Undies, underwear, unmentionables, pants, panties, knickers, bloomers, drawers, briefs, etc. Whatever you call them, we all need them and wear them – but not many of us have ever tried to sew our own – until NOW ! And I've made a free pattern so you can all make your own to show off.
Spurred on by my success with the Sewing with Knits course, I've been itching to try some new stretch fabrics. You know me, always trying to run before I can walk. So I bought some rather nice stretch lace which has a finished edge on both sides and I had a go at making my own.
It took a while to get it right, but I've made a pattern which you can use too – and it's in size extra small through to large.
UPDATE - Oct 2014. The pattern has now been updated from hand-drawn to digital and is available with the pattern and instructions as a single PDF file to make downloading and printing easy, especially from mobile devices. Please refer to the downloaded instructions for how to assemble the new digital pattern.
All of the sizes are on the same pattern. Take a look at the following size chart to see which size you need. These are based on a hip measurement around the hip bones, so if your widest part is lower, around the bottom or thighs, use the higher hip bone measurement for this chart.
- Extra small – hips 32-34
- Small – 35-37
- Medium – 38-40
- Large – 41-43
Sizing will also depend on the amount of stretch in your lace, and whether you tend to prefer a looser or snugger fit. A lace that stretches more will not feel as tight as one that stretches less.
Once you have your pattern pieces, save them carefully because coming soon is a full tutorial for how to use the pattern pieces and sew your own undies.
I'm pleased to say these are comfy, don't show under slim fitting clothes because there is no bulky seams at the top and leg, and have an official thumbs up approval from my husband. They are a hit.
Full tutorial coming soon. Until then, go take a look for some nice stretch lace you like, in about a 4-6 inch width. If you aren't sure where to order – check out the BIG Fabric Shops Directory.
Update –
Part 2 – making up your pattern
Part 3 – making your undies
Hi,
Firstly thank you I absolutely adore this pattern and now make all my own underwear. A friend of mine has asked me to make her a pair. Shes a beautiful size 20 lady. looking up a rough measurement guide I see that the pattern even on the largest guide is too small. how could I scale this up so that I can make some for her without messing up your wonderful pattern? any advice and help you could give would be greatly appreciated thank you once again for this fabulous pattern.
Peace and love
Just seen your making pattern page i think i should be able to make them from that. Thank you.
Peace and love
Nope i can’t figure it out. I need to make it so they hit a 53″ hip measurement.
Hi Vix, thanks for your comments. I’m thinking of making an update of the pattern to include larger sizes. We have had a few people requesting this. It may take a couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience.
Awesome thank you so much it would be greatly appreciated. I adore this pattern. Peace and love
These look wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing. I am looking forward to making several…
You are welcome Tina! Enjoy the project!
Hi Deby, thanks for sharing your pattern. I’m a starter and I would like to try these out by making my own together with my kids undies. well, i’m from Kiribati and undies here are very expensive. thank you so much, but I am having problems with printing out your patterns. SOS please. thanks
If you would send me an email explaining what your printing problem is with the pattern pieces I’ll be happy to try to help. Go through it step by step, tell me what you are doing, what program and settings you are using and then at what point it goes wrong. Hopefully I’ll be able to track down the problem.
Good Day
I have just discovered your page and I am really excited to make these panties for my daughter. I also got a blank page and do not have Kaspersky. Please could I ask you to e mail me the pattern. Thank you
Mary
Please download the pattern from my designer account on Craftsy Mary. You can find all of the patterns you want here – https://so-sew-easy.com/Craftsy-patterns
Excellent pattern design and instructions Deb, Thank you. I’ve been custom measuring and drawing for each person/size, and it can be tedious and waste pattern material. Having the multi-size sheet to trace is just stellar.
So to my point for comment- as to the mysterious blank page:
This. pdf file requires not just a viewer (like Adobe’s free viewer only), but the ability to spool to cache and printer; so in addition to their security and firewall issues, I would recommend a reliable .pdf program, such as Adobe, and to open the downloaded file through that viewer rather than view on-screen.
Hope this helps!
~John
I love the look of the panties but get a blank page when trying to download the pattern. Please send the pattern.
Hi Dee, this is usually a problem with Kapersky Internet Security which blocks certain types of link redirects. To correct – With Kaspersky, you can go to Protection >> Firewall >> Filtration system, and disable the “Banner Ad Blocker” feature to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t work, do let me know.
Just for your info: after multiple tries to get thru craftsy tonight, it kept saying my cart was empty, but I came back to this page and entered for the download again. don’t know what happened, but it worked! Thanks so much. I cannot wait to make!
Glad you got there in the end. Sometimes Craftsy can be a little bit buggy, but its still the most reliable place for me to host the patterns for download. I get nearly 40,000 pattern downloads a month and all that would crash my little site!
Deby,
I have been having problems with downloading the pattern, I keep getting the blank page like some of the others. Would you please send me the pattern also?
Of course, I’ll send it now Virginia.
Hi Deby, I just subbed to you. This pattern looks stellar! I just got some delicious stretch lace on my last trip to Joanne’s, I’ll have enough for a few pairs after I get my tops done. Thanks so much.
You are very welcome – it’s funny to see that there aren’t a lot of comments on this post compared to some others, but month after month this is my most downloaded pattern – I think lots of people are sewing undies in secret! Good luck, and thanks for leaving a comment. Deb
Hello Deby,
I too have been trying to download this pattern for a month now and have been getting a blank page…please send it to me too!! 🙂 Thanks in advance
On its way to you now Yail. Sorry you’ve been having problems.
Dear Deby
I cannot seem to print your pattern. I am really not sure why, but I get an empty page. So sad! ;-( I was so hoping to make your adorable undies for myself. I am an average seamstress but need to start sewing for ME!!! I thought this would be a great start! I even found some lovely lace on one your recommended sites. Is there any way you can send me the pattern directly? I may not have an updated browser for your drop box (that’s what my husband says! He’s the computer geek!)
Please let me know or you could send me general dimensions and I could TRY that?
Very sincerely,
Danita
P.S. I love your about page. Very inspiring, and familiar to my own life adjustments and joys!!
I’ll drop a copy of the pattern directly to your email address Danita. Off to do it now.
Please do drop me a pattern also, I could get the part 2 not the part 1, been trying for hours…I signed up- got drop box but just blank for part 1, and part 2 printed a bit off the right side of page.
Sending the pieces to you now Holly.
Do you have a plus size pattern? Those of us who are larger than a large like pretty panties, too! 🙂
Hi Angela and thanks for stopping by. This is pretty straight forward and I think you could simply increase the pattern by a percentage and see how that worked out. So if a large fits a certain hip size, and your hip size is 10% larger, then try increasing the pattern size by 10% and see how that worked out. As we change in size, our bodies tend to change in shape too, especially around the hips and behind, so you might not get a perfect fit right away, but these are so quick to make up that you can hopefully adjust for a better fit and then make another pair! Do try on a nice wide lace as this will give you more of a fitting area in case you need to adjust more at the waist than the thigh and vice versa. Good luck and do drop me a picture of your finished undies!
did I miss the detail about yardage? Or do I just measure my hips and go from there? Darling pattern, by the way, and thanks for your generosity!
You need part 2 in the 3 part tutorial – the first part is the pattern download, then you need to go to the instructions on how to turn the pieces into a pattern in your size. That’s here – https://so-sew-easy.com/free-undies-pattern-making-up-the-pattern/
hi I love the undies..what is part 3 of the tutorial about?
Part 1 is the pattern download, Part 2 is how to put the pattern together and Part 3 is the sewing instructions.
Underwear are so expensive – like $7 a pair! I would love to make my own instead!
These are really cute. Can you link the instructions?
I’ve put link in the bottom to the next two parts of the tutorial – good idea!
Hi Deby! I just wanted you to know that I linked your pantie pattern and intstructions to my blog today. I love these panties! I promptly made 5 of them in less than an hour. 🙂 Thanks!
Geni
thanks for sharing your pattern!! i can’t wait to try making my own… they are adorable!
Super cute Craft,
Thanks for sharing on Tutorial Thursdays.
I hope to see you again this week for some more amazing fun 🙂
x
Natalie
http://www.marigoldsloft.blogspot.com
GREAT idea Chelsea – I linked up a couple of mine.
Very cute!
Wow, they’re so pretty! I’ve been wanting pretty panties for a while. Mine are, er, utilitarian. Will have to give this a try! If you haven’t already, I’d love if you’d come join my How To Tuesday link party, too.
Thanks Katie – I’ll drop into the party next week and share the full tutorial. See you then.
These are beautiful! Can’t wait to try some of them! Found you through “Catch a Glimpse Thursday!”
These look so cute, I’ve been wanting to make undies for the kids, but I never really thought of making them for me….until now!
You are the Queen of free patterns 🙂
I have to give it a try, if you say they’re not so hard to sew…
Thanks for sharing!