E:\PAGESEW\RUFFTEXT\ROUGH039.TXT Revised April 24, 2008: addendum in bra section Revised April 26, 2008; regularized headers added TOC assorted small edits Revised 12 December 2012: assorted small edits small changes in underpants Revised 30 January 2013: assorted small edits small changes in underpants ran spell-checker Revised 26 October 2018: added missing word Revised 23 September 2021: edited briefs section L---P----1----+----2----+----3----+@10-4----T----R WOMEN'S UNDERWEAR Table of Contents Slips Sleeved slips Sleeveless Slips Blouse Slips Simple Hemmed-leg Briefs Assembling Simple Briefs Step by Step Variations: elastic edge Variations: band leg briefs Variations: decorations Other Styles of Women's Underpants Bras Pull-Over Bra: Organized Account Linen Bras Piecing bias fabric Addendum Center Front of Neck Pull-Over Bra: disorganized account +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Slips ===== Sleeved Slips -------------- If you wear a slip at all, it might as well have sleeves. In the winter, sleeves keep you warmer, and in summer, sleeves in your slip stop your sweat from rotting the underarms of your expensive dresses much more comfortably than tied- on "dress shields". An easy way to make a slip with sleeves is to sew cotton interlock to the bottom of a plain all-cotton T-shirt. I once bought a woman's "vest" intending to lengthen it in this fashion, but found the fabric too flimsy to work with. Buy an interlock T-shirt if possible, as it will wear longer than a jersey T-shirt. Being a male pattern, a T-shirt is apt to be much too tight around the hips when it fits closely enough around the shoulders. This can be corrected by inserting two gussets. First, mark where the side seams would be if T-shirts had side seams, then put the T-shirt on and mark the lowest point on each side "seam" where the shirt is loose enough. Measure your hips at the hem of the shirt, and add appropriate ease. Write this number down. Take off the shirt and measure to make sure the marked points match each other, then draw a circle about the size of a nickel around each point. Let out the hem and press out the creases. (If a crease cannot be removed, cut along it.) Draw two lines through the point where one side "seam" crosses the raw edge, tangent to each side of the circle you drew on this side seam. Repeat for the other side seam, then cut out the two long, narrow teardrop shapes thus defined. Turn under the edge of each of the two notches you've created, basting to make sure the allowance lies flat around the sharp curve. Measure the two parts of the lower edge, add them together, subtract the sum from the desired circumference you calculated above, and divide the difference by two. (Note: all these measurements and calculations can be accomplished with an unmarked tape, a piece of string, or a strip of paper: no numbers involved. I leave the exact method as an exercise for the reader.) On each of two scraps of interlock, mark off the extra width you've just calculated in the middle of what will be the lower edge. Pin the T- shirt to the scraps, with the raw lower edges matching, and the ends of the turned-under cut-out matched to the marks on the scraps. Pull and pat until the gusset lies smoothly under the T-shirt, then pin or baste it into place. Top-stitch close to the fold, then top-stitch again the width of a presser-foot toe away from the first stitching. This should fully enclose the raw edge of the T- shirt. Trim the gusset a quarter inch from the second row of stitching, or slightly less. Since interlock does not ravel, no finishing of this edge is required. Try the T-shirt on. If it should happen to have dramatic dips in the lower edge, mark a line level with the highest point and cut along it. Don't worry about subtle variations -- if the skirt is *slightly* longer in the back than in the front, that's all to the good. (Engage common sense at this point.) A typical T-shirt is long enough that your skirt can drop straight to the hem from here. Cut a rectangle of interlock just enough wider than the circumference of the enlarged T-shirt that you can be sure that it isn't narrower. Don't forget seam allowance. Make the length of the rectangle the difference between the length of the T-shirt and the desired length of the slip, plus suitable allowance for the seam and hem. (You don't have to hem interlock at all, if you don't want to. If you do hem it, turn it just once, and zig-zag near the raw edge, or use a "cover stitch" if you have a suitable machine.) You may measure the difference directly, by measuring from where you want the slip to end to the place where it now ends. Don't forget that you need *two* seam allowances where the T-shirt and the interlock meet. Sew the rectangle into a tube, then divide the upper end into eight equal parts by sticking straight pins into the edge. Divide the lower edge of the T-shirt the same way. Pin the tube to the T-shirt right sides together, with the marks matching, and the raw edge of the thicker fabric an eighth of an inch beyond the raw edge of the thinner fabric. Sew with the skirt side down, press the seam toward the lighter fabric, and top stitch as for the gusset. (If you can't decide which fabric is thinner, make the skirt allowance the narrower one, and press the allowances pointing down.) Hem to desired length. If it is to be worn with a high-necked dress, the slip is now finished. If it is to be worn with a low-necked dress, put the dress on over the slip and mark around the neck opening with chalk. True up the chalk line, cut along it, and hem. If you put the cutting line right at the edge of the neck, the hem will make the opening enough larger to keep the slip out of sight. (But try on again before stitching the hem, just to be sure.) If you mean to wear the slip with more than one dress, don't cut before trying on all of them to see where the chalk line lies in relation to the neck opening. A neckline that's deeper than another might not be deeper *everywhere*. A vee-neck T-shirt might be low enough to start with, but make sure of it before cutting anything, as changing a V-neck is more trouble than it's worth. Since V-necks are exclusively underwear, it may be difficult to find a V-neck of good fabric and proper fit. If you make your own T-shirts, tack extensions onto the pattern instead of the finished product. You can borrow the shaping from a straight-skirt pattern. Don't forget that knits need less length as well as less width than woven fabrics. Sleeveless Slips ---------------- If you make a sleeveless slip, ask yourself "Is it *really* necessary for a custom-made slip to have adjustable straps?" Then ask yourself "Is it elegant to have slip straps so narrow that they display my bra straps?" There is no reason why a strap can't be an inch wide, even if you are using a pattern that calls for quarter-inch ribbon. If you have trouble with straps slipping, make a slip without straps. The most-comfortable slips are made like sleeveless dresses with larger armholes and neck-holes, and lace edges or shell hems instead of facings. Blouse Slips ------------ One way to make sure that your blouse stays tucked in is to have an underskirt pulling it down. There are a great many ways to accomplish this. You could make the blouse-slip quite capable of being worn as a dress on its own. You could make a blouse with extra-long tails. You could make the blouse of one fabric and its skirt of a different fabric, ornamented in typical slip style. You can make it button all the way to the hem, make it a pullover, or make the button front extend far enough below the waist that you can step into the garment. The only rule to follow is that whether you are making the garment from scratch or modifying a pre-existing blouse, the seam between blouse and half-slip, if any, must be low enough that there is no danger that it will show above the skirt. Unless, of course, you won't mind it showing. Simple Hemmed-leg Briefs ======================== Underpants are cheap and easy to find, but they are also easy to make, and require very little fabric. Any knit fabric will do for making briefs, but I prefer cotton jersey. Either quarter-inch elastic or cord elastic will do for holding them up, but cord elastic is easier to install, and I think it is more comfortable. Measure the elastic directly on your body, pulled to the correct tension, because different elastics will require different lengths. Add an inch to tie a knot, or half an inch to overlap for sewing. (Measure the elastic and write the length on the pattern, next to your note saying when you made this batch and how you can recognize them.) If you can't find a pattern, cut up a worn-out pair of panties -- it's probably about as easy to draft your own pattern as to tweak a commercial pattern to fit you. There are three pattern pieces, from which you will cut four fabric pieces: front, back, crotch, and crotch lining. Usually the crotch lining is made from the same fabric as the rest of the garment, but you can put a cotton crotch lining into panties made of a less-comfortable fiber. Briefs have negative ease -- that is, they are cut smaller than the body and are stretched to fit. My briefs have minus-four inches of ease around the hips, and minus two at the waist. This is about ten percent and five percent of my body measurements. Needed ease will vary with different fabrics. When full briefs fit properly, the waist elastic will naturally nestle into the smallest part of your waist, and the edges of the leg-holes will fall into the crease around the tops of your legs, without any strain or tugging. Briefs should be slightly stretched everywhere, with no wrinkles, but they shouldn't feel the least bit tight. When briefs are properly fitted, they should move with your skin, and leave you in some doubt as to whether or not you have remembered to put them on. The adjustment you are most likely to need corrects a lack of fabric at the bottom of the back and the back end of the crotch. Put on the faulty pair and measure the distance between the crease in your leg and the hem of the panties at the seam between the crotch and the back. On both the crotch pattern and the back pattern, lay a ruler tangent to the seam line and extend it by the measured distance. Lay the original pattern on this extension to mark the angle at which the leg-hole hem should cross the crotch-back seam. Draw a line which tapers this angle smoothly into the original hem line. When both patterns are drawn, put them together with the seamlines matching to make sure the hem crosses the seam in a smooth curve. Also check that the seamlines on the two pieces are still the same length. Instead of matching the original angle, you can drafting-tape the two pieces together with the seam lines matching, and draw the leg hole on both pieces at once, tapering from the original hem line through the end of the extended seam line back to the original hem line. Another pattern adjustment may be needed to allow the leg-hole hems to fold back over the crotch seams without tearing. If you want to put elastic inside the hems, you will almost certainly need to make this adjustment. && (Gotta draw a picture to make this explanation work.) If you trim away more than a quarter inch of the crotch lining (to allow for the wider hem needed for elastic around the legs), you will probably want to make separate crotch and crotch lining patterns. If you mean to make several pairs alike, first make one pair, wear it all day, wash it, wear it again, and when quite certain that this pattern works with this fabric, cut out the rest. The odds are that your pattern consists of half a front, half a back, and one crotch piece. If you are cutting lots of copies, or if you are trying to get a pair of briefs out of odd-shaped scraps, it is convenient to have a whole front, a whole back, and two crotch pieces. Trace onto folded paper, carefully matching the center line to the fold, and put typist's carbon paper underneath to mark both halves at once. If no notches mark the center lines, add them. They are needed for matching the crotch pieces to the back and front. (The seam allowances are too narrow to snip; use a wash-out marker, basting, or the like. If a piece is cut on the fold, you can cut little triangles pointing outward (as in home-ec) to mark the centers.) Fronts and backs should be cut with the stretchiest grain running around your body. Some patterns call for the crotch piece to be cut with the stretch running fore-and- aft, but I find that I get better fit if the crotch is cut on the same grain as the back and front. Briefs are an exception to the rule that the iron must always be hot while you are sewing, for side seams in jersey naturally tend to press themselves open, and the allowances enclosed in the crotch seams fall where they should when you pull on them. More important, none of the seams cross, so even when using interlock or tricot, you can wait until all the seams are done and you are ready to hem before you press. When you have more than one pair cut out, sew the first seam almost to the end and leave it under your presser foot. Pin the same seam in the second pair, and stitch off the first seam onto this one. Repeat until all panties are dangling off the back of your sewing machine, then cut the end piece off the chain, pin the second seam, and keep everything all in one chain until you begin to throw out fully-assembled panties. Hemming can't be done in chains, but it is still easier to keep all pairs in the same stage of development, and to start stitching the next pair before cutting off the previous pair -- stitch the second pair until you are ready to trim the beginning threads, then trim one ending and one beginning in a single picking-up of the scissors. Hem the leg holes first, so that threading in the elastic is the last operation. Assembling Simple Briefs Step by Step ------------------------------------- Cut one front, one back, and two crotch pieces. Allow half an inch for the casing around the waist, and a quarter inch for the seams and the leg-hole hems. (Nowadays I allow half an inch for leg-hole hems -- the panties seem to fit better. This necessitates separate crotch and crotch-lining patterns.) Pin the crotch to the back, right sides together, matching the centers and ends. Make sure that the cut edges cross at the seam line, not at the cutting line. Stitch a little less than a quarter inch from the edge -- I find the width of the presser-foot toe a convenient guide. The exact distance doesn't matter as long as it's consistent, far enough in to hold firmly, and far enough out to be sure of not crossing the "real" stitching to be done next. (This stitching is permanent basting -- it serves only to keep the pieces in line, but there is no reason to take it out, so you don't re-set the machine.) Pin the crotch lining to the back, right side of the crotch lining against the wrong side of the back, matching the crotch you have just basted in. Stitch a quarter inch from the raw edges. "Baste" the front to the crotch in the same manner, then wrap the crotch lining around the entire garment and sew that end. (Sew the crotch before the crotch lining, so that you will have only one set of stitches to pick out when trimming the lining.) It may be easier to pin this seam if you roll the front and the back inside the crotch, but if you pick up the pants by the seam that you are about to pin and shake it, things usually settle down out of your way without much trouble. When you pull the front and the back out of the crotch, be sure to pull both from the same side, so that you don't twist the crotch. (If you goof, stuff one of them back through.) Pin the side seams and stitch a quarter inch from the raw edges. If the fabric is interlock, you now need to press the side seams open. Brush the seams with water, or press through a damp cloth. As long as the iron is hot, you might as well flatten the ends of the crotch seams. If the ham is handy, you can press the entire seam, but this seam tends to press itself, so it isn't really necessary. If the fabric is cotton jersey, the side seams will lie open naturally, so you don't need to press unless you happen to feel like it. If you have no sleeve board, you may wish to do the following marking and trimming before sewing the side seams. Flatten the crotch, pulling on the back and front to settle the seams, and carefully matching the raw edges. Put a pin in the middle of the crotch to hold the two layers in register, and leave this pin in until you have sewn the leg hems. Trim off a shade more than a quarter inch of the raw edges of the crotch lining, unpicking stitches as required to get at it. (A stitch or two extra will come undone, but the hem will cover this.) I like to set my hem gauge for a quarter inch, and mark along the end of it so that there is just a quarter inch between the mark and the raw edge, and then cut along the other edge of the line. The goal is to have the raw edge of the lining just in the fold of the hem; if it's a little bit short of this, no harm done as long as the lining is caught firmly in the hem, but the hem will be lumpy if the lining extends beyond the fold of the hem. Nip the corners off the seam allowances of the crotch and the crotch lining, but the back and the front allowances will already be slanted and don't need trimming. Trim the lower corners of the side seams. Fold and pin a quarter inch around each leg hole, then zig-zag over the raw edge. Don't try to have the needle pierce exactly at the raw edge; the hem is flatter if the zig-zag slops a little onto the single layer. It's usually easier to guide on the folded edge, but keep one eye on the raw edge to make sure it is being secured. Stitch as slowly as you need to, and turn the handwheel one stitch at a time when you are crossing the seams. If the allowance tries to curl, hold it down with an awl, a bodkin, or the pin you have just pulled out. At the slightest sign of puffiness, stop with the needle in the fabric and lift the presser foot for a moment. If at all possible, use cotton thread for the hems, unless the fabric justifies the use of silk. Exposed polyester or nylon around the leg holes of your underwear is apt to irritate you. But don't use a feeble cotton. Trim the upper corners of the side seams, turn down half an inch around the waist, and stitch the casing the same way you stitched the hems, but aim to have the needle come down right at the raw edge, since lumps are less of a problem, and you want to be sure you catch the raw edge firmly at every point. The two seams that cross the waist should be less bother than the three seams that cross each leg hole. Stop stitching just before you close the circle, thread elastic through the casing, tie cord elastic or sew braid, then mend the gap in the stitching. If the mended gap bugs you, undo a few stitches in the side seam, inside the hem allowance, instead. On the one hand, this gap requires hand stitching to close, on the other, you can probably get away with not closing it. Variations: elastic edge ------------------------- By using a coarse blunt needle for a bodkin, it's theoretically possible to thread eighth-inch elastic through a quarter inch hem, but if you want elastic around the leg holes, you'd be wise to turn three-eighths of an inch. Since this is a very small change, it may not be necessary to alter the pattern to allow for the wider hem. 23 September 2021: I now use a half-inch hem allowance. This required adding points to the corners, to allow the hem to fold without tearing. I made them by folding the pattern on the hem line and trimming the cutting line of the hem allowance to match the cutting line of the crotch. Then I copied the pattern and trimmed off the hem allowance to make a crotch-lining pattern. &&& photograph patterns and put URL here Variations: band leg briefs ---------------------------- If you want a band leg, you probably will have to alter the pattern -- unless you are retrofitting a too-large leg hole. Cut the band shorter than the seamline by up to six times the finished width of the band, and stretch it to fit. (Divide the hole and the band into eight equal parts to distribute the ease evenly.) You may find it convenient to measure the band around your leg the way you measure elastic, to allow for the stretchiness of the fabric. There is special ribbing with a knitted-in finished edge for making bands, but a crosswise strip cut from the same jersey as the rest of the briefs should do nicely. The quick-and-dirty way to attach a band is to fold it in half, pin to the hole right sides together, and overlock it on. But this makes a hard ridge right in a sensitive place, and one or more of the threads might not be non-irritating. It's better to fold down a quarter inch on one edge of the band -- you'll have to baste; fabrics suitable for leg bands aren't very good at holding a crease -- sew the other edge with its right side against the wrong side of the hole, then turn the folded edge to the right side and top-stitch or hem it down. When I make band-leg briefs, I use a flatter finish that doesn't turn under the free edge. This is suitable only if your fabric doesn't ravel. Cut a crosswise strip twice the finished width plus a shade under half an inch of seam allowance, and as long as the distance around your leg- crease, plus half an inch for seam allowance and minus whatever for ease. Sew this into a circle, press the seam open, and sew it to the leg-hole with the *right* sides together, making the seam as narrow as you can without making it unreliable. (This will be a shade under a quarter inch.) Use a straight stitch, not a zig-zag or a fancy "stretch" stitch. When you are pinning, match the seam in the band to a point that *isn't* a seam on the garment, and put it in front -- not sitting on it is more important than not seeing it. Press the allowances toward the band, so that the garment fabric remains flat. Turn the band to the inside, with the raw edge lying just a quarter inch beyond the stitches. (Draw a guideline with wash-out marker.) On the right side, make a round of plain, open zig-zag centered exactly on the seam line. Do *not* satin-stitch; closely-spaced stitches weaken the seam. I set stitch length at 2.5 mm. Variations: decorations ------------------------ Any added decoration will irritate you under stress. If you want to enjoy wearing your fancy pants, stick to exquisite workmanship and beautiful fabric for making workaday undies special. Even when not worn while working, ruffles, lace, or exposed elastic around the legs of briefs may irritate your skin. Decorations in this area don't show much anyway. You might, however, apply a short ruffle centered over the side seam. Think twice before applying a decoration that you will sit on. Lace and ruffles can be inserted in any seam, but the few seams of full briefs aren't conveniently located. If you add seams for decorations, consider using woven fabric cut on the bias instead of knit fabric. Expect fitting to be fussy, unless you are making a breechclout or G-string. Leg bands add a seam which can be used decoratively. Underpants of the sort that aren't worn very long at a time (wink wink nudge nudge) are generally designed by cutting away parts of the full-brief pattern, and can be assembled in the same way. Add lace, embroidery, etc. wherever you please. Other Styles of Women's Underpants ================================== I've worn briefs all my life, so I don't even know the names of the many other styles of underpants. But most of them seem to be simplified trousers: four pieces sewn together, perhaps with a gusset at the crotch, with elastic at the waist, and sometimes elastic at the knee. One also has the option of drawstrings, and there are various closings that were used before elastic. Study an example of the style you prefer. Odds are that it isn't all that difficult to make. One reason I prefer briefs is that they can be worn under long underpants to save on laundry. Knee-length underpants made of linen or linen- cotton shirting make a skirt or dress much more comfortable to walk in when the weather is hot and humid -- particularly if you would otherwise have to wear a slip. Ready-made "pettipants" are usually made of fibers that most emphatically *don't* cool you off, so it's worth the effort to make your own, and very little trouble, if you don't get carried away with tucks, lace, and embroidery. It's better to make them plain, and put them together with flat-felled seams -- since their function is soaking up sweat, they are going to be washed fairly often. (If you get a sweat- soaked garment into water while it's still wet, you won't need soap to get the sweat out, and that saves rinsing, which saves wear on the garment -- and gets it back into service quickly, so you don't need so many.) When the weather turns cold, you can put your thin linen drawers back on for a bit of extra warmth, but you will pretty soon be wanting muslin, flannel, silk, or wool. In bitter cold, use tight-fitting knit garments for the bottom layer and looser woven trousers for the outer layers. When you've put on as many pairs of pants as you can walk in, start adding wool skirts. Though I'm discussing this under underwear, it's best to wear outer garments all the way to the skin, so that you can peel off a few layers when working hard or when the weather changes. Wool stockings under short skirts are a good idea, and you *can* buy wool pantihose, if you don't mind paying a high price for cheap construction. A better idea is to wear slacks or skirts long enough that you can wear ankle-length tights and crew socks, or knee socks and bloomers. Bras ==== Pull-Over Bra: Organized Account --------------------------------- For those who want to go down all the blind alleys with me, the confusing and incomplete description I wrote during the design process is appended below. I designed my pull-over bra by putting on the latest T-shirt I'd made and sticking safety pins in it to show how long the bra should be, and by pinching and pulling it to see how much ease to take out. After copying the pattern with the bottom left off and vertical strips through the neck and the shoulders left out -- and the shoulder seams trued up, and twice the width of waistband elastic added for a casing around the bottom -- I made the pattern up in "Twinkle-Twinkle" interlock left over from my Wizard Suit . By great good fortune, "Twinkle Twinkle" interlock and the jersey the T-shirt is made of have exactly the same stretch, so the bra fit perfectly on the first try. So I cut away the neck so it wouldn't show above the necks of my shirts, and cut away the armholes so the edges wouldn't cut into my flesh, and made a pattern for the lining, for a knitted pull-over bra needs to be double-thick in the front. I designed the lining by cutting away a shade more than the seam allowances and hem allowances on the pattern for the front, and cutting away all but half an inch of the casing allowance. The bra is assembled by sewing the darts in the front and pressing them down, sewing the darts in the lining and pressing them up, then basting the lining to the front wrong sides together, with the dart seams matched. When the seams are sewn, they miss the lining because a bit more than the seam allowance is cut away. The seams are then pressed open and the edges of the allowances are zig-zagged down to cover the raw edges of the lining. Other raw edges are covered when the hems are turned -- just once! -- and zig-zagged into place. Then waistband elastic is appliqu‚d to the wrong side of the bottom, and turned up twice, which fully encloses the elastic and covers the remaining raw edge of the lining. This hem is held by zig-zagging over the folded edge. During all these operations, the elastic must be stretched flat, which prevents this pattern from being a good one for an absolute beginner. Having perfected the pattern, I made it up in a nice solid-colored maroon interlock -- which has a lot more stretch than the printed interlock. Setting that bra aside for lounge wear, I took out a LOT more ease, and eventually acquired an adequate supply of light blue bras -- the light blue interlock, luckily, has the same stretch as the maroon. Pity I didn't have enough of it to make some matching panties. Linen Bras ---------- But on a hot day, it doesn't take long for the band of the bra to get saturated with sweat, and once wet, it's almost as miserable as a ready-to- wear bra. Nobody seems to make linen jersey or linen interlock; I rather suspect that the fiber doesn't take kindly to knitting. But maybe if I cut a woven fabric on the bias . . . So I went back to the original pattern -- you *must* save, and carefully label, all your experiments! -- and cut it on the bias, expecting it to come out too small. The fit was perfect! And it's more supportive than the knit bras -- *without* a lining, so it's easier to make. And any woven linen is going to stretch pretty much like any other woven linen, or even a woven cotton, so this one pattern is all I'm going to need. There are, of course, some differences in assembly. The linen bra must be put together with flat-felled seams to prevent ravelling -- and to stand up to the strain. Once-turned hems would fray, and twice-turned hems would be too firm, so the neck and arm holes must be faced with bias tape cut from the same fabric as the bra. (I suppose a thinner linen would be better, if you happen to have some.) I later learned that one can get away with hemming the neck, but the armholes must be faced. Piecing bias fabric ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cutting on the bias is very wasteful of fabric, but you can piece the fabric -- using flat-felled seams! -- into a bias tube, and then cut it the same way you'd cut on the straight grain, except that there is a fold on both sides, and you have to be careful where the seams fall. (I got this idea from Threads 107, then lost the magazine before I could read the article, which annoys me very much.) (12 September 2004: Found the Spring/Summer 2003 Threads. Just as well I didn't know the details: the author's method of making the tube is easier -- but precludes flat-felled seams.) First mark a bias line across the fabric. It may be convenient to mark several lines at this time, or it may be more convenient to mark parallel to the cut edge later. If you aren't going to use up the entire tube in one cutting session, it's a good idea to mark true-bias lines all over the wrong side of the fabric, to make it easier to use the scraps for subsequent projects. Sew the short ends of the fabric together with a flat-felled seam. Cut along the bias line, then cut as much bias tape as you think you'll need from the seamless side of the bias line. (Plan on having tape left over for other projects, just to be safe.) It is convenient to cut the tapes twice or four times as wide as they are wanted, then mark them for cutting by folding in half and ironing in a crease. (Iron it in with steam, let it cool, then iron it out without steam.) Now flat-fell the remaining two edges together, being careful that the bias edges cross at the seam line so that there is no jog when the seam is finished. When you flatten the tube, try to make the intersections of the two seams fall in places where they will end up in scraps. When you lay out the pattern, try to avoid having a seam cross a dart or another seam. It may be necessary to roll the tube to a new position a few times before finally pinning the pattern. Addendum ~~~~~~~~ April 24, 2008 -- When I hung up the wash last Tuesday, I noticed a small hole worn through the front of one of my three "houndstooth" prototype linen bras, and the bra may not survive another washing. [It didn't last *until* the next washing.] According to my patterns, the last houndstooth bra was made in June of 2005, and I've worn them nearly every week, so I'm happy with the durability of my linen bras. (Of course, this was a good linen, sold at a prototype price because the houndstooth design on them was printed crooked.) All three bras have been mended: last summer, I put my finger through the fabric while pulling one on, and found that there was a very narrow line of heavy wear parallel to some of the piecing seams. When each split, I overlapped the torn edges and ran a line of zig-zag over the break and the worn line. I used a two-ply cotton basting thread so as not to punch holes in the weakened fabric. These repairs have held up quite well. As it happened, my two handkerchief-linen bras were made from the bias scrap left from making two lime-green triangle scarves for cycling, so these bras weren't pieced. I plan to continue not piecing! [When I say "handkerchief linen" with respect to my bras, I mean the "handkerchief-weight" class of readily-available cheap linens, not true, sheer hanky linen. This stuff resembles sheeting more than it resembles real handkerchief linen.] When I made the second lime-green bra, I was out of waistband elastic, so I turned up a hem an inch and three-quarters wide, then made three more rows of stitching to create three casings and a very narrow ruffle. *Very* narrow: the stitching there is closer to the edge than the stitching that secured the hem -- no doubt a result of the asymmetry of my edge-stitching foot. The vestigial ruffle keeps edge wear from coming right on top of elastic wear, so the elastic won't wear through the casing quite so soon. This proved much easier than attaching waistband elastic even though it took considerable thought to figure out how to leave part of a flat- felled seam open. Pity I didn't take notes; it came out as an unstitched lap seam where it crossed the casings, with the turn-unders turned twice to make hems, tapering into a regular pre- graded flat fell in the main part of the seam. Because of the overlap, I didn't have to close the gap afterward, so I'm all set if I absent-mindedly wash the bra with the dish towels and ruin the elastic. I found it wise to begin inserting the elastic by poking the bodkin in eye first, then once the whole bodkin was inside, pushing it the other way to go under the seam point first -- this meant that when I got back to the seam, it was easy to push the bodkin out through the gap. More to the point, I discovered that three rows of quarter-inch elastic are much more comfortable than one row of inch-and-a-quarter elastic, and they support just as well. I might want to widen the hem allowance next time, so that the casing has two layers of linen on one side, like the covering of the waistband elastic. And the hem could be just an inch and a half, rather than an inch and three quarters. Center Front of Neck: addendum 26 April 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A recurring problem with the linen bras is that no matter how carefully I ease the binding on, the center front of the neck hole is just a tad slack at the edge and turns out just a tad. I tried cutting the neck deeper, below the slack place -- no cigar. I tried cutting the neck wider, so that the curve was flatter. Finally, with the second lime-green bra, I tried making a V neck, with the binding crossing itself at right angles in the V. This works, but it's inelegant, and sooner or later, that sharp angle with practically no seam allowance is going to fray. Cain't fray much because of the overlapping binding at that point, but I don't like it. Well, duh -- the *armholes* need facings but a hem would do just fine at the neck -- and a hem can be made so narrow that there isn't enough differential to make it turn out. Or if it does roll, I can make a rolled hem. I think maybe I'm ready to cut my white handkerchief linen. About time, with the old bras starting to wear out and the season when six are not enough about to begin. -------------------- PULL-OVER BRA: disorganized account ----------------------------------- Being both 38F and intolerant of polyester pressed firmly into my sweating skin, I got desperate one day and designed my own pull-over bra. The "sports bras"* *"sports bra" is a singularly inapt name for this style, because a bra tight enough to keep you from bouncing would restrict your breathing enough to keep you from doing anything that would cause bouncing. But they are excellent for road cyclists, because roadies don't bounce much, and the position a road cyclist works hard in causes the weight of the breasts to take the pressure of the bra off the lungs. in stores look like abbreviated T-shirts, so I started with the pattern for the T-shirt that I photographed for the discussion of bust darts posted at http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ROUGHSEW/BUSTDART.HTM (No doubt that page of Rough Sewing seems even more random than most; it's not really a part of the book, but a response to a discussion that once took place on a mailing list or newsgroup, and I've never had any reason to take it down.) At the time, that very shirt was the latest made by that pattern, so I put it on, pinched it to see how much ease to take out, and stuck safety pins in to show how long to make my bra. Because of the dart, I could average out the safety pins and make it square across the bottom, same as the original T-shirt. A square bottom is a *great* convenience in cutting out; it saves much more trouble than making the dart, even though I have to dart the lining too. I took part of the ease out of the shoulders, re-drawing them to eliminate the jog, and part of it out of the neck- hole, making it smaller. I also shaved the top of the neck hole in front, because the shoulder seams ended up different lengths. I left the dart exactly as it was. I took the ease out by drawing a vertical line as far from the edge of the paper as the total amount of ease that I was taking out of that piece of the pattern, then tracing the far side of the pattern with the original center line on the edge of the paper. Then I drew a line as far from the new center-front line as the amount I meant to take out of the neck hole, and traced the neck hole and inner end of the shoulder with the original center line on this line. I added the width of my yardstick to the bottom for a casing, and didn't discover until after I'd cut it out that I didn't have a long piece of elastic that was both narrow enough to fit the casing and strong enough to do the job. But it turned out that a reel of men's-underwear elastic I happened to have -- bought it decades ago, didn't like it -- was exactly as wide as my yardstick. This elastic is meant to be appliqu‚d to a waistband: it consists of four pairs of elastic cord, and three shirred stripes you may safely zig-zag through. So I sewed this to the right side of the bra, turned it to the outside -- to keep that raw edge off my skin -- and made the last row of zig-zagging through all three layers. This turned out so well that I plan to buy more waistband elastic when I've used this up, but I doubled the width of the casing, so I can turn it twice. I was inclined to continue turning it to the outside to have the most layers of cotton next to my sweat, but that would have required me to sew the lining to the outside, which wouldn't work very well when I want to make the bra and the lining of different materials! (Well, now that I've thought of it, I could cut the "outside" piece from lining, and the "lining" piece from outside.) But it doesn't matter because the band ends up tucked between my breasts and chest, so both sides are soaking up sweat. On the other hand, I groove on the idea of turning all hems and seams to the outside. [In practice, I regard the bras as reversible, and put them on whichever way they come out of the washer.] I was surprised that the prototype was more comfortable than my old bras the very first try! It comes up the back of my neck more than my T-shirts do, but this part of the back seems to be a band across my dowager's hump to support my breasts, so I don't dare cut it away. (I did enlarge the arm holes for the second try, and make the neck a bit wider.) I just have to make new T-shirts! The next step was to make the front double. I copied the front pattern with the hems and seam allowances removed, and the casing allowance plus half an inch removed. When it came time to assemble, I realized that I should have cut an eighth of an inch more off the hems and seams, so that I could baste the front and the lining together before assembly, but tucking the lining in after sewing the shoulder and side seams works so well that I haven't bothered to alter the pattern. I match the raw edges of the lining to the stitching lines and to a line I drew across the front when marking the notches and darts. The raw edges at the neck and armholes serve nicely as a guide for turning down hems. Once the lining is basted in place, I zig-zag over the seams to re-inforce them, then zig-zag all the seam allowances down, then turn the hems down and zig-zag them. The elastic goes on last. [I later learned that Zig-zagging actually weakens the seams, but I still zig-zag the allowances down.] I made the second bra out of a plain red interlock, and discovered that for this fabric, I need to take out a *lot* more ease. My second bra is something to slip into on the occasions when I used to take my bra off and stuff my nightgown up under my breasts to relieve the irritation. But, being in a hurry to have something to wear, I made another out of the very loud print -- same as the "Wizard Suit" at http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/LINKS/IMAGES/WIZBACK.JPG -- and have not yet modified the pattern. (Even the stiffer interlock needs more ease removed.) Before making new patterns to use the faded- maroon interlock and the even-stretchier black interlock I bought after the project started, I tried the current pattern with linen cut on the bias. (I have a roll of cotton-linen shirting I bought for a dollar a meter that I test patterns with; this should react just like my red linen.) Such a cold winter promised a very hot summer, so a few linen bras sounded like a very good idea! I found the bra *extremely* wasteful to cut on the bias, and once it was cut out, I found that I was not at all moved to assemble the thing and try it on. Further reports on this project when it happens, and also, I'll report on my older plan to design a triangles-and-straps bra when I get around to completing it. Both projects are near the bottom of the priority list right now. Further report: the linen bra proved very comfortable when I wore it on a tropical vacation, so I copied the pattern, trimmed away the neck to make the straps narrow, and cut it from a bias tube made by the same procedure I use when making bias tape (see the section on bias tape), but with flat-felled seams and without the offset to make a spiral. && end of dead file EOF