I just finished another bra draft. And it’s not perfect, but it’s awfully pretty.
Draft Six?
To be honest, I’ve lost count of exactly how many drafts I’ve done. I’ve drafted a whole bunch of times to practice what I’m doing, but haven’t made them all up. 
This is an ivory bra with a lace upper cup. It looks lovely, but the cup is a little bit too small.
Here’s the side view.
Despite this not fitting perfectly, I’m pretty pleased with how well it all turned out. I’m definitely learning with each draft I draw and sew up. This time around there were no oversights or mistakes like in previous attempts.
I used gold-toned rings and sliders. I thought they’d look really pretty with the ivory, and they do!
The Good News
This bra not fitting perfectly isn’t all bad news. The band fits perfectly. I won’t need to make any changes to that at all. The previous bands were all a bit too big, or gaping here or there. This one is good.
In the Bra-Makers Manual Vol. 2, Beverly Johnson says measurements should be taken while wearing a good fitting bra. This has been a big part of my problem.
Although the Conturelle bra I have fits, the cup material has stretch, so taking measurements in this bra gives me great measurements for another stretch bra, but not for a more supportive one made from duoplex.
With this sixth draft, I was able to take my measurements, and re-drafted one more time with those new measurements.
Things I Did Right
So, how did that seventh draft work? It fits! It FITS!
I can’t even begin to express how happy I am right now. I never dreamed I’d make my own pattern from measurements, sew it up, and it fit.
It looks a sight though.
I said it looked a sight!
Number six became my tester bra frame because the frame fit but the cups didn’t. I re-drafted only the cups, and sewed them into the tester frame. It’s the tester frame that’s sticking out on the outside. To make things look even worse, well, actually, to make it easier to unpick to reuse the tester frame, I used black thread. 
If anyone is interested in how I made the tester frame, let me know and I’ll do a post on that.
Now to break into my stash and celebrate with a new bra.
Happy creating!
I have enjoyed reading your post on drafting your own bras. I too have wanted to make my own and purchased the Shelley pattern from Beverly J. I am quite interested in your comment about the Tester frame and would love to know about it.
Thank you, Doreen. I’ll write up about the tester frame in the New Year. Thanks for asking for it.
Michelle, I am also drafting my own bra and still have not got it ‘just right’. After reading this latest post, I will not give up, perhaps #7 will be the right one as it was for you….Thanks for sharing.
Vicki, something both Beverly and Karin said finally clicked with me. If you’re not wearing a bra that fits when you take your measurements, then your measurements will be off. The bra I was using has stretch cups, so I kept getting one that was just off. Close but not quite there. I finally realized that, and measured in the draft that was a bit too small, and it made all the difference. Don’t give up! Email me if you want help.