Secrets of Sewing Lingerie Boudoir Blushes Camisole and Shorts

This is my second make from the fabulous Secrets of Sewing Lingerie book!

I chose to have a go at this one as it seemed fairly simple in comparison to some of the other project, but also a good way to combine some of my new skills! The vest is made from two pieces cut on the fold and the front piece has one straight dart for each boob. The book suggests using a silk satin fabric to make the set from, but I decided to go for a crepe-back satin at £7.99 p/m. I found this fabric was less likely to fray quite so badly, but also had less drape than a silk fabric would have. If I have another go at this pattern in the future I think I might try a silk fabric in red. I was tricked into buying pink fabric after I saw how good the one in the book looked, then realised I don't really wear pink! Doh!

After sewing in the darts the next step was french seams along the side seams. I was quite proud of how neat they came out! My attention to accuracy at college is definitely paying off. When pressing the fabric I found it could withstand a lot more heat than silk could have, so that's another point in the crepe's favour!

The lace trim hides a sneaky reverse hem which I'd never tried before. I chose to use a zigzag stitch along the lace to make sure the hem was secure. I still need to practice joining the lace where it meets (I think I did it different each time!), but I don't think you would notice if I hadn't said anything!

It took me a few attempts before I got the hang of just where to stitch when doing the shell stitch around the top of the back. I ended up going round and marking every 3cm so that they didn't come out wonky! I quite like the effect though- another sneaky way of doing a hem without anyone stitches showing!

To make the straps for this garment I was required to make two long pieces of rouleau. Not done this before! It's fairly easy in theory but I did find that the width of my straps was a bit wobbly which wasn't ideal once they were folded and sewn into place. I will be extra careful next time. The attaching of the straps was fairly simple- my hand stitching is not great but shhhh!

The shorts were also made from two pieces of fabric and sewn together with french seams. The top features an encased elastic waistband. For the first time I did a row of stitching along the top and the bottom of the casing before inserting the elastic and found it looks 100x more professional! Will have to be careful in future if I do this not to make the case too narrow for the elastic though.
The shorts also feature a cute little petal gusset where the french seams meet between the legs. I followed the instructions in the book which told me to attach this before adding the lace around the leg holes. This backfired and I had to take the gusset off again later so that the stitching around the reverse hem of the legs didn't go over the gusset. Ooops!

The final adornment was the double box bow that was added to the front of the waistband. I could have hidden my join in the stitching behind this but I'd joined my stitches at the back! I am really happy with the way my bow turned out, though a little disappointed you can't see it when I have the camisole on!

My main regret is not making the set in red with black lace instead. But there's always next time!

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