Knitting Lingerie Style: More Than 30 Basic and Lingerie-Inspired Designs

The only knitting book focused on lingerie and lingerie-inspired designs

Underwear has come out. Once kept demurely concealed, lingerie now pervades every fashion category, inspiring designs for day looks, loungewear, evening clothes, and accessories. Slips have become dresses unto themselves. Bra straps are meant to peek out from under tank tops. Camisoles are worn on their own or as layers over or under other clothes. Now, with Knitting Lingerie Style, designer Joan McGowan-Michael interprets this undeniable fashion trend for the knitter and, along the way, shares fascinating stories about lingerie history. Did you know that it was airplane magnate Howard Hughes who masterminded the underwire bra?

McGowan-Michael’s 30-plus designs, stunningly photographed by Thayer Allyson Gowdy, range from the truly functional—knitted bras, slips, corsets, camisoles, and stockings—to the purely fun. The brassiere inspires a curvature-enhancing twinset. The baby doll negligee is the basis for a lacy little gown and a matching thong set that’s both luxurious and (slightly) notorious. And a ribbed, laced-front sweater is an updated—and much more comfortable!—take on the classic corset.

The only book of its kind on the market, Knitting Lingerie Style includes projects that are bold and sexy, daring us all to bare a little skin, as well as more understated and demure, with sizes ranging from petite to plus.

JOAN MCGOWAN-MICHAEL has been working as a professional designer for over 20 years, designing for clients as diverse as Fred Segal, Frederick’s of Hollywood, and JC Penney. In 2001 she founded White Lies Designs (www.whiteliesdesigns.com), specializing in knitted vintage and lingerie-inspired patterns. Her work has appeared in many publications, including Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, and Knitter’s magazines. She lives in Sacramento, California.

THAYER ALLYSON GOWDY is a Northern California-–based photographer whose work has appeared in the magazines Real Simple, Health, and Country Living, and in the books Knitting Nature (STC), Nest for Two, Spiritual Bathing, and Healthy Home Workbook.