Pattern: Self drafted and improvised

My goal of buying as little clothes as possible has been going well.  When I thought about the next item I may need to purchase, I realized it wasn’t any type of garment.  It was underwear.  But could I actually make my own underwear instead of buying it?

I am actually quite picky about underwear.  I like thongs because I am self conscious about panty lines (sorry had to say the word).  But some thongs are pretty uncomfortable…you know where.  I happen to like the Victoria’s Secret V-strings the best.  I think they get their name because the elastic thong comes back and makes a V shape in the back.  The front is also V-shaped so maybe that is the actual reason, who knows.  I like them because they are comfortable, but they are also quite expensive for being just two small v’s of cotton.  I tried looking for a pattern online, but it seems like all underwear patterns are for giant briefs or those thick thongs which I hate.  Studying one of my pairs, I thought, I can construct this.  I have the technology!  I just need the elastic….

This was also a perfect way to use up some of my knit scraps.  There is basically no material involved in these so I could have made 50 pairs with what I had in stash.  But I decided to just cut out 8 for now.

I even had some really nice white cotton that I used for that little piece in the crotch.  I have no idea what that is called.  I serged the edges of the underwear, which I think you can see in the photo.  Since these will not be seen by many people, I just used white thread on the serger as it was easiest.

For those who have been following my blog, see if you can figure out which of these projects each undie came from!

For the assembly:

• I used my own store bought pair as an elastic guide to figure out how big to cut the elastic
• I cut 3 separate pieces of elastic: 2 for the sides & 1 for the waistband

The two pieces for the sides were of course the same size.  They each start at one top end of the big V, come around together to form the “string” and then up the sides of the small v.  The larger piece of elastic forms the waist which overlaps on the back, at one of the corners of the small v.  I secured both ends to one corner, then figured out where the middle of the big V was to pin the elastic too.  This will not be the exact middle of the elastic, since you do not attach the ends in the middle of the back.

I used a zig-zag stitch for all of it.  If you have a fancy machine, you can probably use a stretch stitch.  I think this works pretty well since this is how I sewed elastic for my bathing suit.  You can see all the stitching on the orange elastic, but on the black elastic, it looks pretty tidy.  I only got through 4 pairs this weekend because I ran out of black elastic.  I did have some white stretch lace that I cut out for two of the pairs, but it was late when I finished these and I didn’t want to thread my machine with white thread.  Stay tuned for the sequel.

As I type this blog, I am actually wearing one of the pairs!  And I have to say, they are quite comfortable.  Maybe not as easy as popping over to the store (especially during a semi-annual sale), but not so much effort where I couldn’t squeak out a few more pairs.   Hopefully I can put off another trip to the store a few more months.  #lookoutvictoriassecret