Sunday, November 13, 2011

A Panty Party

I was itching to make some panties yesterday because I HAD to use my serger elastic foot! I cut two out of some Jumbo Spandex I had in my stash, likely purchased from either Spandex House or Spandex World. Don't know where my stretch lace came from, but the plush elastic was from Sew Sassy. Here they are:








As for the cotton crotch lining, do you know what I do for that? I take an old, 100% cotton, white t-shirt, find some nice areas, and cut the crotch lining from it. It would be great to stock up on colorful, 100% cotton t-shirts from ACMoore, but my preference is a white crotch lining due to dyes. I know, I know, black would look so much better, but you just don't see that when they're on.

I love them! They're a great fit, although the green/black ones are more like Spanx lol. I cut the pattern pieces on the crosswise grain, not the lengthwise--operator error. I wasn't paying attention and was trying to watch Harry Potter while cutting out the two pairs. Also, Jumbo Spandex is not my preference for panty fabric. It runs on the thick side, but when there is so much in the stash and you want to whip up panties using an elastic foot, you just use it.

Speaking of which, the elastic foot is WONDERFUL!!! No more measuring for a 3/4 ratio of elastic length. The elastic is fed into the foot, insert the fabric underneath, and start stitching! It stretches the elastic for a snug fit. I used a flat construction method to avoid stitching in the round because I was using the serger. Panty construction takes about 1/3 the time than what it would with a conventional machine, and most of the time savings is due to that awesome elastic foot.

I can only imagine how wonderful it would be on a bra. I think the green/black panties need a matching bra, don't you think?




3 comments:

Tory said...

I love your blog! Just found it, so I have oodles of older posts to enjoy.

How do you adjust the stretch of the elastic with your new foot? Do you feed uncut elastic through the slot and cut it at the end? I have this serger and this foot, but haven't figured out how to make the magic happen.

Kat said...

Hi Tory! I just saw your post.

There is no need to stretch the elastic. Adjust the foot to accommodate the width of the elastic and adjust the black screw on top for the amount to stretch the elastic. You will need to do samples so you know how much to tighten or loosen the black screw, so you make a good guesstimate. Just feed the elastic into the top of the foot, put the fabric under the foot, and stitch away :). The first pair of panties I made was a wearable muslin to make sure my guess was good. In total, I have whipped up 7 pairs using the elastic foot and love it.

Perhaps a tutorial is in order? :)

Tory said...

Thanks Kat. I'd *love* a tutorial.