I have been so afraid of sewing knits – I tried in the past and it did not go well. I finally mustered up the courage to try again with the Luna Tank by Helen’s Closet and it turned out so well! I had some scraps leftover and decided to push my luck by trying underwear.
I had seen the Acacia undies recommended by a few people on Instagram and it’s available for free if you sign up for Megan Neilsen’s newsletter. I figured it would be a low-risk experiment, so I broke out all of my scraps! I ended up using jersey from my tank, knit elastic from my stash, spare thread, and even scraps from tracing paper. This project turned out to be a great way to use up some of my waste 🙂
I originally made these in a size 20, based on my waist measurement. I wore them overnight and realized that they were just slightly too big. The 20 was very comfortable, but I like a snugger fit in my undies to hold up my insulin pump. I retraced the pattern for a size 18 which matched my hip measurement – much better.
I’m still getting used to sewing knits, but I am very happy with the success I had on my sewing machine and on my serger. I didn’t use a knit needle or matching thread (see above for the goal to use up scraps!) and I think it would have gone better if I had made those changes. In the pictures below you can see where my stitching didn’t catch the elastic in the front left leg.
I can’t wait to make more knit clothes – and to get some undies out of their scraps 🙂
