Once in a while, I found a pattern that fit almost everything that I want and it is always a great day when it happened!
This time it is a panty pattern by Merckwaerdigh called ‘Waistband’. It is a pattern for high-waisted panty with scalloped stretch lace around the waist and back leg. I have had this pattern for a while about never thought too much of it.
This is the first version of the panty in size XS. I was surprised that it actually looks good when worn. However, the waistband is too high-waisted for me because I’m petite, but I imagine it would be perfect for much taller person.
I shortened the waistband piece for the next version, then had the idea of making the panty in mesh fabric. Instead of scalloped lace edges, the mesh fabric is folded to create self-finished edges. Then I made four of them!
The pink and red ones have higher waistband than the yellow and green. The folded mesh edges are very comfortable on the back side and don’t show visible panty lines under clothing. I decided that I like the height of the waistband around 1 cm above my belly button. Too high it will roll down, and too low it will cut around the love handles.
I made further alteration by adding center back seam and combining the back piece with the back edge piece. Here you can see that the back side only have one seam at the center back. These ones are my favorite because I can wear them under my workout leggings. I also reshaped the front legs a bit to my liking.
The lace edges or the folded mesh edges are very soft and thin so they don’t show VPL like ordinary panties. I don’t sweat much, so I don’t mind wearing fancy panty under the leggings.
Another thing that I like about this pattern is the minimal use of elastic. The stretch lace version only needs elastic on the front legs through crotch, while the mesh version needs elastic on the front legs through crotch and waist.
This is how the final version of the panty fits on me. I think the pattern can also be used as shapewear if firm powernet is used on the waistband.
- Pattern is Merckwaerdigh waistband (PDF) size XS.