I know, I know….All I am sewing lately is lingerie. I swear I will get back to other kinds of sewing soon, but Lingerie Month at the Curvy Sewing Collective is consuming my life!
Shameless Plug: Check out my Cloning a bra post and my Bra Materials post.
Just an FYI, I hate the word “panties.” I have no idea why, but it makes me cringe like crazy. I feel like the mother in Dead Like Me with the word “moist.” I guess in Canada we say underwear or underpants or even just pants. I don’t hear many people saying panties… Feel free to tease me endlessly in the comments with the word panties! Hhahaha. I’m sure several of my friends will do this in person after they read this post. I love my friends.
I say knickers like I am British. Point of fact, my father was born in Leeds. I am half British. Therefore, I say knickers.
I’ve made some knickers before in a few different ways:
- Cloned a pair of RTW knickers
- Sewed the So, Zo free knickers pattern
- Sewed the Cloth Habit free Rosy Ladyshorts
For whatever reason, none of these options worked well for me. Crotch length too short, crotch length too long, butt not big enough, knickers fell down, elastic wore out too fast, and fabric didn’t have good recovery. Those last two are more about fabric/notion choices than anything. Both the free patterns were great, but just didn’t work for me.
Things I learned from several failed knickers:
- I hate elastic on my knickers. It cut in. It was irritating. It got stretched out. I do, however, like stretch lace and find that to be comfortable and have good recovery.
- I needed a low rise front to accommodate my belly, but with a fuller bum. I knew I would have to make a full bum adjustment.
- I needed to choose better fabric.
Enter the Barrie Briefs. The positive part of this pattern is the bands on the legs and the top. The top band could easily be replaced by a band of lace. But the leg bands…. to die for. I knew they would be a winner! They are so comfortable.
I heard the pattern ran large. It is made for a 20% stretch knit. My knit was 100%. Some magic mushroom told me that I should cut a size 3 to start….. Um….. wtf, Andie?! Obviously too small.
I cut a size 8 next with a full bum adjustment and an inch on the front sides added and they fit perfectly.
They took 30 min to make including cutting them out.
Edit: The fabric is a lightweight poly spandex stretch with a cotton jersey crotch inset.
Not much else to say except that I am happy to finally have a pattern to work from. Now comes making all the knickers in all the colours!
TL:DR Review
- Pattern: Kitchy Koo’s Barrie Briefs
- Pros: Bands for the legs and waist with the option to use lace.
- Cons: Made for 20% stretch fabric, which is kind of odd and causes some complaints about the pattern running too large. Size way down if you are using a stretchier material.
- Make again?: YES! ALL THE KNICKERS!
- Rating:
5/5 stars
Andie Wells Studio 
I despise the word panties. Underwear or undies is how I roll. I tried the Barrie briefs twice, but haven’t landed on the proper stretch amount yet… one too tight, one too loose.. maybe third time is the charm?
I knew I wasn’t alone in hating that word! 😉
Third time is definitely the charm. It’s a little bit of a hassle because of that stretch percentage, isn’t it. Try comparing the width to a pair of knickers that fit you well and have the same stretch percentage as your fabric. That’s what I did for the second one. That first one… I don’t get what I was thinking. I literally chose that size based on nothing. Haha.
I also loathe the word “panties!” It gives me the all-overs. Three cheers for “knickers,” or the completely ridiculous other word I’ve used my whole life, “under-roos!”
These look great, Andie! I’m so particular about knickers fit that I’ve yet to sew any, but this pattern is intriguing. Might give it a whirl.
I’ve said under-roos a lot too! I used to say that to my niece and nephew. Haha. 😃
I’m pretty picky about underwear fit. I’ve been looking for a pattern that would meet all my requirements for a while. It might work for you. There are lots of options for it in terms of rise. If you try it, I hope it works for you too! 😃
Ha ha! I think the only time I say “panties” is when I’m typing it out with bra (ie “bra and panty set”). IRL, it’s UNDERWEAR all the way! Knickers sounds rather fun to say out loud, so perhaps I’ll start saying that more often. I’m definitely going to try this pattern ASAP. I have the other patterns you listed printed out, but never tried them. I think the Barrie Briefs will be the knickers for me!
Knickers is so fun to say! 😃 Hehe. I hope the pattern works for you. 💕
I was ready to jump on that pattern… but if I’m doing the Canadian dollar exchange correctly, that’s going to be $15! That seems steep for panties; the Lady Skater dress pattern (which presumably required a lot more drafting) is the same price. Am I missing something? Are these truly life changing knickers?
Oh man, that dollar is killing me lately. I bought the pattern long before the Can dollar tanked so I was lucky. Just really procrastinated about making them. They aren’t life-changing knickers. I wish! 😉 If you want to try knickers with a large size range, Seamwork’s Geneva knickers are good or any of the free pattern I linked. They didn’t work for me because I prefer a lower rise than that and wanted the ease of having a band drafted for me. In all honesty adding a band isn’t too difficult at all. I am horribly lazy and they are just underwear so I was tired of all the failed attempts. I wish the dollar would get better though. I keep holding off buying my Euros for my trip in hopes it won’t be so expensive. 😢
Thanks for the reply! Bootstrap Fashion has some knickers patterns too, I think, and I like being able to put in my measurements and get something that’s pretty close to perfect fit wise (I don’t really have a waist to hip ‘ratio’ LOL). I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t making a terrible mistake by not getting the Barrie. 😄
Oohh, buying Euros right now would be the worst! I’m trying to accentuate the positive; at least the weak dollar has me looking more seriously for fabric shops here at home. Blackbird fabrics just got some super cute spotted denim in, and Toronto’s only about a 2 hour drive for me…
Bootstrap is a great idea! 😃 Much cheaper than the Barrie Briefs pattern too.
I love Blackbird fabrics. I just made my first order there a couple of weeks ago. So fast. I’m in Toronto but still have trouble finding what I need in town, especially lingerie supplies. And Sussman’s just moved to Hamilton. They were my last good source for lingerie stuff. 😢 Turns out lots of my stores in the Fashion District are moving to Ottawa St in Hamilton.
I too hate the p-word. Also, “moist” and “slacks.” Another fun fact: I always want to make underwear in sets of three, maybe because I used to buy them that way in RTW. Finding the perfect undies pattern is the best.
That’s actually a good idea to make them in threes. I need to do that! It’s such a quick sew. I can’t wait to make all the knickers. 😃
Cute knickers! I used to work with a girl that hates the word “panties” and “moist”; we teased her mercilessly.
I’ve found that the SeamWork pattern Geneva actually fits me pretty well! I was surprised that I didn’t need to do any adjustments to the fit!
Thanks so much! I totally forgot to list the Geneva knickers. I tried that one, too, but the rise was too high for me. I’m glad they worked for you. It’s a great pattern! 😀
That is so funny about you not liking the word panties – it reminded me of this Jimmy Fallon clip with Jim parsons- you have to watch it: https://youtu.be/hERzvxp5ab0?t=463