Oh MAN i’m sick of buying undies! This is one of those things that you don’t even think about being a problem, but if you’ve got a booty, it really is. Let me explain – undies are made generally the same size front and back, with sometimes a little bit more coverage at the back, but seriously NO. See look. That isn’t covering anything! When I wear these – the front is fine but the back only goes about half way up my butt.
In search of the perfect pair of undies I set out to make my own. I looked on the Curvy Sewing Collective round up of undies and some blogs about the best fit. There is also a free undie pattern by Melly Sews which I haven’t yet tried because I bought this pattern quite a while ago and really didn’t want to keep buying patterns (you’re welcome Sam!)
Ok, so firstly I made a straight XL which has Full Hip – 44″ – 46″ and low waist 41″-43″. I’m actually not too sure what made me do this. These are NOT my measurements. My measurements are Full Hip – 48.5″ and low waist 41″. So I should have mashed sizes…….I didn’t.
So let’s recap – I made some undies in super cute fabric. This was a trial because you should ALWAYS do a draft in material you don’t care overly much about.
Material – Cotton Lycra with 40% stretch, lining – DBP (Double Brushed Poly) cause it’s super soft – not too sure that it’s the best for lady parts with breathability. I’ll def use cotton for my next pairs.
Sizing – yeah, it was realistically just a bit too small even with the stretch. I will size up at least one size for the full hip but keep the low waist
Fit – I made a boy leg which sits wrong on my body – I would recommend making a brief for those woman who have fuller bums so the leg holes don’t roll up (does that make sense?)
Modifications – I think i’m going to have to do some kind of Full Bum Adjustment – here is a link to some adjustments – looking at this, I will add probably an inch to the bum. Another mod you could make if you were that way inclined it to do a built in pad. This doesn’t have a fully enclosed gusset so you could slide in a panty liner or actually just sew in some padding for light bladder leakage or period panties. I’m not going to try this as I’ve had a hysterectomy so thankfully don’t have to deal with mother natures ‘gift’ every month – if you do it, let me know how it goes.
Wine pairing – Yeah this was more than a wine – this is definitely Vodka & Tonic. For such a small garment, it definitely poses many confronting questions about lumps and bumps (yeah yeah, i’m cool with them, but fitting them is sometimes a different story!)
So there you go – hopefully this helps someone
xoxo