If there is one material in my entire shop that I can get lost in admiring, it’s this Beige Magnolia Statement lace.

…beige?

Yes. Beige may not be the most exciting color (at all), but it’s the only color I could imagine this lace being. It is delicate and light, one of the softest that I have in my whole collection, but a fine craftsmanship that lets you know it won’t falter under pressure. Not a ditsy floral, this lace features one magnificent bloom overtaking the entire height of the lace and repeating over and over. I needed to find a proper project for this lace, one that gave it the space it deserved!

And so enters the Noelle bralette. As far as bralettes go, this one takes up some space; it’s practically a halter top, with a racerback and wide bottom band. I decided on a navy blue mesh lining to really make the beige lace pop.

The pattern calls for pretty tall laces, but I made a few adjustments for the materials I planned on using.

For the front of the bralette, I simply aligned my lace along the bottom and then cut it as high as it would go. I stitched the darts on the lace and also the ones on the mesh, then stitched the lace piece in place on the mesh. From there, I treated the front lining and lace as one piece.

For the back, I was inspired by the back of this bralette (pictured above) that I found on Pinterest, and I adjusted my back pattern piece to have a sharp, triangular shape. I cut two mirrored pieces from the lace (do not forget to add seam allowance!) and sewed them together at the center to create the back piece. To keep the back piece looking as light and nearly invisible as possible, I finished the edges with 4mm narrow beige elastic, stitching with a narrow zigzag and the slightest bit of tension (although, in hindsight, I don’t think the tension was necessary).

This pattern is one that I make all the time and wear constantly, and one step that I add for extra support is to sew on underband elastic between the top part and bottom band. With this step, and with finishing the bottom edge of the bralette, make sure you are keeping a close eye on all of your fabric layers. Between the weightless lace and feather-soft mesh, it’s easy for them to shift out of place while sewing, resulting in unattractive tucks and pinches.

The layout of the lace pieces that I used for the bralette left me with enough of an edge to use for the panties. The Thursday Thong is a super quick, super simple pair of panties to make, and uses hardly any fabric! (It gives you hardly any coverage, of course!)

If I were to make this set again, I would probably go down a size on the bralette and then sew my elastics on with less tension. The end result fits me well, but not as form-fitting as I usually prefer. Plus, this set truly requires modeled photos to get the full effect of the lace back and to smooth the fabric; it unfortunately doesn’t have much flatlay appeal!

Nevertheless, I still find myself going back to wear it over and over. It’s a comfortable everyday set that has a certain elegance to it and really sets a tone for my day whenever I wear it.

As always, if you’ve been inspired to create this set, or to use this incredible lace to make another gorgeous creation, you can find the Beige Magnolia and Navy Blue lingerie kit in the shop now!

With temperatures dropping here in Belgium, I was inspired to challenge myself by making something that combined my favorite aspects of sewing my own lingerie (soft, delicate fabrics, form-fitting silhouettes, straps and sex appeal, etc.), plus warmth and wearability. I love wearing my plum bodysuit, but now that we’re on the cusp of winter, I am dreaming of sleeves, more coverage, and heavier fabrics.

I took inspiration from the lingerie and clothing brand Undress code; when their gorgeous bodysuits came across my Instagram feed, I was immediately smitten with the ones combining mesh and velvet. The play on transparency and textures really appealed to me!

Once I had materials in mind (I’m always looking for an excuse to use a bit of stretch velvet for myself), I looked through my pattern collection and immediately found the perfect match with the Trapeze backless bodysuit by Studio Calicot. I used to do some pattern testing for this brand and have made this pattern before, so I felt confident to dive in without making a test version.

Trapeze has a big, bold cut-out in the back, of course, but it also has long sleeves and a high turtleneck to keep most of my torso warm. It also has a built-in shelf bra, using powernet and underband elastic, to provide some support in the front. I mapped out which fabrics I’d use for each piece (velvet for the front, collar, and finishing the edge of the cut-out, mesh for everything else), and set out making the bodysuit.

The trickiest bits? Keeping track of the right and wrong side of the mesh (they’re verrrrry similar, which probably also means it doesn’t matter too much if you mix them up!), and a slight change in construction order after I decided to use picot elastic in place of the yoke band on the back. It was pretty straightforward to solve in the moment though. I also drafted separate gusset lining pieces (front and back) as an extra layer between me and the precious velvet.

Okay okay okay, but that’s not the star of this outfit though! What’s another thing to love about sewing lingerie? Straps, details, sparkles, extra extra extra, flare! My exposed back would serve as the inspiration for a fabulous strappy harness to accessorize with. (If you want to buy a finished harness, it’s available in my lingerie shop, Studio Dénoue!)

After I finished my bodysuit, I sketched and schemed to come up with a harness design. Since it would go on my back, I had more freedom to come up with a more expansive design (since there wouldn’t be…uh.. two “3D objects” getting in the way). I attempted to “draft” the harness on my mannequin, using pins, rings, and wonderclips on uncut pieces of strap elastic (not wanting to waste the elastic by cutting it at an early stage), but it was…an unwieldy process.

So, I just went for it!

I sketched a very professional template on a piece of paper and laid out the rings I would use, aiming to have approximately 3cm of strap length between each one (each strap piece started at around 7cm to allow space to stitch and loop around each ring). I counted out how many connection points I would need (42!) and started sewing.

I used 8mm satin strap elastic, the narrowest strap elastic I have in the shop, to connect each of the rings. It’s not quite easy to tell, but there’s a diamond shape of 18mm gold rings, surrounded by 15mm gold rings. The difference is too slight to notice, especially with some rings holding up to six pieces of elastic.

The most difficult part of construction is just that it gets a bit tedious sewing small pieces of straps over and over. It required a lot of focus to make sure each piece was as close to equal as possible, and to not get tangled up. If I were to make this harness again, I would keep better track of snipping threads and sealing edges (with a quick run under a lighter, be very careful if you do this!) before moving on to the next strap. It was much more difficult to do this to all of the straps at the end.

Once the main honeycomb design was finished, I needed a way to actually wear it. I played around with incorporating g-hooks or metal closures, but I settled on having six long straps convene on one main, big statement ring that would sit in the middle of my chest. The front straps (12mm satin strap elastic, 50cm in length per strap) are adjustable and have enough slack built in that I can lengthen them with the slider and easily slip the harness on and off. This was definitely the easiest place in the process to really mess up and sew the straps on backwards, twisted, etc., so pay careful attention.

And… that’s it! A lot a lot a lot of repetitive straight stitches. The lengths of each piece of strap elastic was mostly a guess based on my own body, so your results may differ! All I can say is, my head is positively swimming with new harness designs, so this won’t be the last you see of them on Small Bobbins.

If you are interested in making similar garments, here’s the list of materials I used:

For the bodysuit:

• 1m stretch velvet, black
• 1m stretch mesh, black
• 1/4m (50x70cm) powernet, black
• 1m 15mm scalloped underband elastic, black
• 3m 10mm picot elastic, black
• 1m 15mm foldover elastic, black
• 1 piece, bamboo jersey gusset lining, black

And for the harness:

• 4m 12mm satin strap elastic, black
• 4m 8mm satin strap elastic, black
• 3 pairs 12mm sliders, gold
• 5 pairs 15mm rings, gold
• 5 pairs 18mm rings, gold
• 1 piece, 30mm ring, gold

Before I made my Plum and Terra Cotta bodysuit, I tested the triangle lace cups to be sure they fit well. This Olive Branch stretch lace that I used for a toile (test garment) might seem like a strange choice, but it came from a damaged piece that was otherwise unsellable.

Can I tell you a secret? When you purchase a massive amount of textiles or elastics from a biiiig supplier, it’s basically accepted practice that you might not get the quantity you’re expecting. Or maybe you do… sort of. That 50-meter roll of lace, for example, might include 50 meters, sure!… but it might be in pieces, or there’s one or two places where it got chewed up in the loom, or (my personal favorite) I may unroll an otherwise pristine run of fabric to find a perfect circle chopped out of the very center (usually it’s done to calculate the weight of the fabric at the factory).

I get the honor of discovering these various imperfections usually right when I’m unrolling the material to pack your orders. What’s a #girlboss to do?

Waste not, want not. I keep a box full of these irregularly shaped chunks of fabric, laces, and elastics to use for test garments.

Can I tell you another secret? I was so pleased to find a good use for this gorgeous mossy-green and gold lace.

It was while rummaging around my scrap box that I happened to get the inspiration to pair the Olive Branch lace with terra cotta elastics. My main focus was testing the cup pieces, and attaching them to the wide band meant I could make a super simple bralette without worrying about extra pattern pieces beyond that.

Lace cups + wide band + shoulder straps + hook and eye closure = done

The cup pieces needed a bit of alterations for their next iteration, but this bralette was definitely wearable! I decided to make a matching set of panties using terra cotta stretch mesh and Olive Branch lace appliques.

I turned to a tried-and-true favorite panty pattern of mine, the Celeste panties by Ohhh Lulu. It’s a low-rise bikini brief with solid front and back pieces; the perfect canvas to jazz up with a few lace pieces.

I laid out the pattern and decided where I wanted my lace pieces to go, tracing new pattern pieces for the appliques. Each applique, one on the front and one on the back, was made up of two mirrored lace pieces that would be sewn together, which means I had to remember to add a seam allowance. (Need more tips? Check out our tutorial for creating perfectly mirrored lace pieces!)

For constructing the panties, I added each applique to its respective mesh piece first, so then I could simply continue sewing the rest of the panties without altering the instructions. I used plenty of pins to hold the lace in place, and the attached them with a narrow zigzag, carefully following along the scalloped edge of the lace.

I love the final look of the panties; the lace really adds an upgraded element to the pair, and also provides some opaqueness as well. By making sure that my lace pieces were perfectly mirrored when cutting and sewing, the end result is pleasing to look at and allows the gorgeous painterly design and gold details to take center stage.

What started as a test set soon became one of my new favorite color combinations! The olive and terra cotta are both warm and autumnal, and surprisingly complimentary. If you feel so inspired to recreate this set for yourself, you can find the Olive Branch and Terra Cotta lingerie kit in the shop now!

Our newest shade of Italian stretch mesh arrived just in time for fall; introducing, P L U M!

As the name suggests, it’s a gorgeously rich shade of purple, warm and autumnal, with the same soft and supple stretch that has made this fabric a constant bestseller. I started laying it next to my other laces and elastics to see how the color would inspire me, and once I saw this combination with the Great Waves lace in terra cotta and the ultraviolet elastics, I couldn’t get it out of my head!

A daring three-color combo like this gives me Dora Larsen vibes, and I took their bodysuits as inspiration for how I wanted my piece to look. I kept my idea simple: a sheer bodice, lace triangle cups, no wires, soft structure, no appliques or cut-outs or extra frills. Sure, those things have their place in the world, but I wanted something easy to make and easy to wear.

For my own bodysuit, I used a self-drafted bodysuit block. I like the amount of coverage it provides and how I’ve gotten the gusset snaps in just the right spot over the years of using this pattern. I copied it and cut a straight line at the underbust, and made sure this lined up with the back piece. For the cups, I turned to a simple triangle cup pattern that I’ve been working on, first making a test version to check for the fit.

For patterns that you can use, Studio Calicot has a number of bodysuit patterns in different shapes, Seamwork offers the Ariane bodysuit with additional cup shaping, Mood Fabrics offers the freeeeee Thyme bodysuit, and Made for Mermaids has the Loren Teddy. Or, what is a bodysuit but a bodice combined with panties? Halfmoon Atelier offers a tank top and panties pattern, So Zo has free tank top and panties patterns, Itch to Stitch has the free Lago top, and of course there are tons of other free panty patterns out there (the Noelle from Madalynne is a favorite of mine!). And then for similar cups, there’s the Jordy bralette from Emerald Erin, the Darcey bralette from Evie la Luve (Style 2), or the Kiwiki bralette from Fityoo (this one is free!).

Don’t forget to make a test version to get the length and fit right, and draft a snap closure if you’re on Team Snaps for your bodysuits!

Construction for my bodysuit was fairly straightforward, but I did write out all of my steps first to try to anticipate any possible issues with the order of the steps.

The cups are lined with silky microfiber in merlot, almost a total color match to the plum stretch mesh, but providing a smooth lining and some more opaqueness in the cups. (The kit also includes powernet for people who might want additional cup support!)

A bit of 8mm soft terra cotta elastic was sewn onto the edges as a way to join the lace cups and lining together, and stabilize the scalloped lace edges. I added the sliiiightest bit of tension when attaching this elastic, so the cups *hug* the gals a bit more snugly.

Then the underband elastic! This made me pause a bit. I wanted some underband support, I wanted to finish the edge of the top of the bodysuit, and I wanted it all to look nice and neat. Starting at the side seam, I sewed on the underband elastic to the right side of the bodysuit (11mm scalloped underband elastic in ultraviolet), plush side up and scallops facing away from the edge.

When I flipped the elastic towards the inside of the bodysuit, I pinned the cups in place on the inside of the bodysuit. I didn’t trim my seam allowance except to clean up a few parts where it peaked below the elastic. The sheer mesh is thin enough that the seam allowance didn’t add bulk, but it’s sheer enough that trimming it away would’ve looked messier.

The addition of the underband elastic here gives me just enough support, plus I adore the hint of ultraviolet that pops up between the cups and bodysuit!

It was smooth sailing after that to finish up: finishing the legs with foldover elastic (catching the gusset lining while doing so), installing the jersey press snaps, and attaching the shoulder straps.

And was it the bodysuit of my dreams?

Readers: it was the bodysuit of her dreams!

I put together this kit so that you can also make your own bodysuit. The kit includes a full meter of stretch mesh; this is a lot! I’m about a Size 40 (EU) and just barely fit my bodice from 1/2-meter of mesh, so I wanted to be sure that there was plenty for any size and shape of garment you wanted to make. And if you’re not into bodysuits, this kit is easily adaptable to all sorts of other lingerie sets! Add a hook and eye closure to make a soft bralette, add a bit more elastic for a pair of panties (enough for a waistband), or check out channeling, underwires, and non-stretch lining fabrics like sheer cup lining or bra tulle to make an underwire bra.

Or, you know, go crazy and add some boning, a long closure, suspender clips, stocking trim, and go for a decadent bustier with garter belt and Courlis Stockings. Isn’t that the most fun part of making your own lingerie after all? Doing whatever the heck you want!

Closet Core Patterns recently released a lingerie pattern collection featuring F O U R gorgeous patterns! I couldn’t help but swipe up the Celine Bralette and Anais Panties on the day they were released. I’ve made one set so far and it is true love for me!

The promotional photos for these patterns featured a lot of simple, basic black mesh, which inspired me to turn to my all-time favorite soft stretch mesh. I used the new Ultraviolet elastics and I’m obsessed with the color combination. I made a few decisions about the designs and a few changes (based on my materials) that I’ll tell you more about.

The Celine Bralette is described as “for everyday wear and casual lounging,” so I went ahead and cut the whole dang thing from soft black stretch mesh. Based on my measurements, I cut a size 8 with A/B cups (my underbust is about 80cm and my full bust is about 90cm). I made View A with the darted cup and extra stripey bit at the neckline, but I used the straight back bands from View B. (I can’t wait to make more of these and experiment with fabrics and different textures for this piece.)

Really wanting to use my 11mm scalloped underband elastic in Ultraviolet, I skipped the fabric-covered underband and ended up with more narrow bands, leading me to use a 30mm hook and eye, instead of the suggested 38mm one. I could’ve altered the pattern going into it, and I may do that on a future one, but luckily this did work fine for me. Your results may vary, of course! I made sure to measure and check the size of the back bands before attaching the underband and foldover elastics to make sure that my hook and eye closures would fit.

I do have to be honest that I did not read the instructions that closely! I’m sure they’re wonderful. I have other Closet Core patterns, and the clarity of the instructions is great for things like the Ginger Jeans or Kalle Shirtdress, but for me personally, I felt like I could zip through a simple bralette and panty set on my own. The only thing I didn’t look at closely is that the cup piece should’ve been doubled; mine ended up being a single layer. Oops!

For the Anais panties, I made the low-rise version of View A with foldover elastic. I am a BIG FAN of low-rise panties. It’s mind-boggling to be on the wrong side of a trend, but I do *not* enjoy high-waist or high-cut legs, so the option for low-rise made me so happy! Hey, we’ve all got our own preferences. For my all-mesh version, the panels felt a bit unnecessary, but I’m already planning more versions with jersey and color-blocking, and having side panels will be great for contrast. I made a size 12 (my waist is 77cm and hips are 102cm) and it fit well.

What to say about panty construction? Everything came together perfectly! If you’ve ever made panties, then these are nothing new.

The fit is great. For me personally, with my, *ahem*, small bobbins, an all-mesh bralette works for everyday wear. These gals don’t require much! If I wanted to increase the level of support, I would make a few fabric decisions. Since the back bands and cups consist of two layers, I could cut the mesh in opposing directions, or *not* in the direction of greatest stretch, for additional support. Or, one layer could be replaced with a firmer mesh, powermesh, powernet, etc.

Here’s a list of materials I used:

• 1/4m black stretch mesh
• 1 piece bamboo jersey gusset lining, black
• 5m foldover elastic, ultraviolet
• 1m 11mm scalloped underband elastic, ultraviolet
• 1m 12mm satin strap elastic, ultraviolet
• 1 set 12mm rings and sliders, black nylon-coated
• 1 30mm (2×3) hook and eye closure, black

I already mentioned some ideas for future Celine and Anais sets, but I’ll also likely use my 30mm wide band elastics on the underband to see if that offers a bit more support. Playing around with transparency and colors too, textures like bamboo jersey and lace; there are so many possibilities!

Showing off my next set that I made with the new Madalynne patterns and kits, this is the Maris Bralette and Panties! I recently got this Black Tessellation stretch mesh in stock and have been (im)patiently waiting for the opportunity to use it. It only stretches in one direction, but I wanted to demonstrate how that shouldn’t hold you back from using it! Bralettes and panties usually only require stretch that goes around your body horizontally, so as long as you position the fabric correctly, it should work perfectly!

And in the case of this set, it definitely did!

Here’s a quick overview of this project.

I sewed a size Small for the bralette, cup size A/B. For the panties, I sewed a Medium. You’ll notice that the shape of the cups is very similar between the Maris and the Fenix Bodysuit, and I’ll use these Maris cups for both patterns going forward. On my next Maris, I’ll add some width to the back piece (it’s a particular fitting issue I notice with my body, I have a bit of a wider back relative to my cup size!).

For the panties, I used a smaller piece of fabric than what’s included with the kits (always thrifty with my scraps!) so instead of cutting the back panty piece on the fold, I added seam allowance and cut it in two pieces.

I used my new 30mm shiny band elastic on both the bralette and panties instead of the matte elastic that I originally planned with this kit, and I really like the result! The shiny elastic is a bit softer and more stretchy, plus it elevates the whole set with a touch of glam. (The matte elastic would be perfect for a sportier look!)

The lycra is opaque and supportive, and the tessellation mesh is fairly stable, so I skipped lining any of the pieces. I also made the bralette a pullover style and omitted any closures.

I used 18mm strap elastic as the wide elastic that lines the top of the back piece. That, plus the 30mm wide band elastic that I used, are both a bit shorter than the elastics Madalynne drafted the pattern for, so I had to chop a bit off of the bottom of the cups so that the side seams matched. On my next version, I would make the pattern piece for the back band larger to make up for the difference.

The boning and channeling was easy to apply (the channeling in this kit is suuuper thin, I searched far and wide to find a type that was easy to sew, but still soft and supportive!). I was tempted to skip it, but it does help the bralette feel more secure and stay in place.

Both pieces came together quickly and easily; there aren’t any unfamiliar techniques if you’ve sewn a couple panties and bralettes already. The panties are a medium/high-rise thong, and I may play around to lower the rise a bit on my next pair (personally, the waist doesn’t hit my favorite spot on me!).

I love the result! It’s sporty and geometric, comfortable but stylish, everyday but special. If you want to make your own set, you can buy the Black Tessellation and Lycra Maris kit while supplies last, and add the Maris Bralette and Panty pattern to your kit with a 20% discount! Don’t forget to check out the other Madalynne kits for the Lawren Bodysuit, Fenix Bodysuit, and Roxie Bralette, and I’ll show you more soon!

I recently got the opportunity to start stocking PDF sewing patterns from Madalynne in the shop, and it’s been really fun to create a whole bunch of new kits to match perfectly with these four patterns! I can tell that it’s easier to visualize the possibilities with a lingerie-making kit if I make a sample garment, so I’m going to be going through most of the kits to show off what the finished product could look like.

First up, a Fenix Bodysuit using the Forest Green and Beige kit. The beige fabric has a meandering vine motif that looks seasonal when paired with the forest green stretch mesh without being confined to being too autumnal. Honestly, the beige fabric is such a subtle neutral that you could easily swap all the forest green parts for navy blue, terra cotta, or even black!

Here’s a quick project overview for my Fenix Bodysuit.

Going with the size chart, I should’ve cut a Large and a C/D cup, but in my heart of hearts, I know I’m an A/B cup, so I went with that instead. On future Fenix bodysuits, I’ll adjust the cup pieces to remove some more volume, but everything else about the bodysuit fit well!

I took some liberties with the materials that I used compared to the pattern suggestions. I wanted a light, sheer bodysuit, so I skipped a lining on most pieces where it was called for. The lower bralette cups are made with both forest green mesh and powernet, and the upper part of the bralette includes forest green mesh under the beige fabric (I love the way it makes the leaf pattern pop more!). For the back band and panty panels, I just used a single layer of fabric. The kits include enough fabric to allow for all kinds of combinations!

Originally, I had planned to use peach-colored wide elastic as the underband, but then this shiny, forest green version arrived (it was custom dyed to match all of the other forest green materials and elastics!) and of course I couldn’t resist using it. I love the bit of luxury that the satiny band brings.

The 30mm elastic band is a bit more narrow than the pattern’s suggestion, so I swapped in a 38mm, 2×3 hook and eye closure (instead of the 57mm, 3×3 closure that’s suggested) and I was sure to trim off a bit of the back band before sewing on the foldover elastic and attaching the closure.

I decided to add snaps to my bodysuit. It’s optional, of course, but I have one bodysuit that I made as a test version in the past, without snaps, and that prevents me from wearing it much more often, so I made sure not to make that mistake again! I have press snaps in the shop (and I include a strip of iron-on interfacing with each purchase) so I used those to create the snap closure. It’s such a small change, but on my next one, I need to remember to swap which sides of the snaps go on which side of the gusset!

I’m really pleased with how it came out! It’s exactly how I thought it would be when I created this kit. It was my first time using the Fenix pattern too and I realized that it’s super easy to stop at one point and have a fully finished bralette, which makes it a much more versatile pattern than I thought!

You can find this kit in the shop while supplies last, and get a 20% discount on the pattern when you add it to your kit! Don’t forget to check out the other Madalynne kits for the Lawren Bodysuit, Maris Bralette, and Roxie Bralette, and I’ll show you more soon!