Ottobre Hipster panties finished

Hello everyone!

It's a new week, and I have another new project to show you!

I am currently immersed in potty-training my 2 1/2 year old daughter, and she is right on the verge of taking the leap from Pull-ups (disposable training pants) to "big girl" underwear.  So, in light of this fact, and the fact that I just made underwear for my son (see here), I made some undies for my little princess as well.

The style I chose is from the Ottobre Design magazine winter issue of 2010.  They are a pretty hipster panty for little girls.  I immediately knew I wanted to choose a bright, vibrant fabric for spring, and to have a little fun.  This fabric is another one from my stash.  Only this time it is a cotton knit that I have tried to use over and over with little success until now.  I guess I am not too great at matching up stripes, so I could never be happy with the project I used this for; however, these panties turned out wonderfully!!

I didn't concern myself with matching stripes too much, I was only careful to cut my pattern pieces the same way, and they turned out just fine.  The waistband is a pretty punchy red, and I like the contrast of the red with the orange and yellow pastel colors.  When finished I noted how plain the panties looked even though they were pretty, so I added the flower accent for a pop of "girlness."

I also learned something new with this project that will undoubtedly help me in further projects.  As you can see above, the panties I made have the leg holes turned up and stitched.  Once again I used my stretch stitch on my sewing machine, but it was a real booger to maneuver correctly.  After my first pair of panties was finished, I looked at the model picture of the hipster panties and noted that they used the serger in order to get a cleaner finish.  What!!  I was on that immediately.  I just had to figure out how to use my serger to get the same effect.

It didn't take me long to figure out how to "detach the knife" so that the serger would stitch, but not cut my fabric.  I'm not kidding when I say it was a simple sliding of a lever while my needle was down!!!!  So here is what I came up with when I sewed a second pair of panties:

Voila!!  And it is SO pretty, and SO easy!  I did alter the steps of construction a little bit by stitching the leg holes before stitching the side seams together.  This made constructing these a snap, and I was done before I knew it.

Overall, I still really enjoy sewing Ottobre magazine patterns.  I have found them to yield excellent results aesthetically, with the proper fit for my children.  Of course there are some more advanced patterns that I know I will need more information and resources to sew, but I have been thoroughly pleased with the simpler patterns I have tried.  If you are interested in Ottobre patterns, don't hesitate to go for it!  I even find it much simpler to trace their patterns than when I had to trace the trousers I sewed from Burda magazine.

Here is a look at all three pair of underwear I finished for my little one:

And I couldn't leave you without showing you the smile on my sweetheart's face, as she is holding her new underwear:

She's been carrying these around like they are a new toy.  Hopefully, they will be a great incentive to being successfully potty-trained!  And, in case you missed the boxer briefs I sewed for my son, here they are.

Up next, I am back at it with the Burda trousers!  There's just no good reason to leave them unfinished for another month, so here I go again.

I wish you all many blessings in the week to come!

Stay sew-filled!