Foldover lower abdominal shaping garment

Abstract

A lower body garment for shaping an abdominal area of a wearer and methods of making the same.

1 . A lower body garment for shaping a waist area of a wearer, comprising:
 a torso region and a leg region;   a torso-shaping element having a waistline extending in at least a partial loop around the torso region; and   an outer layer attached to an inner portion of the waistline and extending up and folding over the waistline of the torso-shaping element to form a folded edge;   wherein the outer layer extends downwards from the folded edge to the leg region and over the torso-shaping element.   
     
     
         2 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the torso-shaping element extends in a closed loop around the torso region. 
     
     
         3 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the torso-shaping element is formed from a continuous piece of fabric. 
     
     
         4 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein an outer surface of the torso-shaping element is coupled to the outer layer. 
     
     
         5 . The lower body garment of  claim 4 , wherein the outer surface of the torso-shaping element is seamlessly coupled to the outer layer. 
     
     
         6 . The lower body garment of  claim 5 , wherein the outer surface of the torso-shaping element is bonded to the outer layer. 
     
     
         7 . The lower body garment of  claim 6 , wherein the outer surface of the torso-shaping element is bonded to the outer layer across an entire area of the outer surface of the torso-shaping element. 
     
     
         8 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein an outer surface of the torso-shaping element is not coupled to the outer layer. 
     
     
         9 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the outer layer is formed as pants or shorts and comprises a left leg portion, a right leg portion, and a crotch area. 
     
     
         10 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the outer layer is formed as a skirt. 
     
     
         11 . The lower body garment of  claim 10 , wherein the torso-shaping element is formed as a short disposed underneath the skirt. 
     
     
         12 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the outer layer is seamlessly coupled to the inner portion of the waistline. 
     
     
         13 . The lower body garment of  claim 12 , wherein the outer layer is bonded to the inner portion of the waistline. 
     
     
         14 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , further comprising left and right side seams coupling the torso-shaping element to the outer layer. 
     
     
         15 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , wherein the outer layer further comprises at least two front vertical seams and/or at least two rear vertical seams; and
 wherein the front vertical seams and/or the rear vertical seams extend from the folded edge to a bottom edge of the outer layer.   
     
     
         16 . The lower body garment of  claim 1 , further comprising an additional shaping panel disposed on an inner surface of the torso-shaping element and extending in at least a partial loop around the torso region. 
     
     
         17 . The lower body garment of  claim 16 , wherein the additional shaping panel extends in a closed loop around the torso region. 
     
     
         18 . The lower body garment of  claim 16 , wherein the additional shaping panel is seamlessly coupled to the inner surface of the torso-shaping element. 
     
     
         19 . The lower body garment of  claim 18 , wherein the additional shaping panel is bonded to the inner surface of the torso-shaping element. 
     
     
         20 . The lower body garment of  claim 19 , wherein the additional shaping panel is bonded to the inner surface of the torso-shaping element across an entire area of the additional shaping panel.