Clothing Engineer

Just finished these last night:

These were made out of a 2-way stretch rayon jersey (96% rayon, 4%
lycra).  I got it from fabric.com – just do a search for “stretch
rayon jersey”.

I made some different design changes this time.  I love
lace waistbands, so I used stretch lace instead of elastic on the
waist.  Nothing fancy this time, just serged together in the back
and topstitched to the body with the cover stitch machine, then trimmed
the excess fabric.  For the legs…I don’t have black plush lingerie
elastic on hand, only the plain kind.  I noticed on my Calida
bikinis that the elastic is cover stitched on the outside instead of
turned under (like the instructions recommend).  Of course I don’t
have the same quality elastic they do, but it is nice nonetheless so I
cover stitched it on the outside, then trimmed like I did for the
waistband. 

The only thing I might try different next time is drafting the
leg holes lower, and making the stretch lace in the front a V instead
of going straight across.  I’ve seen this on a ton of RTW panties.

I think they turned out really, really nice.  I’m glad I
bought that bolt of 10 yards of this rayon, because it is perfect for
this project – very thin and soft, with a silkier feel than plain
cotton/lycra jersey.

As with most projects, the two-way stretch worked out better for
me than the four-way.  They seem to stay in place better. 
I’m starting to wonder if four-way stretch jersey is all it is cracked
up to be.  It is much easier for me to make fashionable tops out
of the two-way stretch stuff.  It can be difficult judging knits
and how well they will work for a pattern since they vary so much with
thickness and degree of stretch.  I also noticed I’m getting
better results now that I sew with knits with a maximum of 6%
lycra.  Usually 4% or less works best for what I sew.

These are View B of Kwik Sew 2908. I drafted, cut, and finished
these in a few hours. I made them out of a mint green rayon/lycra
jersey; the fabric content is 92% rayon, 8% spandex:

I
love them! I highly recommend using a rayon/lycra knit. It is still
breathable like cotton, but has an extra sheen, and clothes seem to
slide over it a little easier. I’ve made these before, but this is the
first time I’ve used this type of knit. I also used my Baby Lock Evolve
machine. Have a coverstitch machine makes knits so much quicker and
easier to work with.

A few things to note about this pattern:

• The crotch is drafted extremely wide.  I had to cut off about 1/2″ on either side of the crotch, especially up front.
• For
  the legs, I did not distribute the elastic evenly like the directions
  suggested. Instead I pinned the elastic and panty into quarters as
  suggested by the instructions, then stretched the elastic for the leg
  about 1 1/2″ past where it should have been put for the pins. This
  created extra fullness in the rear, which helps prevent them from
  riding up. I read about this technique in Sewing Lingerie That Fits.

Read the full pattern review.