Madalynne Simplicity X 8624 and Orange Lingerie Kingston Thong
As there is a beautifully photographed 3 day sew along on the blog this is a short post on the Madalynne X Simplicity 8624 pattern and the white and yellow bra kit. As an an alternative to making the Orange Lingerie Montgomery brief, as I always do when I have a small amount of lace, I tried the Kingston thong.
The first point to make is that the kit is made in a slightly different way to the pattern so do check carefully especially for the fit of the hook and eye fastener.
When using lace I like to mark the seam allowance on the pattern so I can see the point at which the lace will meet. I cut out one side and then flip over to find the perfect pattern match. I then place the pattern piece over rather than just cut around the pattern. For the back band I have used a spray adhesive to hold the lace to the powernet and then cut out in one.
The foam cups are butted together and sewn using a zigzag. Personally I use a stitch length of 4 and stitch width of 1.5 as taught by Beverly Johnson on her Craftsy Class. Then I overlock the upper edge of the cup. At this point I would just like to mention the thread I use for lingerie which is Gutermann Mara 120 industry quality polyester. Another tip from Beverly. Is is really fine and blends into the fabric.
The elastic is added to the back band and then attached to the cup. The elastic is placed behind the lace which is different to the pattern where it sits on top. This where you need to check the fit of the hook and eye. Then the elastic is added to join the two cups. It is really important to get this in the right place. Depending on the size you are making you may want to use ribbon instead of elastic. I used a white iron on stabiliser the width of the elastic. Just the very pretty straps to do. After making up I attached at the front, put on the hook and eye fastener and tried on so I could check the position of the straps at the back. I had to move over to the middle slightly for them to sit correctly.
What to make with the leftovers? With such a small amount of lace I went for the Kingston thong which like the Montgomery brief as a front lace panel. I had plenty of stretch mesh over to line. I spray baste together and cut as one on paper which I find helps give a clean cut with lace. There was enough yellow elastic for the waist and I added white elastic for the legs, a cream lightweight powernet for the back and gusset as well as narrow elastic to match the mesh for the top of the lace panel.
As with the Montgomery the back seam is enclosed. This is done by folding one side along the fold line wrong sides together. Then fold the other side around this piece with right sides together and stitch the back seam through all layers. You then bring to the right side by bringing the top back piece over the seam. Very pretty as I do like to tell myself!