Panty-Making Tutorial

(note: double-clicking on the photos will show them in a larger size)

Panty Tutorial

Supplies needed:
Approx. ½-3/4 yard of fashion fabric, with stretch going side to side
Crotch lining fabric – cotton or cotton blend; should be a knit of some kind

(I used an old t-shirt)
Lingerie or foldover elastic
Optional: stretch lace for waistband
Polyester thread
Ballpoint or stretch needle, size 11, give or take
Pins
Scissors
Lots of patience
Sewing machine

This will cover everything from sewing the crotch piece in to finishing the waist and legs.

Cut one front piece, one back piece, one crotch out of the panty fabric, and one from the lining fabric.
Place the crotch piece and the front body piece, both of the panty fabric, right sides together. Against the back side of the body piece, place the cotton crotch liner, right side in. Pin in place to prevent sliding.
Using an overlock stitch or a medium width/medium length zigzag stitch to provide stretch, stitch the seam.

Lay the part you’ve sewn on a flat surface with the crotch lining on top.
Take the crotch lining and pull it away from the fabric, smoothing it out.
Follow this with the panty body piece. Roll the body piece from the upper edge in toward the crotch piece, keeping as neat as possible.

Get the other panty piece and begin rolling it up like the first one. Keep it on top of the panty fabric crotch piece.

Fold the last part of the unsewn panty piece over so it is right sides together with the crotch piece. Reach over behind the roll you made first and get the panty liner fabric. Bring it over the top of all the fabric and toward the other two raw edges on the right.

Pin as indicated. You now have a “burrito,” as referred to by another much smarter earlier writer.

Using overcast stitch or medium length/medium width zigzag stitch, sew across the three layers of fabric created by this process.

As shown below, you can now unroll the fabric and turn it right side out. You should have one shiny side and one matte side.

To make it easier to apply elastic to the legs, baste the crotch pieces together a scant ¼” from the outer edges using a long straight stitch.

I played with the photo below a bit just so you can see the stitching line better.

Now, take the leg elastic and the leg sections of the panties, quarter and mark them with straight pins.

Following the pin guides, match up the elastic and the panty, right sides together. If you are using plush lingerie elastic, the plush part of the elastic will be pointing up at this time.

Using a narrow lightning zigzag stitch (I use 2.0/2.5 or 2.0/2.0) or a narrow, long zigzag stitch, sew the elastic to the panty. Align the outer edges as much as possible. Stretch the elastic to fit. Try not to stretch the fabric or it will not lay flat in the end. Go slow. It’s much better to take your time than to hurry and have a mess on your hands.

Below you will see a picture of the elastic after it has been applied to the panty fabric. You’ll notice little bits of fabric sticking out from under the edges of the elastic here and there. In order to make the rest of the project finish more neatly, it is important to carefully trim that fabric so it doesn’t show.

If you look below you can see where I’m trimming extra fabric from below the elastic on this pair of panties. Go slowly so you don’t cut the elastic!

This shows the leg area after trimming.

Next you take the elastic you sewed to the leg openings, turn it under, and stitch it again so that the edge of the elastic doesn’t show from the outside.

Here you can see the legs with the elastic sewn to the inside so that only the trimmed edge shows on the outside. The plush, soft edge is toward the body.

Next, sew one leg opening shut. Start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Ease as needed so that the edges match as much as possible.

You will have a raw edge left after sewing. It’s best to tack this piece down so it looks more smooth and won’t be rubbing against your leg.

Find which way the elastic will fold the most smoothly, turn it in that direction, and proceed to tack it down using the same stitch you used for attaching the elastic to the panties in the first place.

This topstitching will leave you with a smooth, attractive leg join as well as decreasing the chance of any raveling at the edge of the elastic edging.

For this project I have chosen to alter a regular panty into a hipster or low-rise style. I don’t have a specific pattern for one, but it is easy enough to alter a full-cut pair with a ruler and rotary cutter or scissors. I’ll be using stretch lace for the upper band on this pair so I can show you how to apply it.

First, you decide how much you want to take off the top. I don’t want mine too short or they’ll roll down; therefore, I’m just going to remove a piece the width of the stretch lace band, which also just happens to be the width of my ruler.

Align the front and back of the panty so that the top is even all the way around. Fold in half and place on a ruler mat. Using the ruler and rotary cutter or marking with a water soluble pen or marker and then cutting with the scissors, remove the desired amount from the waist area.

See photos below for clarification.

All that’s left now is to apply the waistband. You can either use elastic and the same technique as you did with the legs, or you can use stretch lace. For the sake of learning, this example uses stretch lace. First off, sew up the remaining leg seam and finish off the bottom just the way you did the other one.
Now, cut a piece of stretch lace the measurement of your waist/hip area minus 6”-8” depending on the stretchiness of the lace and your waist measurement – the larger your measurement, the more you can take off.

Using the zigzag stitch from earlier, sew the short edges of the stretch lace right sides together. Repeat. Trim the raw edge, turn to one side, and apply the zigzag stitch again to tack down the edge so it lays flat.

Quarter and pin the elastic and the panty like you did with the leg elastic earlier. It might be tempting to think you can do this without marking, but it is far better to take the few extra minutes to measure and mark.

Slide the stretch lace over the outside of the panty, right sides facing out on both. Align and join the lace and panty where the pins match up. The raw edge of the panty will be in line with the top of the stretch lace.

If you have a larger waist or hipline, like I do, you may want to divide your quarters in half in order to keep the stitching a little more even. It is not essential, but it will help you a bit and your stitches will look a bit more professional since they will be more evenly divided along the top line of the panty.

Now, using a regular width lightning zigzag stitch or a normal zigzag stitch, attach the stretch lace to the top of the panty, stretching the lace as needed to fit. Try not to stretch the fabric as it can cause puckering. The thing to remember is to go slowly and not try to fly through it all.

Here is the finished inside view of the top of the panty with the stretch lace applied.

Using your scissors, carefully trim the fabric between the stitching and the top of the panty; leave only the stretch lace as a waistband. The zigzag stitch you used to attach the stretch lace will help prevent raveling.

The trimming is all done.

Here are my finished hipsters.

This method or any combination of it can be used for hip huggers, full briefs, bikinis, or any other style of panty you’d like to make.

Drawstring elastic application - method 2 of 3

Note: To see a bigger photo, click on the one in the entry.

As in method #1, once you get your garment assembled, finish the top edge. For this pair I used a rolled hem - I was playing with my new serger. You can do this, fold over a small amount and straight stitch it, use an overlock stitch, or use a zigzag stitch; whatever you are most comfortable with is fine.

Take your drawstring elastic and cut it your waist measurement minus enough for the elastic part to be comfy, generally 6-8 inches. This, however, varies with your size. Pull out 3-4 inches at each end and knot off to prevent them slipping back inside the elastic. Once you have done this, measure the width of the elastic and then go over to the garment. Using a ruler, measure 2 times the width of the elastic plus 1/4 inch and mark a spot on the fabric with a disappearing marker in a color dark enough for you to see.

Using the ruler and marker, continue to mark this same measurement all the way around the waist of the garment about every 3 inches. Again, use a washable or disappearing marker and make the lines dark enough for you to see.

Lay the garment flat on your work surface. Using the ruler and marker, connect all the lines you have drawn so far to mark the sewing line for the casing. Make the marking dark enough to see because you will be using this line in a while.

Here is a picture of the line drawn all the way across the fabric of my lounge pants. It's not very dark in the pic but it was clear enough for me.
NOTE: As an alternative, if you don't have a water soluble marker, you can use straight pins to mark your seam line. Don't necessarily run out and buy one if you're only going to use it this one time. I've used pins myself several times and they worked just fine.

Measure the how far up from the bottom of the elastic the drawstring is located. At the center front seam of the garment, go to the bottom line and measure that far up from it. With a dark marker, make a little hash mark on the outside of the fabric to indicate where the buttonholes should be located for the drawstring.

Cut two pieces of fusible interfacing about 2 inches by 2 inches and iron them to the back side of the garment close to the center seam and slightly below the mark for the buttonhole. This will strengthen the fabric in the area where you will be using the drawstring to adjust the waist of the garment.
Make the buttonhole, sewing on the front side of the fabric and using a 1/2 inch button to guide the size of the hole as indicated in the previous method. Use the pins across the ends to provide a guide to safely and gently cut the buttonhole open.
Once the buttonholes are sewn and cut open, fold the top of the garment down and pin it so that the edge lies along the line you drew all the way around the waistline earlier. Leaving an opening in the front of the garment to feed the elastic through, sew a straight line between about 1/4 inch from the finished edge of the fabric. If you'd rather, you can do an elastic stitch or regular zigzag stitch and just guide it to secure the edge of the fabric to the garment. The opening for the elastic should be about 1 to 1/5 inches on each side of the center front seam depending on the width of the drawstring elastic you will be using.

Once the casing seam is sewn, take the drawstring and turn it bumpy side down so the side facing you is smooth and the sewing that encases the drawstring isn't visible. Keeping the bumpy side dwon, take a safety pin or other elastic guide and feed the elastic through the casing, taking care to secure the end that is not being guided though so that it doesn't slip into the casing. You need about 3 inches of each end of the elastic outside the casing in order to finish sewing it.

After the elastic is threaded through, you need to put a piece of fabric the width of the drawstring elastic and about 4 inches long behind the elastic so that you can sew the elastic part together. I use a piece of interfacing or scrap fabric. This stabilizes the seam and also gives you a little more protection while you are sewing since the elastic stretches and will get all out of shape. Using a zigzag stitch, start at one end of the supporting fabric and go all the way to the other end. Turn and repeat twice, stretching gently so that the portion of the elastic being sewn doesn't have the feel of being all stretched out and having lost elasticity. Do this stitching on the bottom and top of the elastic, making sure not to catch the drawstring into the stitching line while you're doing it.

After the elastic is secured, feed the drawstring through the buttonholes and adjust the drawstring elastic inside the immediate area of the casing so that the joining area of the elastic is between the buttonholes and the drawstrings are directly behind the buttonholes. To secure them for the moment, use a straight pin or safety pin and fasten the area with the pins so that it doesn't slide around.

Once the drawstring is through the holes and secured, tie it in a loose knot. This is yet another way to make sure things stay the way they should be. After you tie the knot in the drawstring, take the pins loose so that you can fit the elastic into the casing. You can secure the area between the buttonholes if you wish to by pinning the elastic into place - again, this keeps it from sliding around while the garment is finished.

Take hold of the garment and stretch the casing, working it until the elastic disappears into it. It should not show outside the area that is open. It might take some work depending on how well you made the casing. If it is just a bit tight, it will require extra maneuvering to work the elastic/drawstring combination into the casing. If it is a bit too wide, you may have to deal with the elastic flipping over upside down, at which point you will have to work it back around so it's facing the same direction all the way through the casing.

Now that the elastic is all located inside the casing where it belongs, you can pin the opening in the casing closed and stitch across it with a simple straight stitch, either lock-sewing or backstitching at either end to make sure the thread doesn't unravel. When that is done, turn the garment around and untie the drawstrings. If you wish, you can sew a line up and down where the drawstring and elastic meet to keep them where they belong. However, if you don't want to, it's not a big deal.

All done!

Waistband elastic application for sensitive skin (Part 1)

Fold down the top half of the casing allowance on the pattern for the boxers and cut the pattern out that way. Proceed as usual with making them.

Cut the elastic the circumference of the waist minus approximately 4 inches (10cm). Sew together into a circle, using a zigzag stitch.

Quarter the elastic, using straight pins to mark the back seam, the opposite side, and then match them up and pin the other two quarters of the elastic.

Use the same technique to mark the quarters on the boxer waist part.

With the boxers turned inside out, apply the elastic to the outside of the waist area, with the right side of the elastic facing out.

Pin at the previously marked quarter sections on both the boxer fabric and the elastic.

This is what it should look like with the elastic pinned, right side out, to the boxers, right side in.
Make sure to check that your elastic is far enough down from the top of the boxer fabric that you can sew it to the fabric without catching in the edge of the elastic. This will make turning the elastic to the outside easier and look more professional.

On my machine, stitch number 6 is the lighning zigzag stitch. This is much similar to the zigzag stitch, except the stitches are broken into sections to allow for greater stretching. It is purported to be more sturdy when sewing elastic for waistbands and other applications requiring the elastic to have more give.

This is how my machine looks on the lightning zigzag stitch setting. Since it's an automatic and computerized machine (to an extent), it chooses and adjusts the settings again.

(Continued on next entry due to photo limitations)