Half-slips!

I fell out of blogging... again... Doing a major clean out after the builders were done renovating my appartement, having my sister here for a week... Blogging - and sewing - got left behind. Of course, having my sister on visit was great, and what's even better is that she's moving back to town at the end of summer! Yay! And the flat does feel better after that huge cleaning-affair =)

MeMadeMay got done all the way to the end, and I'll post a some reflections on a later date. To get me back into the sewing room (finally restored to order I might add) I figured it was time to adress this issue:

I made this slip 4 years ago, in a not very good quality lining fabric. Having yet to figure out invisible zips, and not wanting the bulk of a gathered waist, I inserted an invisible zipper like an ordinary, centered zip. This has actually worked out great, and even though I have a few other slips, this is the one I've always turned to. It's a safe bet to say that for the past 4 years it has been worn at least 250 days/year (the real number is probably higher).

This winter I first started noting it looked worn around the central backseam. Then all of a sudden it went from a little worn to what you can see above! Time to retire this workhorse, and make new slips.

While the zip has worked, at times it has also been a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, a traditional straight slip always makes me feel restricted in movement. So I drafted a pattern from my A-line TNT, widening the waist to eliminate the zip, while keeping a slightly flared hem. First up was this black slip:

I overlocked the inside seams, used an elastic with lace details on the top (underwear elastic) for the waist and made a rolled hem with the aid of my rolled hem foot =)

The result is ok, but the elastic could have been a little snugger around the waist. I wasn't pleased at all with the overlocked seams (and I had carefully adjusted the setting first, testing on scrap material) so...

On this nude version I made french seams on the inside, and this was way better! May sound trickier, but with the whole changing threads and adjusting the overlock, this was actually faster and yielded a nicer result. Both ways of course work!

I used a somewhat shorter elastic for the waist, and added a lace to the hem.

This whole thing came together mercifully quick! The second skirt took 2,5 hours to make, from pressing the fabric before laying out the pattern, to the last pressing of the hemline. I may have to do another one pretty soon... My jersey dresses are shorter than my woven skirts and dresses, and these new slips are too long for them! Luckily, I have just eunough left of the nude fabric to make a second,  5-7 cm shorter slip =)

Ever tried your hand on any kind of lingerie-sewing? Love it, or not a fan of sewing something that won't be seen?

Love, Erika