I’ve now made 2 versions of Ohhh Lulu’s Betty High-waisted Panty pattern, including this lace-overlay beauty, and I’m ready to try something new! The other day, I fished a lace thong out of my panty drawer (okay, it’s more like a bin), and it occurred to me to try modifying a thong pattern to make something similar. In this post, I’ll show you how I made the modifications, and get my pieces cut; next time, I’ll sew my thong together!

Here’s the pattern I’m starting with, Kwik-Sew 3881, which includes patterns for several basic panty styles:

My idea is to replace the upper edge of the thong with wide stretch lace. Here’s the plan:

1. Trace the original pattern on to tissue paper. (Kwik-Sew’s patterns come on paper that’s quite a bit heavier than regular sewing-pattern paper, so I always trace the pieces onto tissue or pattern paper first.)

2. Draw new cutting lines on the thong front and back pattern pieces, after determining where I want to place the lace.

3. Cut new thong pieces from fabric.

4. Pin-mark mitered seams on lace (center front & center back).

5. Lay out all pieces, including elastic trim, as a mock-up, to make sure it all works!

First, I’m going to trace the original pattern, then figure out where I want the new cutting lines to be:

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Tip: Color-coding is a great way to keep track of your pattern modifications!

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Here’s a look at my lace, laid over my newly-drawn cutting line:

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Tip: You could, in theory, make a deeper V with the lace in front, but I’m keeping mine relatively shallow. Here’s why: I’m not making any side seams in the lace, so the only seams will be at center front and center back. If I make the V too pronounced, the lace won’t lay smoothly as it goes around the sides to the V in center back. Make sense? The angle up from center front will have to angle back down to the center back. (At least in this case, it does; this gives me an idea, though, about maybe angling the V up in the center back…)

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Note: For a look at how to size your stretch lace bands, see Size Matters: When Thongs Go Wrong.

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Moving on to modifying the back of the thong pattern, I’ve drawn my new cutting line with an even shallower V than the front:

Now I’m going to trace over the modified patterns:

Hey, I’m finally ready to cut my fabric!

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Tip: After you’ve cut your fabric pieces, take a moment to organize your patterns! Here’s how I do it:

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Now that my pieces are cut and ready, I’m going to pin-mark the mitering of the lace pieces at center front:

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Tip: As you can see in the photo above, I’ve aligned the scallops of both pieces of lace. It’s a really nice touch to have the scallops come out evenly and symmetrically. (This will be clear in the finished thong, if not before.)

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After pinning the center back lace pieces in the same way as for the front, here’s the final check:

Now let’s do a mock-up of the thong, complete with elastic trim! I’m going to try foldover elastic for this project; it’s narrow and smooth, which will hopefully make for comfortable wearing. (In my next post, when I’ll sew this thong, I’ll show you how to apply this type of elastic. Assuming I figure it out.)

Okay! The pattern modifications have been made, fabric and lace cut, lace miters pinned, and trim chosen. All I have to do now is sew my thong together— that’s coming up in my next post!