French Knickers Sew-Along... Adding "Le Crotch" Insert

Today for the French Knickers Sew-Along we're going to add a finishing touch to our French Knickers: "Le Crotch."  (I may as well just get used to saying it. )
This piece should be cut from cotton jersey fabric or something similar. Mine is tencil knit jersey. bamboo knit jersey is also wonderful. You can even cut this piece from an old t-shirt if you like!

"Le Crotch"

For certain fabrics you might consider finishing the edges of "le crotch" with an edge stitch. I didn't bother with this step because I know that the raw edges of the tencil knit jersey will not fray or be problematic.

The four points of the crotch piece are going to line up with your center front, center back, and crotch seam on the inside.

Line up the short center of the diamond with the crotch seams first, then align the two longer points with the center front/ back seam allowances.

Now just gently tack each point in place, just catching the seam allowances with your needle, without actually poking through to the outside of the knickers.

Just a few basting stitches should do the trick. 

I used thread that matches my fabric color perfectly so that it blends right in.

And voila! If you've gone with the ribbon edging like I did in this version then you're done! 

Here is my finished pair of French Knickers with ribbon edging. Pretty, no?

For our next post, I'll go over trimming the leg openings with lace instead of ribbon.

Any questions?

Sew French: 6 November 1949

I'm back from vacation with epic jet lag and a head cold, but I've hit the ground running anyways. With my first post back from vacation I'd like to start with a new segment I'll be doing here on A Few Threads Loose called "Sew French".

I have an amazing collection of vintage French sewing magazines and patterns and since I get so much enjoyment from them, I thought I would share bits of pieces of them with you.

Today I would like to share some lovely images and sewing patterns from "Le Petit Echo de la Mode." This edition was printed November 6, 1949.

It has lovely fall fashions and focuses mostly on really beautiful coats (and dresses) like these:

Sewing patterns for all of these fashions were available to order by mail. They are harder to find but I just love French patterns from this era; the styles are so timeless.

My favorite image from this edition is below, showing the latest style of accessories in suede.

Translation: "Suede in your adornment."

And of course, I have for you the two patterns included in the issue which I have given a "digital bath" as I like to call it.

 The first below is "Paniers et Corbeilles" or "Baskets and Trays." The measurements given for these are in centimeters.  If you don't read French and need the instructions, you can use Google Translate to make some sense of it.

This second pattern translates as "The baby area" and includes a "sleeping sack," "bags for hot water bottle and bottle" "a mat" and most interesting of all, a "walking belt" to keep the wee one from wandering too far on your daily promenade. Essentially it's a toddler leash.

Are these as fascinating to you as they are to me? Would you make any of these things? I would love to know! I have so much fun digging these things up.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.
~Anna~

Sewing with Vintage French Patterns

I have lately been working on drafting beautiful corset/ corselet and garter belt patterns from an old French diagram and it's been an interesting experience.

The measurements are given in centimeters, which I prefer because it makes drafting that much more exact. The only problem is, the pattern was simply noted as being a size 44. A size 44 in 1940's France could mean any number of things and I immediately set out to research exactly what kind of size I was dealing with.

I could find almost nothing and resorted to digging up my French pattern stash (very girl should have one). I have yet to use any of my vintage French patterns yet, as they require some skill and patience, which I'm gaining, and lots of translating of text, which I love doing but seldom have the time for.

I dove into researching the differences between a size 44 by one company and a size 44 by another. All of that is below if you're looking to learn the same thing some time, some day. But first, lets just ooh and aaaaah over some pretty patterns, shall we?