Month: November 2018

BMS Challenge – November

~ Michelle

I originally wasn’t going to make the November BMS Challenge – Support Your Man. Men need support too. Show them some love this November by making men’s underwear and see how creative you can get.My son loves his SAXX, and said he preferred them over the Michael Men’s Underwear pattern. He said he did wear the ones I gave him, but would prefer I bought him the real ones.

So. I wasn’t planning on sewing him any briefs this year. However, I read a comment (somewhere I can’t find now) regarding the Men’s underwear pattern. It was saying you could either do the front opening on the underwear OR the sling, but not both.

Right away I was thinking, ‘That’s not right.” I knew you could do both because my son has a pair that has both the front opening and the sling! I had him send me a picture of the front and inside. Let me just say, I’m a brave woman. That pair of SAXX is over four-years-old! He sent the pictures, and that underwear looked like it was over four-years-old.

However, it helped me see what I wanted to see.

Michael Underwear

Here are the Michael Men’s Underwear with a sling and front opening. I’ve lightened this photo to show the detail a little better.These are a basic black cotton Lycra. And you can see the front opening.

Here they are from the inside.The sling is a light blue. I chose that so it would show up better in these photos, and so it wouldn’t be a headache to sew black on black, on black, with black thread.

The key to making these underwear with a sling and front opening is that front piece. The pattern says to cut one. However, as you can see below, I’m not using just one piece – I’m using two pieces.I altered the front pattern to be a front-opening panel. You can read how to do that here on BMS’s blog. And I cut two front panels.  Then one piece is flipped so it becomes a mirror of the other. The two pieces are basted together, making sure there’s an opening on each side, and on opposite sides. Then they can be used as one piece. After basting them, I add the sling just as I would normally add it according to the pattern.

Here are my son’s Michael’s from the side.And here they are from the back. (Again, lightened. The seams just wouldn’t show otherwise.) My son also let me know when I made him his last pair of Michael’s that he didn’t like the band. He found the elastic too firm for his liking. Now to be fair, he’s a personal fitness trainer, so probably doing a little more movement while wearing his. So this time instead of elastic, I simply made a band out of the same cotton Lycra.I’m sure he’ll find this more comfortable.

One last image.   Here are the Michael underwear showing the front and mirrored inside front openings both opened showing the blue sling behind them.

I hope my son likes these ones better than the last ones I made him.

Happy creating!

House Morrighan Viola French Knickers

~ Michelle

I tested the most recent pattern by House Morrighan – the Viola French Knickers.

These are a really quick sew, and they are darling on. They’re designed for stretch knits, so it was cotton Lycra for me.

The first thing I did before making these was to plan what I wanted to have them match. Well, I wanted them to match my Poppy, and Dahlia, and Abbie. Hmm. That didn’t get me very far, so I just decided to make a pair in some cotton Lycra I had in my stash – just to see how they were going to fit before I started planning matching sets.

Here’s my first test of the Viola French Knickers. They are darling! I didn’t finish the hem on these, as these were only to see how the sizing would be. They fit perfectly.

Here’s the side view:You can see, these are a cheeky little panty.

And the back view:You might be wondering, ‘What is going on with that waistband?’ Well, tired sewing was happening. Somehow I didn’t realize the whole time I was attaching the waistband that it was inside out, so the raw edges are outside rather than inside. I started to rip it all out, but then decided these were only to see how things fit, and they fit just fine. They can even be worn this way. I have tops I’ve bought that have edges that look like this.

Now I know they fit perfectly, it’s time to make another pair – this time to match something I’ve made already. But what will it be? Poppy? Dahlia? Abbie? It was hard to decide.

Violas to Match

 Abbie won out because I really love the Abbie chemise. Here are my Viola French Knickers in cotton Lycra, with matching CL band.If these look a tad shorter than the pair above, it’s because these have been hemmed.

Oh, they are darling. Some of the testers used elastic at the waist, which is another option. I also saw lace trim to finish the hem. They were all lovely.

Here they are from the side: And when they’re hemmed, they’re just a bit cheekier from the back.They are really darling. They might not be my everyday panty, but I’ve heard from a few testers say they love them under trousers. Whether these become an everyday panty or not, they will be a wonderful addition to any lingerie drawer.

Violas for Em

I was asked to test this pattern in a smaller size too, so I made a pair for Em. I still have some fabric left over from Em’s Abbie too, so she’s getting some Violas to match her Abbie as well.

These knickers are adorable in all sizes.Oh these are sweet.And that cheeky back view:You can find the Viola Knickers in the House Morrighan Etsy shop here.

Happy creating!

A Black Cherry Angie

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I really love the shape and lift some of these new patterns give, like the Angie, Ruby, Jessica, and the new Amethyst.This is the new Amethyst pattern.

These patterns are all lovely additions to our bra-sewing pattern collections. I  had planned to make another Angie and Ruby as I know they both fit wonderfully. I also want to try the new Jessica and Amethyst patterns too. All the while, I’ve been testing patterns for House Morrighan. I am having such a fun time!

On top of all these great patterns to be excited about, there were the lovely new kits my husband brought home from Amsterdam. I had to break into a kit, and see what I could  make with one.

Angie

   Angie was the first bra I wanted to make again. Here’s my latest Angie. This is with black cherry duoplex, and some of the lovely lace from Kantjeboord.I thought of a few ways to use lace on the Angie. I’ve seen people use it laid horizontally across the lower part of the cups. I’ve seen people use lace on every other cup piece, and on every cup piece. None of those were what I wanted to do for this one. I didn’t think any of those options would showcase this lace the way I wanted. So I decided to cut out the floral part of the lace, and applique it onto the cups. A little Misty Fuse to hold things in place, a small zigzag, and they look lovely.

Here’s a close up of the cup.Yes, this lace goes beautifully with the black cherry duoplex. I really like this! You can also see I’ve added a strap tab to this Angie. I like the strap tab addition and will likely continue to use one.

My inspiration for this came from wanting to use this lace, use this pattern, and my desire to make this more supportive by using duoplex. In the back of my mind, I remembered a blog post from The Lingerie Addict showing the most beautiful Japanese bras. Here’s one from the internet:This is not my bra, and not my photo. It is beautiful though, and shows you can use lace in different ways than just on the upper cup. If you want to see the most stunning lingerie, go look at the post I linked above. The bras are amazing.

With that memory in the back of my mind, I thought I can do applique on my bra as well. I think mine is lovely too.

Here’s the bra from the side:    You can see here, although the front is black cherry, I’ve used black for the back band and all the elastics.

And the back of the bra: The band has a downward hike to it.

I love how this came together.

As much fun as I’m having sewing bras and lingerie right now, I have to get busy sewing Christmas gifts. I won’t be showing any of those until after Christmas though.

Happy creating!

A Navy Floral Watson

~ Michelle

This was just a short little post, so I added another short post to the bottom of it. So today is a two-for-one post.

Em really loves her Watson bras. So much so, her sister had to see what all the fuss was about. After trying on Em’s, she wanted one too.I’ve made all of Em’s Watsons from bits of this and that I have left over from other projects. Em’s sister decided to pay for materials though. This Watson is the most put-together Watson I’ve made yet – even though the other ones I made were very pretty.

I sent her to look at Libelle, because they have what I’d need for a Watson bra at a great price. They have mesh, and lace, and elastics. And they’re all the size needed for a Watson.

She picked this lace: (Link is in the photo.) It’s a lovely stretch navy lace. I ordered some of this lovely lace for me too.

Em’s Sister’s Watson

   Most of the Watson’s I’ve made, I’ve fused a stable interfacing to the front cradle, but for this one I’ve used sheer cup lining behind it. (The lining was from my stash.) I love how it looks. You can hardly see any difference between the front cradle and the cups.

Here’s the side view:  The back band is a dark navy Lycra. It has a lot of stretch, similar to power mesh, which is what I’d used for Em’s Watsons.

And the back:  I’m really happy with how this turned out. And I hear Em’s sister is happy too.

My second post is my make for the Bra-Makers October Challenge.

“October – Your Breast’s Friend! October is Breast Cancer month and we challenge you to make a mastectomy bra and/or a prosthesis for someone you care about.”

Bra-Makers Supply also has a few related blog posts: DIY Breast Form, Foam Cup Pockets, and  Russian Doll Bra Cups.

For the challenge I made a couple of breast forms.

Here are the forms I made:They’re made from cotton Lycra, and have bean-bag-fill (tiny plastic beads) in them. They weigh just less than 1/2 pound each. They’re also very similar to some store-bought ones a family member uses.

These are very easy to make. They’re light-weight, and I hope work well.

Happy creating!