Doctor T Designs

I was scrolling on Instagram and I saw someone bring up their end of year WIP purge. While I don’t really have a lot of true WIPs lying about, I have been wanting to do a deep dive on the LilyPADesigns patterns since April, and I do have quite a few planned projects that have been hanging out on the cutting table for far too long. So, after I got back from my New York trip last month I got back to working on these projects. Typically, I try to post projects here in a chronological order, but in the spirit of not having a WIP purge turn into needing a drafts declutter, I’m going to be posting some more recent projects out of order, since I still need to photograph my dresses from November. So today we are instead moving on to reviewing the LilyPAD Haru Knickers.

I’ve been planning to do a LilyPAD bra patterns deep dive since March, but along the way I got sidetracked and started wondering about the fit from the other patterns from the brand. While some of the bra styles from LilyPAD are quite popular in the bra sewing community, I feel like I haven’t seen too many reviews of the underwear patterns from the brand, so I decided I would try tacking some of those on to my bra sewing pattern tour. Although arguably the patterns currently available from LilyPAD are styles I could easily have created from my existing self drafted patterns, I wanted to give them a try, you know, for science.

The first of the underwear patterns I tried is the Haru Knickers. This pattern is on the one hand a fairly straightforward pattern with variations of a wide elastic lace waistband. There are some clever design options though, including a variation for a front pocket (to insert a heating pad), or a version using hook and eye for easier removal. Personally that’s a bit more bulk than I prefer on my underwear, but it is a design feature I haven’t seen on other patterns. There’s also options for a V-front or a flat front in terms of how the lace is seamed and placed. The pattern also has a quite extensive size range, from a 32″-60″ hip, which is a larger range than most patterns.

I have yet to find any underwear pattern that has been a perfect fit straight away, but the Haru Knicker came really, really close. I really appreciate that the LilyPAD underwear patterns come drafted with 3 different widths of gussets, which is also something I haven’t really seen much in other patterns. I needed to go even narrower than the narrowest option, but aside from adjusting the gusset curve and taking in the hip seams a bit for more waist shaping, it was a great fit right away.

Putting this pattern together is super easy too, since you can do most of the sewing flat, and then put the waistband together at the very end. If your lace is has scalloped edges on both sides it doesn’t even require finishing, and can be applied to the main part with a bit of topstitching, which is also super fast.

The only place I deviated in the construction of the gusset was to also finish off the front edge, as I though it was just a bit neater, and less likely to lead to my lining fabric fraying (which it seems to do more than other knits). Once it’s fully sewn down it looks very tidy from both sides.

When picking out kits to use for my LilyPAD bra sewing deep dive, I wanted to pick things that would work well for each design, but that I wasn’t so entirely attached to I would be disappointed if the end result wasn’t 100% perfect. One of these kits was the Mauvelous Stretch Lace Bra Kit from Bra Builders, which I ended up using for the Haru as well. I’m not really sure how to explain the complete ups and downs I’ve had with my feelings towards the color of this kit. I feel like in photos it comes off as a bit more intense than the color is in real life, and I’ve bounced between liking the color and not liking the color, and back throughout the sewing of the next several projects I have to post on the blog. Ultimately, it’s a very complex color, with the base colors being more of a purple-mauve and the stretch lace having a bit more brown to it. The colors you put next to it also really have a fascinating impact on how purple vs. how pink it looks in person. In hindsight, I really think it was the lace without any lining under it that left me feeling conflicted, because the dyed parts of the kit are actually a really nice soft purple, and once the lace is lined the color changes into a relatively more vibrant pink, which I also enjoy. I do think it’s somewhat normal to go through phases of loving and not loving a project while you make it, but I usually don’t spiral this much just based on how I’m feeling about a color.

Anyway, in addition to working out my feelings for mauve, I decided to take a bit of a risk on this kit with the Haru pattern. The mesh of the embroidered lace is itself actually stretchy, but the embroidery designs along the edge are not. Additionally, the lace is quite wide, and so I decided to cut the top edge and finish it by fold over elastic (similar to the Christina pattern I made for my sister last month) because I was worried it wouldn’t stretch enough to gov over my hips or stay up once it was there, and I don’t love super high waistbands on my underwear. Ironically, the Haru is used as one of the samples on the Bra Builders site, so I guess I wasn’t really being that adventurous after all. Though I still think that cutting down the top edge was the right choice because my decision to not do so along the bottom edge did result in the not-quite-stretchy-enough effect I was worried about.

On the dressform the lace overlay is very nice and smooth, but once you get it on a real person who is moving and sitting all day, the lack of a stretch lower edge leads to a bit of bunching and curling since it can’t move with the body. But in spite of that, this pattern is incredibly comfortable overall. I will reserve it for true stretch laces in the future, but in general I’m quite happy with this first version of the pattern.

Pattern Review

Pattern Description: An underwear patterns with options for use of wide stretch lace around the waistband. From the designer: “The Haru Knicker is a modular underwear pattern with options! This versatile knicker features various gusset widths for different hip shapes, multiple waist circumference options for each hip size, and is ideal for stretch laces. Includes optional front pocket and front closure for accessibility. Great for beginner and intermediate sewists.”

Pattern Sizing: The pattern is sized for hips 32” – 60”, which is a really great size range. The sizes are numbered based on the hip measurement, which also makes it really easy to pick a starting size. I used a size 50, and it was a really great fit with minimal adjustments.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Yes, in general I think the instructions are pretty straightforward. I did not make the optional front pocket, but I did think those instructions might be confusing or not detailed enough if you haven’t sewn underwear before. The LilyPAD instructions also tend to give a lot of information for optional steps, those some of these are mixed in with the main instructions and some are in a separate section of instructions in the back. If you are sewing the pattern and are relying on the instructions for construction information I highly recommend reading through and highlighting the relevant sections before starting.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  In general yes. I had a really wide embroidered tulle, so I did not include the scalloped edge along the top, which is a bit different than the line drawing but similar to other samples on the LilyPAD website.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I have been pleasantly surprised by how little additional fitting I need to do to the LilyPADesigns patterns to make them fit (this includes both bra and underwear patterns). Based on the line drawing, I was concerned that I was going to need to adjust the shaping on the back for more coverage, but it actually is already drafted as a fairly full coverage design. I also like that this pattern has a lot of options for how to finish the waistband and where the seams can be placed to best optimize the fabric. I am also really impressed with the option for multiple gusset widths. I (apparently) need a really narrow gusset, but the smallest width would have gotten me in a really good ballpark had I not just measured and adjusted from my fit sample. I also love that this pattern has boyshort vibes while having the fit of a regular brief. They are super comfortable to wear and really easy to construct. I also like that there are options for a front pocket (to add a heating pad), and multiple waistband options to accommodate laces with different stretch percentages. I also like that this pattern uses relatively little amounts of fabric and elastic to make (if you have enough stretch lace for the waistband), so it could be a really great scrap buster as well. My only dislikes so far are related to my fabric choice because it didn’t have enough stretch along the scalloped lace edge, and I expect they will be resolved the next time I make this pattern.

Fabric used: I used a stretch embroidered tulle for the lace, and microlycra for the main fabrics, and I used a cotton jersey for the lining and fold over elastic to finish the edges. The materials are primarily from Bra Builders.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  I only needed to make a few fit alterations on this pattern. I removed 1/4” from the top of the back side seams to narrow the waist, and I narrowed the gusset slightly more than the narrowest version included in the pattern. I could probably narrow it a tiny bit more, but it has been comfortable so I might leave it for now. I also narrowed/raised the leg opening on the front of the non-lace section of the pattern. For this version, I also cut the back on a fold to remove the seam, and used an enclosed gusset technique to finish off the front edge (which was not included in the instructions), just because my cotton lining was prone to fraying.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  Yes, I think this pattern is going to become part of my TNT underwear pattern rotations. However, I’m only going to use this for true stretch laces in the future. I decided to try this as an experiment with the stretch tulle that came in this kit. I was concerned that the embroidered edge would not work entirely well with this type of design, and unfortunately I was right. It’s definitely wearable, and very comfortable once it’s on, but it’s not the easiest to put on because the embroidered edge of the lace is a bit stiff. I wanted to be a bit experimental with this fabric choice (and ironically this is actually the pattern that is showcased with this fabric on the Bra Builders site), but I’m going to opt for more pragmatic choices in the future. I’m excited to try this again with a true stretch lace in the future, as I think it will yield a result that is cute and easier for getting dressed. I would highly recommend this pattern though – the drafting is great, the size range is inclusive, and the design is cute.

Conclusion:  Overall this version of this pattern might not be my favorite underwear I’ve ever made (due to the fabric choice), but I am excited to have this pattern as an option for future sewing projects. I am really looking forward to using it with some of the very soft stretch laces in my stash that will pair well with this design. I think I may need to do a tiny bit of tweaking on the gusset shape to get a truly perfect fit, but overall I’m really happy with this pattern and I’m looking forward to using it again soon.

And spoiler alert: soon already happened because I just cut out my second version of this pattern. But that will be for a future post. In the meantime, I’ve got a few more of my LilyPAD patterns made, so hopefully there will be some more posts with some additional pattern reviews coming soon!