Handmade Mint "Lingerie"

I sincerely apologize to anyone who may find the contents of this post offensive; however, I press on in the name of sewing! Also, I promise there are no pictures of my giant biking thighs modeling this thing *shudder*.

As you may have seen on my Instagram, I have just recently completed my first pair of hand made underwear!

Back story: I'm going to a bachelorette party this weekend, and the hosts had played this game at previous parties in which all the guests bought a piece of lingerie for the bride-to-be that represents themselves. The game part of this is that the bride will have to match up the lingerie with the person who brought it, and if she gets it wrong, the person is allowed to task her with some dare/command etc. I had no idea what to do about this (what is my spirit lingerie?), so I just went with handmade and hopefully the bride gets what is going on here.

And here's the finished product!



Not too shabby for my first attempt, huh? I had initially printed out the free Indigo Orchid bikini pattern, but due to a technical error with the pdf, I didn't have all the pieces properly scaled and couldn't print out another one. So, I hacked up an old pair and drafted my own pattern! I did use the crotch gusset from the pattern since I at least had that piece. I was able to cut all the pieces out of the back of an old t shirt plus a little bit from the front!

I used the instructions from the pattern (found here) to sew these up. Look at that nicely concealed crotch seam :)



The lace insert was added also using Indigo Orchid's helpful tutorial. Apparently, the sexy cutout is what makes it "lingerie", so let's go with that. I'll talk more about the lace insert later because I think it's the other special detail that makes it "me".



And you can see here how the fabric has been cut away and folded back to make it see through under the lace - a true insert and not just an applique. Also, can I point out my beautiful side seams? Those are french seamed and then top stitched down to make them lay flat and look pretty inside and out.

The elastic was added using Lladybird's very simple and useful tutorial which was probably a better way to go than threading it through a turned down hem due to that screwy portion behind the lace insert. The leg holes are just turned under and stitched, and they're a bit wavy but look fine on the body (I tried them on with my own underwear on also, so they're still clean!)



And finally, the lace! I crocheted those little lacy bits with some cotton thread and a teeny tiny hook. I tested out quite a few different stitch patterns before I made up this one myself. Side note: either crochet patterns have gotten harder to read or I have completely lost my touch. I got totally confused on several of them, but in my defense I was looking at a few vintage patterns. I decided to make a pattern that has a nice open stitch so you actually get the full effect of the insert, but it also has a feminine scalloped edge but not too complicated!

Here's the basic idea:
Ch 27.
Row 1: DC into 3rd ch from hook. Ch 1, sk 1, DC 1. Repeat across. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 5 DC into 2nd ch sp from Row 1. Sk 1 ch sp for each shell. Repeat across and FO.

I foresee actually making myself more underwear in the future, they're so easy! And I wish my current underwear was a little more low rise, so hopefully this is the solution.

So, tell me, what's your spirit lingerie? ;)