Month: September 2017

Another Watson for Em

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

There is nothing so comfortable as a comfortable bra! Or in this case, a comfortable bralette. When a bra is comfortable, there is no feeling of can’t-wait-to-take-it-off. You really forget you have it on. That’s how Em was feeling. She kept telling me how much she loved her Watson, and that she didn’t get home from work and want to take it off right away. I’m so glad.

Em’s last Watson.

This was all just bits of this and that I had in my stash. Despite that, I think it turned out quite lovely.

Hints 

As well as telling me how much she loved it, there were all the hints of what her favorite colors are, that she’d love another one, this was all she wanted to wear…

I got the hints. I dropped a few myself, like you have to buy some materials if you want me to sew you bralettes. Still, I really enjoyed making her something she loved. So… I’m making another one to get my sewjo back.

  Sales

 B,Wear has recently had a few sales. The first one I was aware of was a 35% off sale. I took advantage and I bought some elastics. I’ve found elastics were always what I was seemed to run out of first because I wasn’t willing to unpick it all, especially triple-zigzag stitches!

Along with my elastics, this lovely lace came from Bodil’s B,Wear shop. I used this for Em’s Watson. It’s gorgeous.

I’m matching it up with black to make a striking combination. White lace cups and cradle, black band, straps and findings. Em did say black and white were her favorite color combination.

Other Plans

Originally, I was going to use some more ‘bits’ that were left over in my stash for another bralette. However, once I was sewing with these ‘bits’ I realized the material was terrible! My machine hated it, and I didn’t want to sew with it anymore. After fighting with it and my machine for the better part of a morning, there was one more part that just wasn’t right; I couldn’t face unpicking it again. I turfed it and it felt great!

This is a really thin Lycra material. I still had some leftover after cutting this out, but it’s in a give-away bag now. Someone else might love it, but not me. Not anymore. Along with this, two other very similar Lycra materials are leaving my stash too.

Em’s Second Watson

    Here’s Em’s Watson. I really love how this one turned out as well.

Oh, it’s so pretty. The black and white is so classic.

Here’s the side view: There was a lot of switching thread for this bralette. I only made one little mistake on the first color change. I went over the seam by a couple of stitches.

Other than that, I was quite pleased with all my switching back and forth.

Here’s the back of the bralette.

Seeing as I know this size fits her, I sewed the bow on already. I took advantage of the black and white color scheme to put a black bow on the front.

 Here’s a little tip for keeping these bows in place while getting it all under the presser foot – use a little bit of double-sided tape. You hardly need any, and it will wash away in the laundry, but it keeps it right where you want it until you sew it in place.

There’s only one thing I don’t love about this lovely bralette. The rings and sliders are one size too big. I don’t have any 3/8″ ones. Well, I did have a few but they were plastic, and I know plastic won’t survive being stepped on. (I never asked. I didn’t want to know.) The smallest size I have are 1/2″ ones, and as you can see, they’re a bit too big. I did try moving them, and they seem to stay in place quite well.

The most fun I have sewing for Em is hearing the exclamations coming from the other room when she’s trying something on: “It’s so cute!” I just don’t yell like that over any of my makes for myself. I might have a little more sewjo if I did.

The lace for this bralette came from B,Wear, the elastics from Bra-Makers Supply, the straps from Merckwaerdigh, and the power net from a new supplier to me – Club Tissus.

Happy creating!

Sewing Plans

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

I always have a long list of things I want to sew, and since my sewjo has taken a late-summer vacation, I’m organizing some of my plans. At least I still feel I’m doing something and making some progress this way.

Another Watson

Em has told me so many times that she loves the Watson I made her. She’s hinted she wants another one. She’s told me her favorite colors. She’s mentioned she wears the one she has all the time. So, I have one cut out for her in this adorable polka dot material. I think she’ll like this. 

You might recognize this material from a previous Watson I made.

I love this polka dot material.

A Camisole for Me

  I found this gorgeous cotton-silk blend. Oh, it’s sumptuous. That’s really the only way to describe it. To make this even better, I found it in the clearance section at my local fabric store. That was just a bonus!

I also found some lovely lace material. Together, it will make a very pretty camisole.

This being such lovely material, I may look at some actual lace I have too and decide then. I just need some sewjo again. 

A Handbag for a Friend

   A dear friend of mine has been living in the US for the past year. She saw my Canada 150 bag, and said she’d love one too. I don’t have any of the original fabric left, so found some that was perfect for her. Her hubby used to be a Mountie. I think she will really love this! 

Aren’t those Mounties adorable?

Drafting Ups and Downs

You know, sometimes, I fuss too much.

My fourth draft (second with Karin) only needed small adjustments. I don’t know why I simply didn’t make those small adjustments to the pattern. Instead I went back and re-drew everything. I didn’t get the same results.

As well, I ran out of duoplex from my stash. I still have a couple of kits, but I wasn’t going to cut into those. I had to take a break from my drafting.

On that day, with no bits of duoplex left, and a draft that wasn’t what I wanted, I was ready to throw in the towel. For the better part of the day, I was defeated. I was giving up. I couldn’t sew. I couldn’t draft. I might as well delete my blog. I’m sorry I wasted all our money. Blah. Blah. Blah.

That’s when my hubby came to my rescue – he calmly told me I was doing well. Look how far I’d come. Then he told me to go ahead and order some more duoplex to keep going. He is my hero.

Future Plans

 Well, I do plan to finish all of these projects, including sewing up that fourth drafted pattern with a few adjustments. As well, I have a Spring/Fall jacket I want to make, and a Agnes top with sleeves. I have the material for both of these as well.

All of these projects are just waiting for me to get my sewjo back. I hope my sewjo doesn’t take too long a vacation.

Happy creating!

New Cabinets

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I recently got some new cabinets I wanted to share with you.

My Dream Machine

I’ve always dreamed of having a Singer Treadle sewing machine in a cabinet, but that’s yet to happen. However, I did recently buy a cabinet.

I was thrilled with my deal on this. It belonged to a friend’s grandmother, so I got the family deal too.

It does need some TLC if I want to restore it.

Broken trim.

Veneer damaged.

Paint splotches.   And veneer coming off the cabinet.Yes, it will need some TLC to restore it. But I still love it as it is.

Simply Functional

  My second new cabinet was purely wanted for something functional. I went to the second-hand store to look for a small table or end table to sit my Coverpro on. I didn’t want to sit it on the floor, and I was tired of moving machines when I wanted to use my serger, or Coverpro. They’d been sitting one in front of the other.

I found this:  It was marked from $10 down to $5. That was an even better deal than my dream cabinet!

(Do you see my antique camel saddle photo-bombing the cabinet? That’s been around longer than my hubby. His parents brought it back from one of their travels.)

Machines Included

The most amazing part of both of these cabinets is they both had vintage machines included.

The Singer cabinet had this Imperial machine inside. I’m told it will work with the treadle, but it doesn’t have a power cord, or foot pedal, and the belt for the cabinet needs to be replaced, so… It might be a while.

I have found a manual for this Imperial, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep it. If I decide I’m not going to keep it (no cord, no pedal), I do know Central Sewing Machines in Edmonton takes in sewing machines to repair and then donates them to charity. I love that idea.

 The second cabinet had this Brother machine in it.

This one excites me a little more. Probably because it has a power cord and foot pedal. I do need to find a manual for this one, and try it out. It just came home yesterday. My hubby is telling me I’m out of room, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I think I’ll be researching my new Brother today.

Happy creating!

The Fifth and Final Draft

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

This bra is my fifth and hopefully my final draft at this time. I hope it’s… well, I hope it’s perfect!

My Fifth Draft

  I really went back and forth before I sewed this bra – Should I sew it with the water-soluble (WS) thread, or just sew up a bra. If I use the WS thread, even if this bra is perfect, I will be re-sewing it. I really didn’t want to do that. I just want to sew a bra. However, I finally decided to just sew up it as another tester with the WS thread.

This looks better than the other two, but you can see it’s still not finished as nicely as a bra I want to keep.

A wonderful little tip I heard after I’d sewn my first bra with WS thread is to use the thread in the needle only, and regular thread in the bobbin. Water will still dissolve the upper thread, and the seam will come apart just fine. I’ve also heard to just dab the seam with water, which would save a lot of the drying time, and ironing.

Changes

 My band was a bit too big. Well, an inch too big to be exact. I’d recently lost a little bit of weight, and of course my ribs being one of the smallest parts of my body, that was where it showed first.

So before I sewed up another bra, I re-drafted the pattern for my cradle and band with my new measurements. I didn’t mind re-doing it all either. I really want to get drafting down pat, so a little extra practice isn’t a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.

 More

I re-drafted the pattern for my cups, again too – just for more practice. In fact, I spent the better part of a day drafting over and over. I made three drafts of both the cups, and the cradle and band by time the day was done. 

One other change I made while I was re-drafting my cup pattern was to lower my strap placement.

In addition to the changes I’ve mentioned above, I made my usual adjustments: a custom bridge, lowering the upper cup to meet the bridge, and adjusting for a flat spot.

One thing I’m not having to adjust is the difference between my cup and cradle caused by being an Omega shape. Let me tell you what I’m doing differently.

A Different Change

I’d heard before that you can go up or down one size in the cradle from the wire size you’re using. So if you’re using a 40 wire, you can use a cradle made for a 38, 40, or 42 wire.

It’s the same if you’re using a 40 cradle – you can use a 38, 40, or 42 wire. You can go up or down one size.

I’m doing that with my drafting. I’m using a 42 extra-long wire to draft my cradle – that’s one size bigger than the wire I normally use. It just happens to be the same length as the wire my cup size normally uses. Does that all make sense?Do you see how the 42 Extra Long wire is the same length as the 44 Long wire? My cup size matches a 44 Long wire. I normally wear a 40 Long wire. Using a 42 Extra Long wire to draft my cradle size, I’m able to make my cradle match my cup size perfectly.

The Conclusion?

 Somehow the band is still a bit too big! I’m having to fasten it on the middle eyes, but that’s a small adjustment. As well, when I lowered my strap placement, I achieved a bit more Va-va-voom than I want. A few tweaks to my pattern and I’m sewing up a real bra next!

Happy creating!

A Fourth Draft

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

This is my fourth draft in all, and my second draft with some help from the amazing Karin, of Braphoria & Mrs. Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables renown.

 For this draft, I re-used the band, cradle and straps. I only had to cut the cups out again. I really recommend using the water-soluble thread for something like sewing a draft or muslin. Here are all my ‘bits’ after soaking them and letting them dry – just a quick low-temp press and they were ready to go again.The Fourth Draft

 Here’s my draft: 

This is pretty much spot on. The band is still a touch too big, but when I pull it in tighter, everything looks good.

You might notice this bra looks a little more finished than the last one. I just couldn’t stand what a mess that bra was. I had to do this one a little better; finish a few more bits to make it look neater rather than it all looking like it was falling apart.

Here’s a side-by-side of this one and the last one:You can see the cups are a little more rounded over the apex, and the bridge is a little lower.

Even though this draft isn’t as messy as that third one, it still has its messy parts. Just take a look:

 

The channeling isn’t finished, the elastic isn’t finished under the cups, threads aren’t cut, and bits of elastic are peeking out here and there.

Adjustments

So if it’s pretty good as it is, then what adjustments do I still want to make? Well, I feel the bridge could be a smidge lower. Not a lot, but maybe another 1/4″.

As I mentioned above, I need to take the band in a little more. That’s it.

Frankenbra

With the bridge being pushed out at the top, I was wondering if I needed more room in the cups or if it was just my bridge too high for me. So, to see better what was going on, I cut open the seams to see if it was more room in the cups that I needed. It turns out, I didn’t need to do that. The band not being tight enough wasn’t giving me enough pull or splay on my wires. When I pulled on my band, everything settled where it needs to go… except the very top of the bridge.

So, I’m making one more muslin or draft. I’m really wanting to make a nice bra I can wear. I’m trying to decide if I will or if I’ll just make another muslin. I’m really going back and forth as to whether I’ll make another draft, or seeing as it’s so close and these are just little details, I’ll just make a bra I can wear. I’m leaning towards making one I can wear.

Thoughtful Gift

 My hubby is very supportive of my bra-making journey. He was there when I would come home crying after trying on every bra in a store, and still not find one that fit. Then I found specialty stores, and how could a bra cost $150 or more? He has been there through it all. Although he couldn’t understand all the whys or hows, he witnessed it.

The first year I started making bras, my DH bought me the first Bra-Makers Manual for Christmas. The following Spring, he bought me the 2nd Manual. With my drafting underway, he just bought me a wonderful third resource:

 Such a thoughtful gift.

Happy creating!