I’ve wanted to do an underwear class for quite a while. It’s one of my favourite things to make, it’s fast, the materials are minimal, but there are lots of little helpful techniques that can be hard to pick up on your own.
Picking a pattern, though, was harder than I thought. My go-to is the Watson Bikini by Cloth Habit, but a) it’s only available as a PDF, and b) while I love the bikini style, I wanted a pattern with other options. And I didn’t want to do the bralet!) There are lots of free underwear patterns out there, as well, but again PDFs are awkward for teaching—they can’t be easily sold by the store, but more than that, half the class can end up being about “how to assemble a pdf pattern”—which might be a class in its own right but isn’t what I want to spend time on when we only have 3 hours. And most of them have limited sizing and styles.
Finally, I decided to go for an oldie I’ve been curious about for a while, Jalie 2568. This has five different styles and the usual Jalie wide range of sizes. I don’t know if anyone these days still wants matching mommy ‘n me underwear (like my grandma used to make for my mother and I for Christmas every year) but I think it’s an adorable idea, anyway.
And with the range of styles (basically high cut and hipster cut with both high and low rise options for each. We won’t go over the tanga pantie view if I can avoid it), I’m hopeful everyone will at least have something in their ballpark.
The camisole is cute, too, although I don’t love how it’s drafted specifically for the wide lace at the front neck. I do like how they use the same techniques for finishing the cami as for the underwear, at least from a teaching perspective.
My one disappointment from a construction perspective is that they’re single crotch seam underwear. While I do like this look, I prefer the sewing and finishing of an enclosed crotch. Not that it’s hard to convert one style into the other, of course.
The pattern suggests a simple hemmed option for the hipster cut, so I did try that out, but I’m dubious about its merit. My kids have a few RTW undies with a similar finish (cover stitched) but I fear that a) a coverstitch stitch is stretchier than a twin needle, and b) even the RTW versions basically wedge up your butt instantly.
For myself, I will not be remaking the high-waisted version, but I might give the hipster cut another try. I will probably lower the CF about an inch (which I usually do the Jalie pants, too). I should do a no-seam-allowance version to try the FOE, too.
If I ever get done these class samples!
Tanit-Isis Sews 
This is my go to pattern. I love it because there is no elastic at the leg holes which can be uncomfortable. Also when I use 4 way (2way?) ALL THE WAYS stretch fabrics, I have no problems with wedgies.
I’m so glad to hear it works for you! Maybe I will give the finish a 2nd chance. 😂
My favorite too! And I also have had no problem with wedgies with simple hems. In fact I have even left some unhemmed and been very pleased with the very comfy and totally invisible results. As to the single crotch seam, it couldn’t be any easier to burrito it up.
Oops. The pattern is Jalie 2568, not 2569.
I bought the Craftsy class, Sewing Panties, Construction and Fit, by the god of bra sewing, Beverly Johnson. In this class you create a pattern according to your measurements, and the stretch of your fabric. I love the fit of these, but there is something off about the size of the crotch lining piece, which I haven’t been bothered to fix. I have made tons of panties and these ones are my fave, second is the Bunzies pattern. I have wanted to try the Jalie pattern, but really how many undie patterns does one person need? Apparently the answer is 6.
Good luck on teaching the class, I would be interested in what you think of the pattern after sewing and wearing.
I go back and forth—-surely I don’t need more underwear patterns, but should EVERYTHING in my drawer be the same pattern? Probably not. 😂 that’s interesting to hear about the self-drafted class. I haven’t given it a try, but I can’t imagine it would be hard!
Also thanks for the typo catch, fixing it now. Also I forgot to link to the pattern!
That looks like a fun class! I’m also not a fan of elastic-less legs. After years of contemplation I believe that hip anatomy determines whether one can wear certain underwear styles without living in wedgietown (tanga I’m looking at you). We won’t mention the time I wore boyshorts under a knit skirt…
It was fun to teach! Yeah, I think a lot comes down to where and how the pattern sits on your body. 😂