Lingerie 101: Series 2: The Strapy Chloe Thong

Fabrics and Notions: This week will be the same leftover baby pink Viscose Jersey  with the dusky pink lace and as you only need a teeny tiny bit of left over fabric, cream strapping (this time in 10mm) and the last of the cream fold over elastic (FOE) to finish this, it should be super easy to use up those last scraps. Quick word of warning if you are ordering your supplies, the straps recommended are very VERY short. I always add an extra 10 cms to each recommended strap so you may want to add an extra meter when you are ordering your supplies. 
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As always, make sure you have printed out your pattern, and have the pattern parts for the Strapy Chloe Version not the main style. (The pieces are pictured below!)  Again there should be three pieces, the  front, back and single crotch piece. 

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The next job is to decide on the Lace overlay. Add on, pin and tack in the design of your choice. You can also see here that the lace overlay isnt exactly the right size, but it doesnt matter, the cream FOE will hide the fact the the lace was ever so slightly too narrow.

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You will need to make sure that the lace pieces are secure. The smaller the section, the more chance you have of them moving and slipping under the sewing machine.

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Now its time to construct your pantie.

Lie the front piece facing up to you, and then add the back piece right sides together. Above is  the main front piece, then place the back piece right sides down and pin along the narrow crotch seam. Lay the crotch lining right sides down on top of the back piece, and pin together. Sew the seam with a small straight stitch and remember to grade the seams to make it much less bulky. 

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Open out the pantie, and fold the crotch piece over onto the wrong side of the front piece, pin and tack the crotch lining towards the front section.  When it folds back from where you have sewn, you should have the right side facing you as you look at the inside of the pantie. 

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The next job will be to tack the crotch into place to prevent it from sliding and moving; and then trim down all he excess fabric to neaten the edges....

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...that way, when you turn over the pantie to see the right side it should all look neat and tidy, even if it still doesn't look like a pantie yet!

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Now you will need your Fold Over Elastic (FOE). Add the first pass of the elastic along the side sections of both the front  and the back of pantie pieces. For this I normally just use a small single narrow zigzag stitch.  Trim down any fabric which passes over the halfway point or it won't fold over neatly.
Sew the second pass of the FOE with a narrow three step zigzag. I only have one stitch length as my machine is an old 80's brother machine with a stitch length of just under 2; sewing close to the edge to ensure that the elastic stays firmly in place, and gives you a gorgeous tidy finish to your elastic.

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Now add the FOE to both the top sections of the Pantie. You need to remember to add about 3cms extra on both ends as this is what is going to secure the rings for the straps. Other than this both the first and seond pass are done in exactly the same way as above.

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Lastly add the FOE to the long sides of the pantie, and again you will need to remember to add at the extra 3cms  on each end so allow you to have something to sew into your rings with.

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This is how it will look when you have finished all the FOE application. Then you need to take each of your rings, (you will need 8 in total) and attach them, one for each of the four front sections and the same for the back.

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Here I have used 10mm Cream straping to match the 12mm strapping I used for my Watson Bra from the last post, so I have 8 x 10mm Rose Gold Rings and 4 x 10mm Rose Gold Sliders which came from the Etsy shop PSFabric which I will list below.

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The next stage is to make up your straps. A little word of warning here, I think that the strap length suggestions are very very short. I normally make a medium size pantie, but after a few failed attempts at the elastic lengths I now make the lenths for the extra large, and sometimes add another 2 cms. I hate that my muffin top jumps out over the top so I prefer it to be bigger in the leg and waist elastic.

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Each of the straps need to be made up the same. There are two for the legs and two for the waist straps. Take the strap you are working on, wrong side facing up to you and thread it through the slider and the back through the other side. You will need about 1 cm of elastic tail so you can put it under your machine and sew. I normally run over the join about 2-3 times just to make sure it is safe! Repeat this process for all four of the straps and remember to keep the legs (the slightly shorter ones) and the waist straps separate.

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Working with the wrong side of the back of the pantie facing up, thread the Strap end with no slider through the ring from the back to the front, then thread it up through the slider and back down the other side, and there you go.... first strap is in. I normally do both leg straps and then both waist straps, and this is only so I dont get them mixed up.

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Once all four of the straps have been threaded through those sliders, turn the pantie over so you are looking at the right side of pantie. Thread each strap though from right side to wrong side of the front rings and secure again with a row of stiches. Add your final finishing touches or a gorgeous ribbon and sit back and enjoy the smug satisfaction of a very beautiful, all be it slightly tiny, pair of date night panties.

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Fabric Review: There is still enough Viscose Jersey to be able to make another complete bra and pantie, so extremely good value. I have used all my elastics and pink lace, but feel really smug with how much has come out of one glorious 0.5meters of baby pink Viscose. 

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Shops Used: Fabriques.co.uk for the Viscose always, lace: bought ages ago from a holiday in Poland, so honestly can't remember. Cream strapping and FOE came from SewingChest.co.uk

Ribbon from Etsy (BeautifulRibbon1) and the Rings and Sliders from Etsy (PSFabricshop)

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The next post will see us creating a great pattern for lace. It will be the Devonshire Bra from Orange Lingerie. I still havent decided on my colour scheme so happy shopping if you are in the same place as me! Until then, come on over to my instagram account and follow me for  more inspiration and ideas. Simply click the link to follow me....

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Until next time, see you soon