Month: October 2016

Great Timing!

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

No tricks today, but hopefully a treat.

I have both of the Bra-Makers Manuals. I have Demystifying Bra Fitting and Construction. I have Bare Essentials: Bras – Second Edition: Construction and Pattern Drafting in Lingerie Design. I’ve taken a few books out of the library as well – like Patternmaking for Underwear Design: 2nd Edition.

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I’ve been reading about drafting my own pattern for a while and decided it was time to take the jump. I started with the instructions in the Bra-Makers Manual Vol 2. I’ve used part of this already to draft my own cradle and band to help fit my Omega shape and had no trouble with it. So, I thought it was time I tried drafting my own pattern.

I did run into a bump drafting and sent off an email to Bra-Makers Supply. It turns out, the information from the manual had been updated, and that new information would take care of my question.

Now, with updated information in hand, I was ready to start again.

Just as I was about to start, there was another very timely post on Facebook. I love the sewing/bra-making forums on Facebook. They are a wealth of information!

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Perfect! Rather than muddling through this mostly on my own, I’d much rather walk through with someone else for a first go.

We’ve just done some measuring so far, so the actual drafting hasn’t started. If you’ve ever wanted to try this out, here’s a great opportunity.

Here’s the blog post if you want to follow along.

Happy creating!

A Visual Comparison of Two Patterns

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

Every since my hubby’s business trip to Germany when I placed an order with Sewy, I’ve been thinking about the Sewy Rebecca pattern.

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I’ve been wondering exactly how it differs from the Pin-up Girls Shelley because both patterns are very similar – power bar, lace upper cup, full band…

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When you have a question like this, it’s just the kind of question to ask your very own Fairy Bra Mother. So I did. I asked her, “What is the difference between a bra that fits more shallowly (from my experience) and one that doesn’t?”

Beverly Johnson, (The Fairy Bra Mother), said she thought it all came down to bottom cup depth. Hmm. That gives me something to check into.

Now, let’s take a look together to see how much of a difference there is between the two patterns. I’ve compared them by wearing them, but not pattern piece to pattern piece. Well, there was one day when I measured all kinds of things on both patterns… but I didn’t trace them both out and compare.

Anyway. I’ve had a cold, felt terrible and didn’t want to do anything, but still wanted to get something done… so I pulled out my patterns and traced them off.

The Results

Here are the upper cups one on top of the other. The Shelley is traced onto  purple paper, and the Rebecca, yellow. Since the Sewy patterns don’t have a seam allowance, the Shelley has been trimmed of its seam allowances. I also made the split lower cup into one pattern piece.

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The Shelley pattern piece barely peeks out from under the bottom of the Rebecca pattern piece, so to help us all out visually, I traced the Shelley onto the Rebecca with the dotted line. You can see the Rebecca is also straighter along the lower edge of the upper cup and is longer too.

You know how I said I had a cold? I had a little trouble naming these photos when I was saving them. I kept calling them all ‘Upper Cups’, so this one has the creative name of ‘No Really Upper Cups’.

Here are the lower cups of both which were saved under the file name ‘Upper Cups’. Sigh. upper-cupsThe Shelley definitely has more bottom cup depth. The Rebecca is longer along the lower edge. Again, The Shelley pattern is on the purple paper in behind.

Lastly, here are the power bars, which I caught before I saved and changed their file name from Upper Cups.

power-bars

I hope this helps anyone else wondering about the differences between the two patterns.

Happy creating!

Another Pair of Panties

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

When I’d made my recent matching bra and panty set, I only had enough beige cotton for one pair of panties. That was all I made.

Full set on table 2

However, this pair isn’t perfect. Wearable, and pretty, but not perfect. As well, I do like a second matching pair for my sets.

Do you remember I showed you the two gussets overlapped?

Gusset

I’m going to add length to my gusset. I found the longer one is more comfortable.

When it was time to re-draw my pattern, I pulled out the original KS 2286. Interestingly, I compared both pattern pieces (my drafted one, and my traced KS 2286) to the original pattern. My traced 2286 pattern is narrower and shorter than the original. My self-drafted one is narrower still. I’m going with the self-drafted pattern piece for the width and adding back some of the length.

 I had just enough lace left over from making my bra and the first pair of panties to make a second pair of panties. I forgot to mention, the gorgeous lace I used for this set came from Merckwaerdigh‘s store. The cotton is from Bra-Makers Supply, and the lace trim is from Frog Feathers on Etsy. Three of my favorite vendors.

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Here are my new panties. I’ll include a few other photos so you can compare.

Here’s my first drafted pair.

panties on table

They look similar, but there are differences. The longer gusset makes my new pair look more French cut than my first pair. Although they’re both Hipsters.

Here are a few construction details:

Again, this time because I’m working with a lace front, I reinforced the sides of the lace with a knit interfacing, and add some lingerie elastic to the inside of the front waist.

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I’ve also used my pinking rotary cutter to trim away the extra cotton Lycra for a nice neat look behind the lace.

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Lastly, these are done and just what I want. They are bow-worthy.

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The bow is from the same polka dot tulle I used to make my version of the Heather bra. It’s a pretty and very delicate touch.

Happy creating!

Revisiting McCall’s 6516

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Last year, I made a jacket I love. I wear it often. It’s my McCall’s 6516 jacket.

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I love my jacket, but my hubby doesn’t. Now, before everyone jumps all over him, let me tell you exactly what it is he doesn’t love.

He doesn’t love that unfinished look to the flap. ‘Add some lace,’ he says. I have no desire to take the jacket apart to add some lace.

You can see here, the materials shown on the pattern’s envelope don’t have any large white ‘unfinished’ looking flaps, but I love this material.

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I do have to admit I don’t love the white flap either. I decided to revisit my jacket. Out came my little black fabric marker.

Here’s my jacket half done.

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 I’ve been sitting and relaxing while I draw inside the jacket. Okay, it does look better.

Here is it all done and laundered.

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It did fade a bit in the laundry, but it still looks better. Have you used a fabric marker on anything? What was it? How did it turn out?

Happy creating!

Happy Thanksgiving/National Handbag Day

~ Michelle

Craftsy is saying it’s National Handbag day and has a great blog post with some free bag patterns. It’s Thanksgiving Day in Canada. I’m good with celebrating both!

Here’s a wonderful free bag with a tutorial.

THE MANHATTAN ZIPPERED CASE

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This pattern comes from the instructor of Craftsy class Mix & Match Clutch Bag Techniques, so you can bet it’ll be a great tutorial! The small handbag is perfect for quick trips when you need just a few things.

Get the FREE pattern »

Happy creating!

A Baby Shower Gift

~ Michelle

 A very dear friend of mine just became a Grandma. It was time to make a baby shower gift.

My TNT baby gift for the better part of 20 years is an idea from Sewing With Nancy.

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A beautiful hooded towel. I don’t have this great-looking book, but saw Nancy make one of these towels on her show, and I’ve been making them since.

They’re a great gift. I’ve heard back from Moms that they love them and use them for years. I’ve even had Moms ask for one for their next baby after receiving one.

You can see a step-by-step tutorial of a similar hooded towel by Nancy here.

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Isn’t this cute? I’ve never made the bear style.

For the towel I made, I was told the colors were black, white, and pink. I found a pink towel, black ribbon, and used some white thread to embroider on the ribbon.

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After embroidering the ribbon, I attached it to the towel and facecloth.

To make it a little different than simply sewing on the ribbon, I gave the ribbon a little twist every few inches. You can also see here I didn’t embroider all the ribbon.

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Here’s a close-up of the twists in the ribbon before it was sewn down. I used pins hold those twists in place.

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Here’s how the front of the towel will look. There’s a single embroidered ribbon on the other side of the towel.

And of course there’s the matching ribbon and twist pattern on the washcloth/hood.

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Here’s the hood. I draped this over my dress form, Catherine.

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I think it looks adorable. Here’s the whole hooded towel:

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That’s nice and long to wrap that little baby up for a few years.

Do you have a TNT gift you make? What is it? I wonder how many of our TNTs come from shows like Sewing with Nancy? Do you love her show?

Happy Thanksgiving & happy creating!

A Little Upcycling

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I love to find a new use for something. I love to go to thrift shops too. I really like a good bargain.

Here’s my latest find. It’s an old wooden spice rack that will now happily serve as a thread holder. And look at how much more room I have! The little plastic thread box I had was full. This is much better.

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How do you like my little toy dress forms? They add the perfect touch of whimsy to my thread rack.

Recently, I was inspired by reading Emerald Erin’s blog. She was going through her closet and working towards a capsule wardrobe. That is something I’ve been thinking about doing too. I have a full closet, but open the door and feel like there’s nothing in there.

After reading Erin’s post, I went through my closet. The problem was, although there were things in there I really had no problem getting rid of, there were some things in there I really did. Even though I never wore them, I loved the material. I didn’t want to get rid of them.

I set them aside. I had three piles on my bed. Pack away. Give away. I don’t want to give away.

3-piles

I was not going to put that third pile back in my closet or pack it away. Then I thought of what I could do. Upcycle!

I have Betz White’s class on Craftsy. Here’s a link to take you to the class on Craftsy.

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As well, I just bought a new pattern. (ClubBMV has too many sales!)

I’m sure I can use some of this material towards something like this:

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Or maybe more like this:

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This second pattern is used in the Craftsy classes The Ultimate T-Shirt and The Artful T-Shirt. Both of these classes are by Marcy & Katherine Tilton.

In the photo for the Artful class, they show this same T-shirt with a lot more piecing.titlecard

I’m thinking there must be a way to use some of these materials I love so much and make something new.

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There’s one other thing in that hard-to-give-away pile: a silk skirt. The blue floral material? That’s silk. I’ve been holding onto it for years. I think I wore it once, maybe twice. This is going to make a few lovely bras.

Time to get cutting out. Have you upcycled anything? How did it turn out? Do you love it? Will you upcycle again? What’s your favorite thrift store find? I’d love to hear.

Happy creating!