Sewing Lingerie with Scuba Fabric

Lingerie patterns available sewn up in scuba fabric

Recently I've been seeing Scuba fabric every where, and although I had my reservations how this would translate into lingerie, I thought I'd sew it up in the following patterns, Harriet (high waist brief), Tippi (window back brief) and Birdie (high apex bra pattern not yet released).

For those who have yet to handle scuba fabric, it's a double knit fabric, (but not with the foam insert like wetsuits) with a great stretch and recovery.

So what did I think:

The positives of sewing scuba fabric

The positives: It's really easy to cut, you can leave the edges raw if that's a look you want, or use cut out lace would be a dream to sew and cut behind. It gives amazing support with good stretch on the bra, I had the side cup lined, but I don't think that it would necessary. It has a good recovery, so if you do stretch it whilst sewing then it tends to go back to original shape. You can also get some great colours and prints out there to sew with.

The negatives of sewing scuba fabric

The negatives: It was really hard to iron, there was a crease across the front of the Harriet brief and I couldn't get rid of it (look at the pictures and you can still see it), it's a nightmare to unpick, I attached the lace the wrong way around, and any unpicking resulted in holes, in the end I cut out two new pieces and started to re-sew the lingerie brief again. The seams are quite bulky, I incorporated lace into the design, but the seams still seamed (haha no pun intended) bulky. 

Also personally I wasn't in love with the fabric, maybe if I had chosen a print or softer colour I would have been, if I was to sew with it again I would overlay the fabric with a mesh. I prefer more natural fabrics like cotton etc. I'm not sure how this will feel in high summer.

Tip for sewing scuba fabric

* If you are going to sew with scuba fabric I recommend using larger stitches than you normally use and a ball point needle.