Month: March 2018

Beginner and Shelley Bra Classes

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I recently saw a notice from Central Sewing Machines for a Beginner Bra-making Class. Well, I know how to sew a bra, but… There was one part of the ad that stood out – the instructor would draft a pattern to fit me.Oh, a pattern drafted for me? Yes! I was interested. I signed up right away.

Jeanette, of Sew Uplifting Bras, was the class instructor. During the two-day class, she was giving tips and tricks on how to sew the bra. There were some new bra-making gems in there too. I’m not sure how many times I blurted out, “That’s brilliant!” A pattern drafted for me, and new techniques to incorporate into my bra-sewing? The class was totally worth it!

First Bra

The first bra, a Pin-up Girls Classic pattern with a split lower cup, came together with no problems. However, it still needed a couple of adjustments.Although this first bra didn’t fit perfectly, I was so happy with it. Let me show you why.

For me, this is the most exciting part of of the whole class – the cups fit perfectly into the frame!

Jeanette adjusted my pattern for my Omega shape and it fits perfectly in the frame. There are no puckers. No gathering along the seam line either. Just a cup and cradle that fit perfectly together. Oh, it’s so pretty! Do you see how the cup meets the cradle and they’re both the same length? I haven’t had that happen in a bra since my second or third bra when I found out I had an Omega shape. I am so excited about that.

The back is pretty basic. Jeanette uses sliders only for joining the fabric straps to the strap elastic. It makes for a very neat joining. Don’t ask me why, but it did throw me during the class. I had to really think how to sew them together, and it’s not that hard.Overall, even though I could already sew a bra, I’m so glad I took the beginner class.

Shelley

Right after the Beginner class, Central was holding a Shelley class. My hubby said to sign up. I was over-the-top excited.

We took my drafted-for-me pattern and converted it into a Shelley pattern. I’ve done this before too, but Jeanette was sharing more brilliant tips along the way. Again, totally worth taking the class.

 Here’s my lovely fuchsia Shelley bra.On this bra, we’ve lowered the bridge, adjusted the cups for the lowered bridge, and adjusted for my Omega shape. I also added a Gothic arch, but that wasn’t part of the class. However, as a class, we thinned the band.

The side again – with its perfectly matching cup and cradle. I’m not going to get tired of this at all.Another lovely feature that shows in the side view is the power bar. It’s an S-shape. That was a first for me. It’s so pretty.

   And the back.Again, on this bra I’ve used sliders only rather than rings and sliders. It does give a neater line on the back, but I have a lot of rings and sliders in my stash, so I will be using those still.

So, after taking these classes am I giving up on drafting my own bra? No way! I’ve been busy drawing away, and incorporating the new knowledge I’ve gained. In fact, later this year, Jeanette will be teaching a Drafting course at Central Sewing. I’m already saving up for it.

 Happy creating!

Sashiko Mending

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Mending isn’t my favorite sewing-related thing to do. I love sewing for the creative aspect of it. Making something new. I don’t love doing repairs.

However, I’m still asked to do repairs.

Recently, I found something that makes mending look a lot more exciting. Marsha mentioned it and I had to go look at what it was.

Sashiko

I’ve been collecting ideas on Pinterest for fun mending projects – all visible and creative! If you want to see more of these ideas, take a look at my Pinterest page. There’s a link in the photo.

A Little Rain

  There was a little rain on my parade when I got all excited to do some mending for Em, my son’s girlfriend. She said she didn’t want it to show too much. She has to wear her jeans for work.

‘But it can show a little?’ Yes. It could show a little.

Great!I was using a darning method I found. I’m surprised how few of the stitches are showing up. I was spacing the lines of stitching about 2 mm apart, and catching the cotton fabric underneath five or six times per row. That’s not going to move, but I did think it would show more.

Still I enjoyed trying it, and making it not too visible. I would have loved to do something more fun, but I had a chance to try this method and practice a bit.

Multi-Functioning Knob

 While I had been searching Sashiko, I also found a few pins on darning. The joke in our home is if something needs darning, we say ‘Darn it.’ while tossing it in the trash. Hmm, maybe we won’t do that anymore.

A darning egg, or mushroom is commonly used under the material that is being darned.  Here’s a set I found on Etsy. There’s a link in the photo if you want to see more.However, looking at these, I thought I already have the perfect darning tool. for the job I was doing – my knob!I bought this knob at Bra-makers Supply when I first started sewing bras. I still use it, and now it has another great function!

Here it is behind the jeans, holding everything in place perfectly so I can use both my hands.

It worked great!

Just one week after I mended these, the other thigh decided it wanted an updated look too! Em brought them back to me for another fix.

Not only that, but one of my favorite pairs of pants decided to join the sashiko mending club. I had more mending to do. Mine is an embroidered mend. I love hearts, so decided on a heart, with some cotton Lycra behind the small hole. I’m glad my favorite casual pants will continue to be enjoyed sans the hole.

Happy creating!

A Pretty Ivory Bra

~ Michelle

Just before I heard about the Bra-Makers Supply’s Challenge that started in January, I was finishing up some touches on my bra draft. So this post is actually a make that’s a few months old now. The challenge created so many posts, but I didn’t want to leave this make out.

Here’s my draft again.I wanted to change the cups on this to make them a little rounder. I also wasn’t completely happy with my power bar. Something seemed a little bit off where the strap tab and the underarm were meeting. I also changed the band to a downward hike, but it needed work too. More on that later in the post.

All Those Details

 Before the BMS Challenge, the last number of bras I’d made had been slapped together. No top-stitching, no taking time with details. It was so nice to take my time and focus on some of those details again.

One detail was which sheer cup lining I wanted to use behind the lace. I have both white and beige. Hmm. There’s really very little difference between these two, but I decided to use the white. Seeing as my lace is a little bit darker than the ivory duoplex I’m using, I thought the white behind it brightened it up a bit. I even enjoyed taking my time with all the top-stitching. I was only finished the cups in the above photo, but they were so pretty I had to take a photo.

 My New Bra  

My bra looks perkier on the clear display form, and less East-West looking too. Catherine’s days as a bra display may be numbered! Especially now I have a display I can use for bras and panties.

Oh, but Catherine is my only display that is pinnable. She’ll still be getting use.

Do you see the upper band on this bra is a little slack? It’s that way on me too.

I used this band again on my red bra for the February Challenge after looking at all my measurements. This should have fit. The only thing I could think of was the I didn’t pull on the upper band elastic for this one. On the red one, I pulled on the elastic and it fits just fine.

Happy creating!

Cloned Panties

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

As a second pair of panties to go with my make for the Bra-makers Supply February Challenge, I decided to clone a favorite discontinued style. I’d saved one pair of these for years to do just this. Just look at this side feature. This is why I wanted to clone these.

Finishing the Fold-Over Elastic

I cut them apart and traced my pattern. I was still saving the panties though. I wanted the bits that were left to study how they’d been put together. Sadly, someone else saw them, thought they were garbage, and threw them out.

I had to do my best from memory to put these together. Here’s what I did.

First, I marked each piece of fold-over elastic.Next, putting right sides together, I matched up the elastics with their counter-part. I pinned the elastics right sides together while they were still open, or unfolded.I sewed them along the line I marked.I trimmed them. so there wouldn’t be a lot of material in the fold.Next, I folded them. That little bit in the middle did make them a bit bulky. They kept opening, so I pinned away.Lastly, I sewed along that length of fold over elastic that was now joining the front and back, both at the waist and the hip.

Second Set

  Here are my panties and my Satin bra for the February Challenge. The panties are cotton Lycra and fold-over elastic. Not using satin on them, I didn’t submit these for the challenge.I love this view below. It shows both the upper cup and the panty side. The fold-over elastic finish on the upper cup goes so well with the fold-over elastic detail on the panties.
And here’s the back.I’m really pleased with how these turned out. I think they’re a charming match for my February Challenge make.

Happy creating!