After 6 years of sewing my own bras and panties, I’m sharing my favorite patterns, fabric, and shops so you can sew your own lingerie
Are you curious about how to sew lingerie? Well, as I’ve sewn all of my own underwear for the past 6 years and have made my favorite daily wear bras for the last few years, I’m here to share my favorite patterns and supply shops for panty and bra making. I recently shared in my Instagram stories about replenishing my lingerie drawer with the sets pictured above, and I got some requests for links which I also shared in my stories. Since Instagram stories disappear, I decided to write this post so that anyone interested can bookmark, pin or otherwise save it.
Key Takeaways
If you’d like to sew your own bras and panties, in this article you’ll learn
- Which bra sewing patterns I have sewn and recommend
- Which underwear sewing pattern I use for myself
- Where I buy my bra sewing supplies
- My favorite shop for stretch lace elastic
- Tools I like for lingerie sewing and links to buy them
How I Started Sewing Lingerie
Before we get started, let’s talk about how I ended up sewing my own underwear and bras when that was not something I ever planned. It started with underwear. While I had sewn swimwear before when I was younger, I never saw the point in sewing underwear for my wardrobe when it was easy to buy.
That is, until I had knit scraps everywhere and also store bought underwear seemed to take a quality dive at the same time it got more expensive. My sewing friend convinced me to try making my own undies, and so I drafted a pattern. And I have bought only a couple pairs of underwear since sewing that pair, always disappointed by the quality and fit compared to my me made undies. You can see the original tutorial here.
I became especially frustrated with store bought underwear finished with lace elastic. While I preferred the fit of these pairs, they seemed to fall apart especially quickly. So I got some stretch lace elastic and made my own, as well as another tutorial. And this is how I prefer to sew my undies now.
For the bra sewing, I blame Maddie of Madalynne who reached out when she first started selling DIY lingerie kits to see if I’d like to review one. I said sure, and she sent me the kit from which I made the the Barrett Bralette pictured above and below. I was very pleasantly surprised both by how easy it was to sew this simple bralette and how well it fit and supported me. While I did make a full bust cup size adjustment, that was no more difficult than when I bought bralettes and sewed new bands inside to adjust the fit.
Bra and Underwear Sewing Patterns I Like
As mentioned above, I use my own underwear pattern to sew each lingerie set. It’s the perfect combination of fit and comfort for me. And at this point I can knock a pair out in less than an hour, thanks to my rotating cutting mat and coverstitch machine.
As for bras, one of the only things I didn’t like about my Barrett Bralette was that it was a pullover style. So the next bra pattern I tried was the Cloth Habit Watson Bra. It’s similar in that it has vertical cup seams and adjustable shoulder straps, but it also has hooks on the back closure.
Watson is variety of bra meant for lounging, so I appreciated that it was designed for comfort. After sewing several Watson bras, I noticed I kept gravitating to the same one over and over – one I had made in cotton spandex, fully lining the cups and adding a layer of power mesh between the outer cup and lining, with a wide elastic band. It’s my favorite bra for everyday wear. So I made more in that style.
Materials I Like for Sewing Lingerie
One of the barriers to sewing a bra is gathering all the supplies needed to finish one. Buying a DIY kit from Madalynne is one way to remove that barrier. I probably would not have ventured further down the bra sewing rabbit hole and into the bras you see in this post. But now that I don’t need a kit, here are my favorite shops for lingerie project supplies.
- I buy power net, bra strap elastic, plush back elastic, picot elastic and bra findings like rings, sliders and hook and eye closures from The Bra Makery (affiliate link). That is generally my first stop for supplies. The shop also has some kits with all the notions you’ll need for a bra in one package. I will say though, that the kit I bought had band elastic that wasn’t as soft as the plain white band elastic and I avoid the bra I made with it as I find it itchy.
- I also buy plush elastic and bra strap elastic from DIN Fashion Supplies (affiliate link) for more color variety.
- And Mary Supplies (affiliate link) is my go to shop for lace elastic, though I also always take a look at the selection when I am in the Dallas warehouse shops.
- The best fabric I’ve found for my underwear and bras is 95% cotton 5% spandex jersey.
- As mentioned above, I prefer the underwear pattern available on my site here, and the Watson Bra pattern for my bras. I sew a combination of a 30D band with 30E cups for myself
Sewing Skills for Lingerie
While gathering all the notions needed might be a barrier to sewing your own bras, what is not a barrier is needing a special sewing machine. While I do like my cover stitch machine to sew the lace elastic onto my underwear, I constructed the bras pictured in this post entirely on my regular sewing machine. As long as your machine can do a zig zag stitch, you can sew your own sets.
Skills you’ll use and refine when sewing lingerie:
- Precise fabric cutting with patterns
- Working with elastic
- Zig Zag stitching
- Small seam allowances (most patterns only have a 1/4 inch seam)
Tools I Use When Sewing Bra & Panty Sets
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. All affiliate links are identified with (affiliate link) after the link or a commissions earned statement above the link(s).
While you certainly don’t need any special tools to sew lingerie and I had none of these (except the self-leveling presser foot) when I sewed my Barrett Bralette, I do find some specific tools helpful. I use a 28mm rotary cutter (affiliate link), rotating mat (affiliate link) and pattern weights when cutting my lingerie fabric. You can check out the posts below for more on these tools and how to use them.
Dara
Thanks Melly, I am Definitely looking to do this. Have a Wonderful weekend.
Lynn
When using the lace elastic finish for underwear leg openings, are these underwear no-show when worn with leggings?
Thank you
Patricia Hagge
Gigi’s bra supply out of KC is a great place for all bra supplies and she is extremely helpful with many classes online too. I don’t like cotton for my panties since pants fabric doesn’t slide over it well. Rayon spandex does a pretty good job as well as tricot.
At Gigi’s all the supplies can be bought in one place including patterns. Bra builders in WI is another great supplier. They also do the Great Bra Bee I’m Aug which is a long weekend of classes, talks, fitting, etc. it’s great for the new bra maker.