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?

Cheap Friday Night Thrills

How to make me happy? Give me some feet to play with it. 2 serger feet to be exact. Tonight was a cozy night in playing with my Elastic and Ruffler feet.

Let me tell you something about that Ruffler foot. What I would have given to have had this foot when my girls were toddlers! It would have made short work out of insanely cute, tiered skirts or simple ruffled layers on tops. It would have been wonderful to forget about gathering one layer, pin basting two fabric pieces, baste the seam on the machine to check things out, then do the final stitch. Really, just place the two pieces of fabric in/under the foot? How much easier can it get?!?! This foot is amazing. Here are my rough, unpressed samples:

If you have a BL Imagine and have little girls or grandaughters, this foot is a must.

On to my Elastic foot. I have a lot of swimsuit fabric from one I made last year. So this past spring I decided to use up some of that extra to make panties. The only thing that takes long to do on panties is stitching the elastic in, in the round on a conventional machine. That is why I was lusting after this foot. The Palmer/Pletsch book, Sewing with Sergers, has nice little examples of how to make quick work out of various apparel items using a serger. It includes step-by-step (common sense) instructions on panty construction order. I have a panty UFO sitting in my sewing cart begging for the elastic foot to be used so how perfect is that? Initially I was waiting to order some white picot-edge elastic to finish them, dawdled and kept putting off ordering the elastic; however, I just ordered some last night. Guess the Elastic foot sent me over the edge.

Anyway, I did numerous samples with swimsuit fabric and 1/2" elastic. Not exactly the recommended elastic width, but who cares. I wasn't about to waste the good stuff doing sample after sample. I use the 3/8" "good" stuff for the leg and waist opening. Here are my samples with the various screw adjustments for tightening the elastic fit.



So that's where I am with my serger feet. At approximately $22.50/foot, I'd say that is a cheap, Friday night thrill. I can't wait until my finishing elastic arrives so I can finish up my UFO panties. And no panties fit like my panties. It's a TNT pattern in a perfect fit. BTW, those panties are in the same blue/brown floral print shown above.

It's going to be wonderful to crank out 5-7 panties in a day with my new elastic foot. Bye bye quartering and stitching in the round. I'm NOT going to miss you!