Welcome to my monthly 'Free Pattern Friday' feature, where I road test a free sewing pattern or tutorial: sometimes a children's one, sometimes an adult's one. I try to publish these posts every first Friday of the month, timed to provide inspiration for those who plan to get their sew on over the weekend. I firmly believe that, if you pick your projects carefully, sewing doesn't have to be a crazy-expensive way to clothe yourself and your family. Thanks to all the amazing pattern designers who have offered up their hard work for us to enjoy for free.
This month's instalment of Free Pattern Friday is deviating from the usual format because this one has been written by a guest! A lovely maker called Catherine who has always been incredibly supportive of my work offered to write up her recent experience with a free sewing pattern. So I want to say massive thanks to both Catherine AND all the amazing and generous designers who share their work with the community for free. Let's hand it over to Catherine!...
So I suggest that other people might want to contribute towards the “free pattern Friday” posts, so that Zoe did not have not make things for the sake of it, and other patterns that Zoe might not be interested in could also be showcased. I then went on to test out a pattern that Zoe would probably be happy to try herself!!
Anyway on to Zero Waste patterns… inspired by The Check Your Thread podcast episodes on Zero Waste I tried my first zero waste pattern last year and loved it. So then I decided to try a knickers pattern – I must have spent more time “researching” and “falling down the rabbit hole” on the internet than I did actually making them. The delightful pattern I chose comes from designer Saara Jolkkonen. The open source collection of twelve ZW patterns, including these undies, can be found on this website.
Through my research I also discovered this helpful post by Zebra Spider about making this pattern, plus three awesome blog posts by recent-Check Your Thread-guest Liz Haywood (1, 2 & 3).
Pattern type:
A zero waste pattern in Finnish which can be printed out on two sheets of A4 paper and used. Translation on Google works Ok – but the above websites have lots of information too. The most important thing to remember is seam allowances are 6mm.
Sizing info:
According to Google Translate:
The briefs are serialized in five sizes: S, M, L, XL and XXL. S waist 61 cm, M waist 68 cm, L waist 74 cm, XL waist 80 cm, XXL waist 85 cm. The sizes may sound small in centimetres, but the material of the underpants should be flexible and the trousers should be tight.
Fabric info:
You will need to use a jersey stretch fabric with 4-way stretch. I used various scraps of left over fabric from T-shirts and Jersey PJ trousers I have made… I also used old T-shirts that are no longer wearable and white vests for gusset pieces…. All useful for toiles.
Findings:
I am used to making underwear as I have been doing it for years. I found this an interesting pattern to use – though it was a little low rise at the backside for me..so then I tried Liz Haywood’s pattern (see below) – which was a bit low at the legs.. so like Goldilocks the third attempt was much better… I adapted the pattern making it minimal waste rather zero waste. Though I think there are a number of ways to be Zero waste, one is using a zero waste pattern, and another is to use fabric which has no other use (scraps from other projects, old T-shirts etc). So I still feel this is Zero waste!
If you have not made Zero waste patterns, this might be an easy place to start.Equally, if you have never made underwear before, again this could be a good place to start – especially with all of the information on the above links and Zoe’s own knicker making tutorials!
One point to note is that like many zero waste patterns, it might not be suitable for directional prints as the bottom and front are cut in different directions. However inspired by this I cut out some Acacia Knickers (also a free pattern) and turned one piece upside down to get two pairs from one old T-shirt rather than one pair…. Who’s looking at the underwear anyway? Does it matter if the print is upside down on my backside???
Will I make this pattern again?
After I made my adaptions, yes I will be making it again. I already make all of my knickers – fun fabrics, good use of leftover jersey and fit well!
