Olive Undies Full Bum Sew Along

Oh the joy of undies!

The Olive Undies sewing pattern comes with a Thong version and a Full Bum version.

These Full Bum undies are designed to be one of the most well covering and most comfortable pairs of underwear you own.

Although this tutorial is for the Olive Undies specifically, the techniques can be applied to all your underwear and swimwear sewing adventures. Sew yeah!

This tutorial uses a serger, but fear not! A zigzag stitch substitutes seamlessly (haha punny).

Let’s jump in

Step 1: Cut out all the pieces with stretchy fabric that makes you smile.

Step 2: Place the Front and Back pieces right side up. Place them so their tops are facing each other.

Step 3: Roll the tops of both pieces down toward the crotch.

Step 4: Place one of the Crotch pieces right side up underneath. Match up the edges.

Step 5: Place the other Crotch piece right side down on top. Clip or pin in place.

At this point the Front and Back pieces are sandwiched in between the two Crotch pieces.

Step 6: Sew with 3/8” (1 cm) seam allowance using your stretch stitch of preference.

Step 7: Trim seam allowance.

Step 8: Turn the underwear right side out through the crotch.

Step 9: Trim off any corners sticking out from the seams.

Step 10: Line up the side seams. Clip or pin in place.

Step 11: Sew side seams with 3/8” (1 cm) seam allowance using your preferred stitch.

If you have a serger, serge edges for a nice finish.

Step 12: Cut the leg and waistband elastic. Refer to the chart in the pattern to see what lengths to cut for your size.

Step 13: Overlap the ends 1/2” (1.3 cm) and zig zag stitch.

Step 14: Clip or pin the elastic in four even sections around the waistband. Fold the undies in half to find the halfway points.

Step 15: Line up the edge of the elastic with the edge of the fabric. Serge or zig zag stitch all the way around.

Tips for getting started with elastic

a) Make sure the foot and needle of your machine are up.

b) Spread the elastic tight between two fingers. Slide it under the foot. Put the foot and needle down to hold it in place.

c) Grab the elastic with one hand in front of the machine and the other hand in back. Stretch out the elastic to the next place it’s clipped or pinned to see how tight it is supposed to be.

d) Stretch out the elastic with your hands. Let the machine pull it through at its own speed. Don’t push or pull with your hands, just let the machine do the work while your hands keep the elastic tight for it to sew easily.

e) Sew one small section at a time. Sew. Tighten a section. Sew. Tighten a section.

Step : Repeat the steps to sew on the elastic evenly around the legs.

Step 16: Fold over the elastic once toward the wrong side. Stitch all the way around with zig zag stitch. Overlap the beginning and end of the stitching 1” (2.5 cm). No back stitching.

For the waistband, start stitching in the back or on one of the sides.

For the legs, start stitching on the crotch.

That’s it! Well done!

If you’d like to grab the Olive Undies sewing pattern, you can get it here!

Big Printer

I’m happy to introduce an addition to my sewing room — Big Printer.

Big Printer is a 36” plotter printer that can print out patterns on one continuous sheet of paper, just like a copy shop. This is handy for my own sewing and pattern drafting.

But even more exciting is the opportunity to start offering printed patterns to online customers and to indie sewing shops.

My local print shop is wonderful to work with and kindly printed pattern envelopes for me.

These shelves from Ikea were just what I was looking for. Simple, unstained wood, adjustable, affordable, easy to put together and move. Little Printer, rolls of paper, and a mix of shipping supplies and my personal sewing tools are organized on these shelves.

I wasn’t sure where I was going to put Big Printer. It’s bigger than I expected. But it fits perfectly on top of my antique dresser. I’m currently using it to house fabric. Generally I prefer open shelving for fabric so I can easily see what I have. But this is what fits best in my sewing room for now, so I’m thankful to have it on hand.

Big Printer and Blue Serger are enjoying each other’s company.

Printed patterns coming next week!

Mixing Serger Thread Color

Clothes always look better when you have matching serger thread. If you don’t have perfectly matching thread, you can put on a mixture of colors. For this pair of undies I couldn’t find matching serger thread at the fabric store. I loaded the serger with two orange spools and two bright red spools I had on hand.

Zoomed out view of current sewing space. Shooting tutorials in this bright, white, empty room.

Hand Washing Handmade Undies

Warm water and soap suds and soft fabric and handmade clothes. A trove of things that bring joy to the soul.

Eighteen fresh pairs of undies hot off the sewing machine getting a bath before joining my underwear basket on my shelf.

The Easiest Way to Change Serger Thread

Sergers are a real joy to sew with, but not always fun to rethread.

I learned threading the hard way. My serger is on semi permanent loan from my sister who inherited it from our grandmother. No one taught me how to use it and I didn’t have the manual, so I always changed the threads manually. It took a long time, was quite frustrating, and it led me to not change the thread color very often.

But a good way to make your handmade clothes look more professional is to use matching thread, which means changing the serger thread often. Thankfully there is an easy way to do it!

I hope this can save someone else some frustration.

How to change serger thread the easy way

1) Snip all the threads that are currently threaded through the serger near their spool.

2) Put on the new spools. Tie each new spool to the old thread with a square knot.

3) Press the pedal and carefully let the new threads wind their way to the needles.

Often the thread goes smoothly through the needles with no problem. But sometimes you have to help a knot through a needle or to cut a knot and thread a needle manually. Either way, it beats manually threading the whole machine!

Woohoo! That’s it! This method is a big time saver (not to mention stress and frustration).