Making something by hands is one of the ways to calm one's mind. At least it is for me.
I talk abut DIY not only for requirements or environment, but for mental health, dare I say it.
Let's make something together.
Many of our audience have been WFH whole through these times. You spend so much time sitting on a chair.
Doesn’t the elastic tape of your underwear around your legs irritate you? Or the permanent mark of the elastic tape around your bum?
Even if you seek comfortable panties, stumbling across perfect underwear for your body feels next to impossible, doesn’t it?
Most of them in the market are made just to look cute or sexy. The makers don’t seem to care how their products feel on human bodies. Or even if they do, all bodies are different and it's tough to make a magic product which suits everyone like the Traveling Pants.
And in India, the size indication is very random and messy. When you order online with your size, you’ll get all different varieties possible, from a tiny piece of fabric which suits your small niece to a huge “low-rise” which comes up to your navel.
In my previous DIY Pants blog posts, I wrote how to make boxer shorts.
Boxer shorts are very comfortable to almost everyone as long as the pattern (cutting) and the size are right. But it’s not so perfect to be worn by women as underpants (as expected).
The sad points are:
- The top of the pants come up to the same level as that of the bottoms or even higher. But nothing is more uncomfortable than low-rise boxer shorts.
- In India, we wash with water after business in the toilet. Unless you wipe the water each time, the water runs down your legs if you’re wearing boxer shorts. Ew.
Sorry for the detailed indication.
- Of course one can’t attach sanitary pads on boxer shorts which don’t have a crotch.
So, I made panties which cover these shortcomings. The panties with a crotch, with no elastic tape other than in the waist which is not so high.
I have written as “Free The Groin” panties in the title. Of course, I don’t mean the panties which liberate our groin from the social stigma, but the panties which don't tighten the base/root of the legs.
Even the English vocabulary for the item itself confuses me. Should I say underpants, or underwear, or panties, or shorts, or knickers? I don’t know which one suits MIRCHI KOMACHI blog. Sigh, English is still tough for me!
This time again I divided the episode into two:
EP 5-1: How to draw patterns (for your own size!)
EP 5-2: How to stitch
Material
Fabric:
Cotton or silk. The thinner, the easier to stitch.
Vertical 23 inches x Horizontal minimum 27 inches (increase depending on your size)
Elastic tape:
Width: 0.3 - 0.5 inches
Length: The size of your waist line x 0.9
Why “vertical” and “horizontal” for the fabric?
If the fabric has a print with upside and downside, vertical and horizontal are those when you place the fabric in the right way for the print.
Actually, since the front and back are in one piece, the print would look upside down in the back when it looks right in the front…
This time again I’ve written as “upcycling”. Because, why not. Not only due to India’s lockdown where fabric shops are closed, the old kurtas, old nighties, old cotton sarees, or old cotton skirts which went through many washes feel great on skin and perfect for underwear.
Let’s Draw Patterns!
Now let’s do this!
Grab a newspaper or a piece of paper which is bigger than 24 inches x 16 inches.
Please measure your nude hip size (at the highest point of your hip) first.
1. On the longer side of the paper, pretty much at the edge, draw a straight line of 20 inches.
2. Draw a straight line at right angle from the left end of Line No.1.
3. Mark the points:
3-a. Nude hip size / 4 + 1 inch
3-b. 2.4 inches from Point No.3-a
4. Draw a 1.4 inches straight line at right angle from Point No.3-b.
5. On the Line No.1, mark at 12 inches from the left edge.
6. From Point No.5, draw a 1.4 inches straight line at right angle.
7. Draw a light line from the edges of Line No.4 and Line No.6.
8. On Line No.7, mark at 6 inches from the edge of Line No.4.
9. Draw a curved line from the edge of Line No.4 to Mark No.8, with the thickness of 0.8 inches.
10. On Line No.7, mark at 3 inches from the edge of Line No.6.
11. Draw a curved line as an extension of Line No.9, with the thickness of 1.4 inches at Point No.10.
12. Draw a straight line at right angle from the right end of Line No.1.
13. Mark the points:
13-a. Nude hip size / 4 + 0.2 inches
13-b. 2 inches from Point No.13-a
14. Draw a 2 inches straight line at right angle from Point No.13-b.
15. Draw a light line from the edges of Line No.14 and Line No.6.
16. On Line No.15, mark at 2.8 inches from the edge of Line No.6.
17. And mark again at 4 inches ahead.
18. Draw a curved line from the edge of Line No.6 to Mark No.17, with the thickness of 1.8 inches.
19. On Line No.15, mark at 2.4 inches from the edge of Line No.14.
20. Draw a curved line as an extension of Line No.18, with the thickness of 1 inch at Point No.19.
21. Mark at 3 inches left from Mark No.5.
22. Mark at 2.8 inches right from Mark No.5.
23. Draw a slightly-curved line from Mark No.21 to the curved line.
24. Draw a slightly-curved line from Mark No.22 to the curved line.
25. Now you have drawn all the required lines!
I’m sorry for the lousy curved lines on the images. I still have a long way to go in digital drawing...
The longest line on the top comes to the center of the body. Can you see?
26. If you make one pattern by combining left side and right side, it would look like this. Are you all clear?
On your paper pattern, you'd need to add seam allowance:
For the straight lines (except for the "center"): 1 inch
For the curved lines: 0.4 inches
Of course we don’t add seam allowance to the “center” line coz we don’t stitch there.
When you cut the fabric, you can fold the fabric vertically and place the paper pattern (of half the bodice) with its “center” line on the folded line of the fabric. Then cut it in one go.
For this reason, you don’t need to make a one whole paper pattern like this.
After adding the seam allowances, cut out your half-body paper pattern.
27. Trace the pink part and make a separate paper pattern.
Add 0.4 inches seam allowance all around it.
Write down “Front” and “Back” on the paper pattern, and cut it out.
Next Episode: Stitch It!
Now you have 2 paper patterns ready.
In the next episode Episode 5-2, we’ll stitch the panties!
Please have a cute fabric or feel-nice old clothes ready, and wait for the next episode.
If you have any questions on this episode while drawing your pattern, please let me know in the Comment section below.
Bonus Video
While I was surfing the videos on DIY panties, I bumped into this gothic punk energetic sista. Her video was standing out among dozens!
She knows exactly what she wants, and if nobody is selling it, she makes it by herself or modifies the existing stuff with her own taste.
That's the pure spirit of DIY, isn't it?
Regardless her goth-punk taste is your cup of tea or not, I suppose you can feel the awesomeness of having one's own unique style and committing to it.
What I saw first was her "DIY panties" video. But maybe it's a better idea to share this Victorian lingerie one rather than coffin-shaped panties in the times like this...
So check her out!