Thongs are a favourite knicker style for many people so wouldn't it be great if you could whip up your own thong? We currently have three thong patterns available; the skimpy thong, the Mia thong and the Ciara thong. The skimpy is a classic thong style with a bagged out gusset and two-step attached elastic. Both of these techniques are fundamental to lingerie making and once you understand them you have an excellent foundation to begin your lingerie making journey.
Step 1
Get your pattern pieces and fabric together. Our skimpy pattern is intended for 4-way stretch fabric such as jersey or knicker mesh. The fabric I chose for this style is a tie dye jersey.
I began by ironing my fabric as it was still pretty creased from the tie dye process. Then I checked the stretch by pulling along the fabric in both directions; my fabric had the most stretch horizontally with less vertical stretch. This meant I needed to align the arrows on my pattern with the horizontal stretch. It can be helpful to draw a line perpendicular to the line on the pattern as this can be aligned with the warp.
Step 2
Next I stitched the side seams by placing right sides together and overlocking. If you do not have an overlocker, then use an alternative stretch stitch such as a zigzag.
Step 3
The next step is to bag out the gusset; I started with the back seam by placing the right side of the gusset outer to the right side of the back panel then positioning the right side of the gusset lining to the wrong side of the back panel. This should make a gusset sandwich with the two gusset pieces either side of the back panel. I then stitched the seam using an overlock.
Step 4
I repeated this 'sandwich' technique on my front seam. To do this I begin by positioning my outer gusset to the front panel with the right sides together. Then when I position the lining, I turn the panel under towards the back so that the right side faces the wrong side of the back panel. I can then pull the seam to the side and pin in place easily. It might look like the gusset lining panel is twisted when sewing, but this is correct as we are trapping the seam allowance inside the gusset! Once I have sewn the seam, I pulled the back and the front panels and the gusset unfolded showing the smooth bagged out gusset.
This step can be a bit tricky to get your head around at first and I recommend pinning and turning the gusset through to check there are no twists before you commit to stitching. There are alternative techniques to attaching gussets so it might be a matter of trial and error until you find the technique that works for you!
Step 5
The final step is to elasticate the legs and waist edges. Our skimpy pattern has 6mm seam allowance which indicates that the intended attachment technique is a two-step zigzag attach. I have a more detailed post on how to attach elastics here.
To attach, place the elastic to the right side of the garment with plush side facing up. Then zigzag as close to the inside edge as possible, stretching as you stitch. I use my foot edge to position the elastic and to keep my stitches straight. My waist elastic had a trim edge that I wanted to be visible when worn so instead of stitching close to the elastic edge, I repositioned so that I was stitching close to the trim edge instead.
The final step is to turn the elastic to the inside and to stitch a second row of zigzags.
Do you like wearing thongs? Would you ever make your own?
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