This weekend I finally finished the wool underwear set that I’ve been planning for a while. It was a fun little project, no too hard, but still a little bit of fiddling, especially with all the lace and getting the crotch gusset to look right on the pants.
Wool has made a real comeback as an underwear material in Sweden in the last few years. Since it’s both moisture wicking, warm and gentle to the skin (if you use merino wool) it’s a great option when the weather gets colder. And there are also several activewear brands that specializes in wool workout wear. One cool brand is Kari Traa by the namesake Norwegian champion freestyle skier (check out the link to see all the amazing wool fabrics that she uses, imagine if we could buy wool knits like that in stores!). And people don’t just use it for keeping warm outdoors – I’ve seen several people wearing Kari Traa’s wool wear to yoga classes!
Anyways back to my wool set. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to make a set with a vintage look and I struggled for the longest time to find the perfect stretch lace. Yes, that struggle is real! Mostly because most stretch laces doesn’t look vintage enough, or even sophisticated enough, to be honest. It’s hard to explain, but for me the design of the lace is super important, I want it to be elaborate and to look more like crocheted lace. But then I finally found the perfect lace from a seller on Ebay UK and I knew it was time to start this project.
I used the 3-threaded flatlock seam for the side seams. It’s a tricky stitch to get right, and I didn’t succeed 100% this time, but the trick is to make many samples trying different tension settings on the lower looper and the needle thread. I’ve done a guide on how to perfect the 3-threaded flatlock seam if you want more details.
The gusset turned out to be the biggest headache as this was the first time I drafted a full gusset that runs inside the entire leg. Traditional Swedish mamelucker (long legged wool panties) uses two layers of fabric in the gusset to keep the crotch warm, so I did that too. However, it made the flatlock seam super bulky, so I ended up using regular 3-threaded overlock seam instead. Next time I will figure out a way to make the gusset with a stitched down seam instead.
As for the top, I created a v-neck neckline and had do a lot of shaping to get the lace to lie flat. There are actually seams in four places, mid front, at both shoulders and in the back. I did the shaping on the dress dummy, since that made it easier to gauge. Also, I’m working on a tutorial on different ways to attach stretch lace to a knit garment, so stay tuned for that.
So that’s was all about my wool undies set. If you have thin merino wool I highly recommend using it for lounge wear, as it won’t make you sweaty unless there is a heatwave going on. And if you are curious about the bedding and head board, I’ve done those myself too!
Tutorial on how to make a plank head board
Tutorial on how to make vintage looking duvet covers
I also have a tutorial lying around for how to make vintage looking pillow cases, that I should publish!
