Chrissie Nicholson-Wild - Corset makers diary: Hipster knickers

A guest post from Zoe Van Spyk ..

Knickers, panties, smalls, whatever you like to call them, we ladies have a pair for every occasion (and why shouldn’t we?). Since starting at Curve Couture, I have been learning how to draft patterns and sew a wide variety of beautiful lingerie for the launch of the new A/W13 Countryphile Collection; which drops in October at the Curve Couture Etsy Store.

Now obviously I don’t want to share all our CC secrets until the big launch, so here is a little knicker making taster, to keep your appetite whetted.

Ingredients:

Stretch Jersey (patterned)
Cotton Jersey (crotch lining)
Picot edged elastic
Satin bow
Sewing machine
Fabric scissors
Paper scissors
Dressmaker pins
Dot paper, though poster paper or craft paper is a good alternative for pattern drafting.
All Curve Couture patterns are drafted from scratch, but there are a great many downloadable patterns to be found on the internet. For this tutorial I used a hipster pattern courtesy of MakeBra.Com.

1. Cut out the pattern pieces and lay them on the fabric, note that the front and back pieces need to be cut on the fold and you will need two crotch pieces (one for the lining). The pattern I used does not have a seam allowance so make sure you add one of about 0.5mm when cutting it out.

2. Sandwich the front piece between the crotch pattern piece and crotch lining, making sure the edges line up so you can pin them in place. Once your machine is threaded use the zig zag stitch as this maintains the stretchiness of the fabric. You can use a straight stitch, but be aware that it is more likely to snap.

3. Take the back and crotch piece and stitch those together. Twist the lining around and attach the right side of the lining to the wrong side of the back. Once stitched this leaves you with a clean finish for both the front and back crotch.

4. Measure the leg hole and waistband, then cut your elastic about 20% shorter. Attach the elastic to either end of the leg whole (the picot should be attached to the right side of the fabric with the picot facing away from the edge). Find the central point of the elastic and attach to the centre point of the knickers. You can do at approximately 25% / 75% as well, as this will help stop the elastic slipping and losing leg shape as you stitch.

5. You now need to tidy it all up. Trim the edge, and then fold onto itself (providing you with a clean, flush finish). Zig zag stitch on the reverse, this will then neaten everything up and create the desired shape of your knickers.

6. Repeat process on waistband.

7. Sew up side seams. You can either use a zig zag stitch, though personally, I prefer to use an overlocker or French seam, as it tends to give a neater finish.