Making Your Own Underwear

It's National Underwear Day so I am re-posting about how I made my own. 

 Hello Readers. Real talk. I needed new underwear and it led to this sewing project. I could have bought underwear but I decided to make my own custom fitted underwear. And I am really glad I did.

 

Before and after. 

 

I don't want you to think this is a blog that is going to hate on leggings. It's not. I love stretchy pants as much as any middle-aged woman. But when I was cleaning up and putting away laundry I realized that I had collected a lot of leggings. It seemed to be too many pairs. I couldn't fit them all in one drawer. That was too many. I was trying to figure out where to put all the leggings and thought I should maybe get rid of some. I saved all the solid colors to wear and decided to use the wild patterns for something I needed.

I decided to make underwear. (Note*If you are looking for tips on how to make sexy lingerie, this is not the right place. I am making boring, full coverage granny panties here.) I took all the leggings and got to work. I cut the waistband off the leggings and saved it for later.

 

I cut the legs apart along  the inner leg seam so I could spread the fabric out. I used my underwear pattern from Megan Nielsen Patterns. This is a great pattern. You can go to her site to see all the patterns she has for sale.  (*Not an ad. She doesn't know me.)

 

  Why did I decide to make underwear? Because I needed some new underwear. I almost bought some but then I said, "Wait!" I could make my own with this super soft legging fabric.

 

I made a lot of underwear. There are a few pairs that didn't get in the picture.

 

 I put the waistband back on the underwear instead of making a waistband as the pattern directed. It was faster and it made them a little more high at the waist than the pattern called for. That is the fun of sewing, you decide what you want to make and how it should fit you. 

 

I used the rest of the legging fabric too. 

 

 I cut squares and put them together to make wash clothes. These are so soft and gentle, especially around the eyes. I just serged the edges of 2 squares together.

 

I made as many wash clothes as I could because you can't have too many. These will be great.

These were so soft on my face too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This underwear turned out great. Some of the lace fell apart after a few months of washing. It was very disappointing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Easy Summer Robe

 Hello Readers. It is already June and it is time for a new theme. This months theme is animal prints. I always shy away from animal prints so this will push me into having more in my wardrobe. We are going to start with this loose sort of jacket in a giraffe print. 

Before and after. 

I think this light weight piece is meant to wear over leggings. It is from a certain company that is famous for leggings. (And scandals!) It is knit material with a lot of stretch. It also had 2 big pockets. I like pockets! I didn't really need a jacket but it looked a lot like a bathrobe to me. But it didn't have a belt to tie it closed. A robe needs to have a belt to tie around the waist right?

 

I went digging through the stash in my closet and looked for some kind of brownish trim I could use. 

 

Here it is. It is brown and flat. I am going to make it work. 

 

I made sure there was enough to tie around my waist and I was ready to go. I knew this trim would fray like crazy. I folded the end in twice and used a zigzag stitch to sew back and forth over the fold. I wanted to close the end and stop all fraying. I did this to both ends.

 

I wanted to attach the belt to the robe so I put it on my dress form. You could also just try it on if you do not have a dress form. I wanted to see how the belt fit around the waist and where I could stitch it to the sides of the robe because it didn't come with belt loops. I don't want to make belt loops and I have no extra giraffe fabric to make them with.

 

I used pins to hold the belt to the robe and made sure I could fold the front over itself to close the robe in the front. I adjusted the belt a bit. I used a few stitches to attach the belt to the sides of the robe. 

 

I attached the belt to the robe so it wouldn't fall off when it wasn't tied. It seemed easier to attach it rather than try top make belt loops.

You can see where I attached the trim to the sides of the pocket here. The ends of the trim are folded in and under twice to hide all the loose ends and it is all stitched down so it won't be able to fray.

I wanted trim on the pockets but I made sure the pockets are still functional.

 

 My robe was great for the morning when it was a bit cool in the house. I liked the trim with the robe. It was a lux touch on the simple robe. We all need a bit of luxury now and then. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I wear this almost every day. This was a great project for me.