So, you know that backlog of stuff to blog about, which I have yet to actually blog about?

*Coughs, stares at shoes…*

As readers may remember (those with long memories, to be fair), I have a leeetle thing about sewing lovely lingerie. I wish to waft about in a tropically-heated environ (preferably climatically, will settle for under-floor heating), wearing the kind of underpinnings which were not designed to keep the cold out.

Alas, I am forever bound to good old Blighty, a place blighted by a near-constant state of almost winter, in a flat whose council-cast concrete floor give chilblains the size of saucers.

Suffice it to say, my aspirations have come to naught. And yet, and yet, my foolishness about fripperies remains unabated. What can I say, I’m a glutton for a wisp of lace.

And so, when a friend showed me her copy of The Secrets of Sewing Lingerie, I swooned and swiftly shopped for my own copy;

A Google image search for the title will whet your appetite for the kind of frothsome treasures that lie within; we’re talking lace, tulle, silks and satins, people.

So what do I make first? A pair of super-standard panties in some knocking-about poly-cotton with strawberries on, in tribute to their name Pretty as a Picnic. OBVIOUSLY.

There is a reason for this, of course; it’s one of my usual wearable toiles, innit. Size and fit can be an issue with an untested pattern and, as the easiest project in the book, it’s been designed as an introduction into the processes required for all those other lovely things afterwards.

It’s a fairly straightforward sew, being the only item to receive fully-illustrated step-by-step instructions (although I dispensed with the advised method of adding elastic, using a more usual ‘stitch-then-turn’ method).

Size-wise .. well, despite a snaffoo which meant I needed to trim off the side seams and start again, it’s a really good fit size-wise. However, despite having only a dinky derrière, I do like a bit more general coverage *feels the front waistband edge cup under pot belly* so I won’t repeat it without some further alteration. Besides, this style of panty looks lovely on the hanger but OH DEAR GOD THE VPL.

Now, if only I could track down some suitable powermesh, non-stretch lingerie lace and tulle, I’d work my way through the book to reach the longline bra and waisted briefs on page 67, sigh…