Underoos!

Isn't it wonderful the things you can do for yourself with a little knowledge? I've been studying pattern drafting since around 2007 under Don McCunn and have never been successful making something for myself from a custom pattern until now. It's not pants or a shirt, but of all things, underwear.

Until I started getting comfortable sewing knits, I thought underwear would be difficult to make and sort of scoffed at the idea of making it. But it turns out that it's one of the easiest things you can sew, and there are good reasons for making your own. We'll start with size:

You may have noticed in the top picture that these panties look big. Here they are with purchased size 5's laid over them. Look at the difference! Looking at this, you'd be inclined to think that I've been buying the wrong size, but 6 is too loose on me. Manufacturers purposefully make the underwear stretch like this in order to fit as many people as possible. Not only does this make comfortable pairs hard to find, it wears them out faster. When people make custom fitted underwear, they're surprised at how big they are and somewhat dismayed to find out that their proportions are not as small as they thought they were, including me.

The other big reason is comfort. Everything is where you need it to be instead of riding and bunching. No more digging! It's amazing how much more comfortable these are than purchased ones. I forget I have them on. When they're fitted properly, they don't leave those deep marks on skin after they're removed. You can get as much coverage as you need without looking like granny panties.

If you'd like to make panties, check out Don's blog and classes. But hurry, classes are being discontinued in 2013.

Update: turns out you do need all that negative ease. The pants kept getting pulled down all the time so I finally sewed big tucks into the waistbands to reduce them.