Bikini or thong?  Single string or double string?  Lace overlays or printed jersey?  The Sunflower Panty offers a variety of styling options to fill up your underwear drawer.  The string bikini is one of my favorite panty styles, especially during the hottest time of the year.  The sweltering heat makes me want as little fabric on my body as possible, and a string bikini is about as comfortably spare as I can get!

Next up in my fitting and alteration series is changing the rise length.  Wanting to change the rise length might be a personal preference, or it may be due to a difference in torso length.  For this fitting/alteration exercise I'm going to assume that it is due to a different body shape than what the pattern was drafted for.

During the testing phase of the Hellebore Hi-Cut, one of my testers said she was surprised by how very high cut the legs were, and her pair seemed to be much higher than the pictures indicated.  After a bit of conversation, we determined that her crotch length was 2" shorter than the length indicated for her size.  ​Let's use this same fitting problem here:

Next up in my panty fitting series is probably the most common problem I see; the back of the panty sliding into the bum and causing much discomfort.  In American English we call it a wedgie.  What causes it and how do we fix it?  Let's take a look.

Creating a test garment and fitting a pattern is pretty standard among sewists, because rarely do we fit into whatever standard measurements a designer uses.  Ready-to-wear clothing is designed to fit a wide range of bodies, which is why it tends to have lots of ease and fabric that stretches whenever possible. 

​But what about undergarments? Something that is worn so closely against the body needs to be fitted carefully, and I haven't seen too many resources for fitting panties.  So here I am with a short series of fitting problems you might encounter while fitting your undies.

Today I have the final tester roundup for the Hellebore Hi-Cut.  If you missed it, here are part 1 and part 2.

Robin used some very cool Game of Thrones inspired fabric.

Hello, sewing friends!  Back again today with the second tester roundup for the Hellebore Hi-Cut panties.  In case you missed it, here is the first tester roundup.

When Edyta signed up as a tester, she shared with me that she was five months pregnant and wanted to make sure I'd be ok with her testing.  Since I have never been pregnant myself, and don't know much about maternity clothing, I thought why not?  The Hellebore Hi-Cut worked out well for her as far as fit, and I just love the double brushed poly print she used.

Hello, sewing friends! Today I'm sharing with you the first of three tester roundups for the Hellebore Hi-Cut panties.

When I created my first pattern, the Daisy Briefs, I received requests for panties with options for self bands and binding, and also for a back with less coverage.  So I decided to make another basic style panty, this one with high leg openings (you might also know them as French cut), and provide several finishing options.

I love seeing the fun prints and colors that my testers come up with.  Along with checking for a good fit across my size range, my testers provide me with helpful feedback on the instructions and inspiration for new color combinations.  Some of them have such cute and funny knits in their fabric stashes, I'm finding new vendors to shop from.

So, here are the first six projects from my testers:

Hot Pink and black is such a classic combination.  Amanda made up Style B, and it is fun to see what the lace looks like over a print.

I'm so happy to share with you my new pattern, the Hellebore Hi-Cut!

My pattern testers are busy working on my new panty pattern, which has finishing options for elastics, bands and binding.  Have you every wondered what the difference is between bands and binding? Today I'm going to share with you some pictures of bands and binding, go over the pros and cons of each, and share a video that shows how I sew them.

​Bands and binding are good options for sewists who don't wish to use elastics. Some may find elastics uncomfortable or have a latex allergy, while others may not have access to lingerie elastics.  Whatever your reason, bands and binding need to be made from fabrics with excellent  recovery--meaning they don't stretch out easily.  Cotton/spandex jersey and nylon/spandex jersey are generally good options.  Fibers like rayon, bamboo and modal are not suitable for bands and binding but can be used in the main body of the panty.  This is a good opportunity to experiment with contrasting colors and use up scraps from previous projects.

In the photo above are two panties with knit bands.  Both are made from cotton/spandex jersey and have self bands. The example on the left shows the band attached to the panty with a lightning stitch and topstitched with zigzag.  On the right, I attached the band to the panty with my serger, and topstitched with zigzag.  Knit bands are thin and soft, but the downside is that the seam allowances are exposed on the inside of the panty.

The photo above shows an example of knit binding.  The main body of the panty is made from a rayon/spandex jersey, while the binding is a contrasting cotton/spandex jersey. Binding encases all the seam allowances, so it makes a nice clean finish.  The downside of binding is that it can be a bit thick, and would probably create a visible panty line.  I used a lightning stitch to attach the first edge of the binding to the panty, then used my coverstitch machine to stitch down the top edge.

Check out this video for step-by-step instructions for sewing knit bands and knit binding.  Happy Sewing!