There were just too many blog posts where I hadn’t finished the bra clone I started. So… I finished it!

Here’s my Prima Donna Duchess clone. She turned out really nice. A few minor bumps on the road, but still very nice. I wore this bra on my recent mini-vacation to the mountains and I was very comfortable in it – more so than the original.

One of the things I did was make an ‘exact’ clone of the bra, right down to the wires. I used wires I’d had from an old Prima Donna. I’ve found most RTW bras have longer wires than what I use. They must be extra long, because I buy long wires. I don’t really prefer these longer ones, but didn’t want to do any alterations on this. The only thing still missing is sewing a little crystal & bow on the bridge.

One of the bumps I had was I didn’t have enough channeling in the kit I’d bought! This was a kit from I purchased before they closed. I was surprised there wasn’t enough, but was determined I’d get this done. I didn’t want to use any channeling from any of the other kits I have either, so I used a single bit I had left over from a past bra. I have BAGS of bits and it came in handy.

Here’s the inside of one cup showing the beige channeling. This also shows the seam in the lining. I really like that extra seam for the support it adds to the lower cup.

And here’s the black channeling. I didn’t have any beige bits! However, I decided this won’t bother me because I’m the only one who will see this – at least when I wearing it every day. Anyone reading this now knows my bra doesn’t have matching channeling!

I did like this shiny Lycra that was part of the kit, but didn’t find it really strong, so I lined it with power net. I had a small piece of black (again) and used that. What I ended up with is a really nice supportive band. I like the double material. It feels very comfortable. And it’s not the first time I’ve used it. I did a few bras with Lycra and lined them so they were doubled. Very comfortable.

Here you can see the black inside. The only draw-back to this, which I didn’t anticipate is it makes it a little less forgiving when wearing. The original fits snugly, and this fits a bit too snugly now. So I use an adapter so I have that extra set of eyes I need. If I make this again I’ll add 1/8 – 1/4″ to each side of the band to make up adding that second layer of material.

I would have loved to match the lace so it was perfectly symmetrical on both cups, but didn’t have enough for that. Maybe on a future bra.

And the straps were a bit different this time. One these straps I did the lower piece which is covering the edge of the band and ends up enclosed in the hooks & eyes. And then only a one strap piece above that. Previously I had used two pieces above that. It took a little while of looking at it to figure out what I needed to do. I had already sewn the bra straps to the front of the bra, so picked out the stitching. Then I made the strap starting at the back. I put on the slider, then after that was sewn, I ran it through the loop on the top of the band. Then it could be attached at the front. This was how it was done on the original, so I tried this and I think I prefer it. So the last things I sewed together were the straps to the front.

There. Whew. This clone is no longer sitting on my sewing desk waiting for me to finish it. What a relief!

Happy creating!