving money and it's not even about higher quality, though I try, it's about the love for creating, that's all.

To recreate the pattern, I used as a basis a T-shirt pattern by Shkatulka, which I cropped, extended and further modified to match the original crop top. I even made a mock sample out of a white promotional T-shirt I was about to turn in for recycling - to my surprise it turned out quite nice, Gaby liked it and might wear it at home.

The main seams are sewn on the overlocker, the back of the neck is covered with a band from the same fabric (youtube tutorial here), I cleaned the hem edges on the overlocker and then sewed them on the Elna with twin needle. NB! Always check the settings of the machine when using twin needle - I had forgotten mine on zigzag stitch and of course, I broke my only stretch twin needle :(, so I had to hem the blouse with the twin needle for wovens, using paper straps to make it work on my knit fabric.

After I finished the crop top, I had a small piece of the fabric left, so I made a pair of matching undies. The pattern I used is again one from Shkatulka I've sewn already six times and I know it's a good pattern, though I'm still fiddling with the fit, trying to perfect it.

All in all, pretty happy with this set!

T-shirt Underwear

A while ago I had this idea to try sewing underwear and even bought some picot edge elastic, but my lack of experience with knits and the fact, that I don't have a serger stopped me. Until I came upon Indigochild's free bikini style T-shirt underwear  - an excellent beginner's choice, IMHO. I was so inspired after I read her instructions, that I couldn't wait to finish my work and get to sewing bikinis.
I should mention however, that I had trouble with printing the pattern and the lack of a control box made things even more complicated, but it might have been my computer and/or printer. I managed to get it right in the end and the pattern proved worth the effort - the xs size fits Gaby perfectly.

For my test bikini I used an old Alex's top and Indigochild's instructions for the simplest version, taking advantage of the hem of the top to put an elastic in it.

The bikini came out fitting perfectly, just a bit snug at the waist so I cut the elastic for the next pair a bit longer. The pink pair of undies was made out of an old Gaby's nighty, following the same instructions.

Now I want to try fold-over underwear elastic and some of the extras.

The second free bikini pattern I tried is So-Zo's. The pattern is made very professionally with a test box and printing and preparing it was super easy. However when it came to making the pattern everything went wrong. First - because the T-shirt I chose was long but narrow, I decided to try cutting the pieces not along but across the grain - mistake. I bought 3 mm underwear elastic and finished the leg openings with it, but I don't like it as the picot edge elastic, my stitching is very uneven and very amateur looking. The panties came too deep and too cut-out, sort of 80es style, but it might be just my wrong cutting, so I'll give the pattern a second chance.

In conclusion - making undies is fun and not mission impossible without a serger.  But, as much as I love recycling, the cute and little worn T-shirts I have are from the children and to my surprise they turned too small for a pair of panties and the big old T-shirts of my husband are too worn out and in dull (male) colors. So, having established a pattern, that works well I'll buy some good quality underwear fabric and work with it. But there's going to be some more panty making here soon, that's for sure!