Underwear wears out so why not make a few special pairs for yourself of your special someone. Not sure you want to commit to purchasing a pattern? This post is a how to sew underwear Melly Sews tutorial project review.
The link to the project overview and video tutorial is:
Sew underwear with a free panties pattern
The PDF pattern may be purchased for a small fee or obtained for free by subscribing to Melly Sews. The pattern is for personal use only.
For the purposes of my review, I’m going to summarize the basic steps, tell you what I did differently (if anything) and share my general thoughts about sewing the project.
Step 0 Gather Materials
Stretch-knits and all-over stretch lace are appropriate fabrics for this project. You will also need elastic. I saved some panty elastic and stretch-knits from my previous panty-making project [link] to sew this one.
Over the last several years I purchased cotton spandex, nylon spandex and polyester spandex fabrics from the bargain bins of my local fabric stores. I also salvaged some 100% cotton knit fabric from t-shirts that were too long for me and used this material for the gussets of my women’s underwear (all fabrics were pre-washed prior to sewing). I purchased some panty elastic from Bra-makers Supply.
I also purchased some ball point sewing machine needles for this project. Their rounded points push aside the fabric’s fibres rather than cutting through them the way a standard needle does. A stretch needle could also be used to sew underwear.
It’s important to follow the cutting instructions regarding direction of greatest stretch and to use the stitches indicated for a good result.
Step 1 Sew Gusset
I immediately changed my presser to my Telflon foot as it gave the best results when sewing nylon spandex, polyester spandex and cotton spandex fabrics for other projects. I took a little bit of trial and error to pin the layers together correctly. If you struggle with this step do refer to Melly’s video tutorial . I really like how the gusset turned out with raw edges completely hidden.
Step 2 Sew Side Seams
This step is self explanatory.
Step 3 Sew Elastic
I used the recommended elastic lengths. Initially I was concerned that the elastic would be too long, but my first pair of panties fit great. I preferred to mark my elastic and waist opening every 1/8 of the way around and pin every 1/16 of the way around due the slipperiness of the fabrics I was working with. A few extra pins along the gusset helped keep the layers from shifting. I like to sew the waist elastic on, sew the leg elastics on and then turn all three elastics to the inside and sew the finishing seams.
That’s it! There are only three steps!
Here are some photos of my finished panties:
Conclusion
I found this underwear pattern extremely easy to use. The information for how to determine my size was clear and concise and the leg and waist elastic lengths for each size were included. This was a bonus as I had some difficulty determining elastic lengths with my first pair of Pin-up Girls panties. These panties fit well and I look forward to using this pattern to sew some more panties in the future.
Have you made our would you make underwear? Have you used this pattern? Did you like this how to sew underwear Melly Sews tutorial project review? Comment below and/or Pin me for later!
Tanya
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