Month: April 2018

Bra-Makers Challenge – April

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Have you been following along with my makes for the Bra-Makers Challenge? My March entry had a few bumps, and I got sick. I’ve been able to get something done for April while still recovering.

Patterns

 I made some pants for my Active Wear submission. For these pants, I used my Pin-up Girls Tankini pattern. As well, I used my self-drafted boyshort pattern from Beverly Johnson’s Craftsy Class: Boyshort Panty Styles.To use both patterns, I laid my panty pattern over the Tankini pattern. I knew my shape had needed some changes to the basic boyshort pattern, so this way the pants will better fit my shape.

To make the pants, I added width to the pattern because I didn’t want them to fit as closely as a panty, and I lengthened them.

Once I was happy with the changes I was making, I made up a muslin. I’m using black cotton Lycra for these and my final pair of pants.I was encouraged by these and how well they fit. I will finish these up with a proper waistband, and hem the legs. They’ll make great slim pants for under my Agnes dresses for the summer.

My Pants

    After making my muslin, I did change a couple of things on my pattern. I widened the legs making them more of a straight leg, and I added a Yoga waistband.

Here are my pants.  I’m very pleased with these.

Do you see those tomato cans peeking out from the bottom of the pants? Let me tell you, it was all precariously balanced. There were a few times I had to re-balance my girl while taking the photos.

Here are the pants from the back. Here’s the side: How about them tomatoes? I won’t be making pants again any time soon, so it’s time to dismantle my ‘legs’.To make the legs, I had the cans on top of a stool to add some height. I had the stool sitting on my Lazy Susan.  This made it so once I had my mannequin balanced, I could gently turn her for photos. Whew. It all worked, but I’m also glad that’s done.

Happy creating!

Still Working on a Solution

~ Michelle

My active wear make for the April Bra-makers Challenge is coming along nicely, but I’m still thinking of a solution for displaying my make.

Catherine

Displaying my muslin on Catherine wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. I’m still working on a better solution.No, this definitely is not great.

Attempts

I finished sewing my waistband on my pants, and wanted to see them on the display. I wandered around the house looking for ideas. I wanted a better way to display my pants.

I tried two rolls of examination table paper. This is the paper I use for drafting. Nope. They didn’t have enough weight on their own to support the mannequin. I couldn’t even balance her against the cabinet with these. Next, I spotted a box of canning jars. Hmm. Just maybe if I taped them all together.This idea wasn’t completely bad. They had more stability than the paper rolls. They didn’t have the weight to support the mannequin though.

Next

The jars led me to my next idea – cans. I just happen to have an almost-full case of canned tomatoes. I could use one more can for each of the legs to be the correct length though.The cans work!

I had one more undiscovered problem at this point. The depth hollowed out in the bottom of each leg isn’t an equal depth.  This made me realize why she couldn’t balance on anything.

So, although the cans had enough weight and should have been stable enough, she was still unbalanced sitting on them. A pair of socks at the top on the left column of cans worked perfectly.

Trial Display

I decided to put the pants on her to see, even though they’re not finished.This is much better. A little more playing with the display set up for photos, and hemming of course, and these will be all ready for me to submit for my challenge.

Happy creating!

I Didn’t Buy a Stand

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

A few months ago when I went to Sears to buy a mannequin, I didn’t buy a stand. The stands were all being sold separately. I momentarily thought of buying one, but they were priced the same as the mannequins and I wasn’t interested in paying another $50 for what I thought I wouldn’t use or need. For most of what I sew, using this display standing, as it is shown above, will be just fine.

However, this month the Bra-maker Supply Challenge is active wear, and I chose to make pants.

Pants aren’t going to display very well all bunched up on the bottom.

They don’t display the best pinned to Catherine either.These were the Barb pants I made a few years ago – pinned to Catherine. I guess it would work somewhat, but I’m not thrilled with this option.

Modification Ideas

I ran a few ideas past my husband to see what we could do to modify my mannequin to use the stand for Catherine.

One

One idea was to make an adapter out of wood. A larger hole that would fit over the stand, and a smaller hole with a steel rod inserted into it that would fit into the mannequin.

That might work, but it’ll take a little time, and skills I don’t have.

Two

.     Another idea was to use modeling clay and fill the leg cavity with the clay. Before the clay hardened, insert the stand so there would be a hole there when it did harden.

I decided against that idea because of the weight of the clay. I thought it would throw off the balance of the mannequin, and it might not balance on the stand.

I was out of ideas.

Shopping Trip Suggestions

    The next idea came from Em, my son’s girlfriend, when we went grocery shopping together. I was telling her my different ideas and she came up with one. She suggested Styrofoam.

Initially, I didn’t think it would work, but we stopped at the craft store to check it out. Hmm. It seemed harder and sturdier than I thought. It was worth a try.

First Attempts

Well. Styrofoam didn’t work. The weight of the mannequin, and balancing it are going to be the challenges here.

I couldn’t even balance it long enough to take a photo.

Catherine in Pants

  I decided rather than trying to pin the pants to Catherine, I’d put them on her. The stand is running all through one leg. They don’t look as bad as I thought the would. 

Yes, this will do for how often I plan to make pants.

These pants are my muslin for my March Challenge submission. I’m happy to say the basic fit is there. Now to play a little more with what I want to do with them. You can see, they’re basic black cotton Lycra, with a yoga waistband.I have a few changes I want to make to this pattern, but it’s mostly good.

Happy creating!

Drafting in Steps

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

My attempts at drafting my own bra haven’t been 100% to my satisfaction. My hubby says I want perfection. He’s not wrong. I’d settle for snuggled up beside perfection.

 Drafting First Steps

 I decided to go back to the Bra-makers Manuals and go over some of the steps in there for checking fit. The first thing to look at is the frame.

I decided I’d start over with my frame. The frame was fine, but I wanted to add some elements from the classes I took at Central Sewing, as well as some other design elements. This was a perfect time to re-do my frame.

Years ago, I cloned a Prima Donna Deauville bra I had, so I took some elements from that too. I gave my frame a wider cradle. I also gave the band a downward hike. It still has the lower bridge, and lower underarm.  Here’s my drafted cradle and the tester frame. This was pretty good.

One change I made. Do you see how little material there is there in the cradle to attach the cup? That 1/4-inch might be fine when making a bra, but it didn’t seem like much for the tester. I added another 1/4-inch. I also added a little more room under the arm.

For my tester frames, I use bits and scraps of whatever I have leftover from previous makes. Left over bits of elastic are especially great for a project like this.

Take Two

 The second new frame I made.This one is good too. And it will be much easier to use with the added material in the cradle.

I also gave myself a clear visual by sewing a seam line where the cup would meet the cradle. That’s the ivory stitching you can see in the above photo, and the one below.

I took a photo to show the difference between when the wire is in, and before it’s in the frame.That’s quite a difference the wire makes.

How Does It Fit?

  I’m happy to say this frame fits perfectly. My next endeavor will be to work on cups adjusted for my Omega shape.

Here’s the frame on my new display. It fits better on me.Everything is exactly where it is supposed to be. The bridge is right up where it needs to be, not pushed down, not coming away from the chest wall. The wires are just right too.

That’s the first stage of fitting a bra. Once the frame is correct, it’s time to test the cups.

Next Steps

After making a few adjustments to my pattern, I sewed up a pair of cups. I incorporated that adorable S-curve for the power bar.

I mentioned I’d sewn a seam in the cradle to follow. (I did this because I’d added that extra 1/4-inch.) I also sewed a 1/4-inch running stitch along the bottom of the cup. When it was time to sew the cups into the cradle, I just matched the two lines of stitching I’d done. So easy!How is it fitting? In all honesty, this probably would have been fine if I’d made it into a bra. It fit better than any RTW bra I’ve had. But I figured why not go for the brass ring. Seeing as this was still only a tester, I still made a couple of changes to my pattern.

I thought the cup might be a smidge small, so I clipped into the cross cup seam. Yes. I could add 1/8-inch there, so I did. I know an 1/8-inch isn’t a big deal, and like I said, if this had been a finished bra, I would have been happy with it. Since it was still a tester, I improved my pattern. Another adjustment was deciding if I wanted to lower the upper cups to meet the bridge, or raise the bridge a bit. I pulled out the custom bridge I’d drafted a few years ago, and decided to incorporate that into the frame. That means the cups won’t need to be lowered any more than they are now. The bridge will come up 1/4-inch to meet them. I’ll have to overlap my wires, but I’ve done that before.  Once again, I’m going for that perfectly matched cradle and cup at the side seam, and once the upper band elastic is added to the underarm of the cup, I’m going to have it! Yes, I’m happy with how this is all coming together.

Following Up

One last comment on the frame – a number of posts ago when writing about Tester Frames, I mentioned how hard it was to sew the cup into the frame once the frame was completed. Well, I took the wire out and it’s not hard. It’s not hard at all. The wire was what made it so difficult. Leave the channeling open for the wire, slip that wire out. It makes a big difference.

Happy creating!

Free Brunch Class on Craftsy

~ Michelle

Brunch with Bob’s Red Mill
We teamed up with Bob’s Red Mill and expert baker Nicki Sizemore to bring you a FREE brunch baking class! Follow Nicki as she prepares four of her favorite brunch recipes — each sure to impress any crowd.

Can’t Get Enough of Bob’s Red Mill?

You’ll love Nicki Sizemore’s other free class, Holiday Baking, and Cat Ruehle’s free class, Everyday Paleo Baking.

Enjoy!