Sew all the underwear

I am definitely a fabric hoarder, I do not want to throw away any fabric. Therefore, projects that are great for scraps are right up my alley, enter underwear sewing patterns. Our girls only wear self sewed underwear and do not know any differently. I started sewing because our girls were rather small when they were potty trained so I could not find any store bought underwear that wouldn’t slide down their butts. I just love that I can use up my scraps and also other people’s beautiful scraps. I get so happy with the colourful underwear which brighten up my day.
I have used several different patterns and I wanted to compare them so here is my overview of three underwear patterns for kids: Kid’s Scrundlewear by Stitch upon a Time*, the Play Pants by Madeit Patterns and the Norma Jean Juniors by Sew by Pattern Pieces. Below you see the Kid’s scrundlewear on the left and the Norma Jean Juniors on the right.

Underwear

When our girls were potty trained I started with the Scrundlewear from Stitch upon a time because they start at a 45,7 cm (18″) waist, which is the smallest of the three patterns. My original search for kids underwear started here and from that moment on I used the scrundlewear pattern. This pattern even includes an optional fly and a trainer option. Below you see size 4 width and 6 length scrundlewear.

After that the Play Pants by Madeit Pattern got very popular and I love the colour block option in the pattern. I love this pattern because of the different fabrics that you can combine, but it is a bit high for our girls, so I lower the top part with 1″ (they like to wear their underwear below the belly button). All patterns include an elastic option, although the Play Pants is the only pattern that only has the option of an elastic waistband. I usually prefer a knit waistband. Below you see size 2Y with a 4Y length (although as I said I lowered the waistband with 1″ in this picture).

After a while I came across the Norma Jean Juniors which are shorties and have a bit longer legs. If your kids like shorties this would be a great option. The waistband of the norma jeans are less wide than the Kid’s Scrundlewear, which I like. Also the gusset in completely enclosed and you can sew the whole piece with your serger. For the Kid’s Scrundlewear the front part of the gusset is attached with a sewing machine (the seam is still enclosed), this slows down your sewing speed, having to change machines. Below you see size 4 width with a 6 length.

Below a short comparison of the three patterns.

Pattern	Designer	Size	Starting at…
Kid’s Scrundlewear	Stitch upon a time	12M – 12Y	12M = waist 45,7 cm (18″), hips 48,3 cm (19″)
Play Pants	Madeitpatterns	2Y – 14Y	2Y = waist 51 cm (20″), hips 52 cm (20,5″)
Norma Jean Juniors	Sew by Pattern Pieces	1Y – 16Y	1Y = waist 49,5 cm (19,5″), hips 51 cm (20″)

Pattern	Designer	Options
Kid’s Scrundlewear	Stitch upon a time	Knit waistband or elastic waistband, boys: with fly or without fly, trainer
Play Pants	Madeitpatterns	Hemmed or cuffed, with or without colourblock
Norma Jean Juniors	Sew by Pattern Pieces	Wide leg bands (no elastic) or narrow leg band (with elastic) or picot elastic (no bands) or Fold Over Elastic (FOE) (no bands)

The photos above show the Kid’s Scrundlewear (black with giraffes, 2T width with 4T length) with the Norma Jean Juniors (white with girls, size 3T). The waistband of the scrundlewear is wider. I usually adapt the waistband widths of the bigger sizes of the Scrundlewear and make them less wide. The waist of the Norma Jean Juniors is a bit wider and the butt is also a bit lower and wider due to it being shorties.

I like to cut out the length size (European sizing) with my Silhouette so that our kids know what the back of the underwear is and that my husband hopefully knows whose underwear it is.

The two middle pieces of underwear are Scrundlewear while the top and bottom are Norma Jean Juniors.

Fabric: scraps from my own projects and from her and her and our exchange pile during our sewing weekend
Pattern: Kid’s Scrundlewear by Stitch upon a Time,
Play Pants by Madeit Patterns
Norma Jean Juniors by Sew by Pattern Pieces.
Sizing: see table above
Options: see table above
Sewing time: I usually sew one piece of underwear within an hour. I like to make more at once to make it more efficiently (although I do find that a bit boring).

# Fabric this week: 7 in – 17 out (Total fabric in 2020: bought 11 new fabric – used 19 fabric – 17 scrap piece) – in total 11 in 36 out

# Patterns in 2020: 2 in – 4 out

* Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission, the price for you will be the same. Thank you for supporting my fabric and pattern addiction