The first pair of panties were an experiment in how to attach the elastic. When done, I put them in the trash for two reasons.
They are bikini and I don't like them on the dolls.
The elastic was attached using three different ideas none of which I used in the next pair. They were all too bulky.
I went on a mission to get a pair of panties that fit the doll the way I wanted them to. The pattern had a line drawn on it so I slashed along the line and made them 1" longer in length. You can add a line to each part and slash them making sure that both sides on each piece are the same length.
I deconstructed the coral pair of panties and cut them out. When I started to look at how the elastic was attached to the girl's panties I had an ah-hah moment. The elastic was laid on the outside of the panties with the picot edge towards the cut edge. The elastic was sewn on and never turned. I was going to try that as it was less bulky.
I used a variety of needles when sewing the panties. All worked well as long as I used a leader when starting to sew. I used the lightening stitch on my machine. The crotch and side seams were trimmed back to 1/8". I attached the elastic with a zig zag stitch that was about as wide as the elastic minus the picot edge. I lengthened the stitch also.
As I worked on the panties I really liked how the elastic went on laying it on top of the fabric. I used an awl to make sure the fabric was in place as I didn't want it to show under the picot edging. That worked really well. The coral panties turned out exactly how I envisioned them.
The one thing I learned is not to rush sewing the panties. I found sewing slow made for a better pair. I also measured the center of each part I added the elastic to. It went on very evenly. I am glad that I took the pattern, adapted it, and made panties I am happy to put on my dolls.
Happy Doll Sewing.......................................
