Valentine's underwear

This was upcycled from one of my Mums T shirts that she threw out last summer. She normally just gives away to charity shops but because of lockdown had bags of stuff to get rid of and everywhere was shut and I got to choose whatever I wanted. I chose several T shirts. 

 One of them had a pretty blue hearts print. I have never really been a pink girl but was always blue as a kid. So making blue hearts underwear is the closest I get to Valentine's undies. These are probably no as sexy as normal Valentine's stuff either but they suit my personality and will be very wearable in future which matters to me. 

I have used both patterns before. The bra is the Sierra free pattern from Madalynne and the knickers are the Acasia free pattern from Megan Neilson.  

You need to sign up to the websites for each pattern but to be honest I enoy the newsletters so was happy to do this. And I have used both patterns a lot!

 Ok, so what can I say? The lining on the Sierra is powermesh. Its not the best quality but this is the 4th or 5th Sierra I have made now so I know it will work. The clip to fasten is a bikini clip from Ebay because I have now made sevaral with bra clips and bikini clips and prefer the bikini clip. If you were making this as a summer cropped top it would probably be better with this anyway. I am not intending to wear this ever on show. At least other than for the blog.

 

The knickers have gusset made from the same fabric as the outer. Self gusset? I am unsure of the correct way to detail that. Both have stretch lace. 

 

I have finaly got very good at sewing the Sierra so you cannot see the overlocking at all. The instructions tell you how to do this. 

 

You kind of flip the parts over as you sew to completely enclose the seams and its very easy once you get your head round it. The thing that held me up with finishing this is the bra strap. This set has been virtually finished on my sewing table for 2 months because if this, so I decided to finally get my arse into gear and finish this - for Valentine's day since it is covered with ( blue) hearts.

  

It was the bra elastic that was the problem but since today is Valentines day I really should get round to doing the elastic on the bra and wearing them. Its the same stretch velvet strap used on all my previous versions but I can never work out how to thread the things.

I sew underwear when I have just a few minutes available so can for example just sew some leg elastic and leave it for another day to do the next bit so these are kind of, in-between projects. I also keep a stack ( literally!) of knickers and bras already cut out. This is made from all the small bits left over from other projects ( generally that is because these were specifically cut from an old Tshirt so this set is a bit different). 

I have found it better to use the small bits and get them cut into underwear rather than just keep it all stashed for whenever. It takes less space up this way and I have knickers ready to sew whenever I want to make them rather than be clearing tables to do my cutting. Mostly though its about making the most of my space. A bit of fabric large enough for, say knickers, takes up more space than the cut out knickers. And stacked in a pile in a plastic storage box keeps everything neat.

 I do think perhaps its time for a break from the Sierra though because recently I prefer my other free Madalynne pattern - the Noel. And I have made quite a few of these now. There are several others you can have (for free) from Madalynne as well as some she developed for Simplicity.

 Happy Valentine's day. 

Stay safe and be happy

Bracken