Month: February 2019

Dora V-Cut Back Lace Panties

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I have a short and sweet post for you today.

Have you seen the new pattern by Full Cups Lingerie? It’s the Dora V-Cut Back Lace Panty. They are adorable! Here are a couple of photos from Full Cups Lingerie‘s Instagram page.

Here’s the line drawing of the front.

Just adorable. But wait. Look at the back of these panties!The lace wraps around from the back to the front, but there’s also that adorable little ring holding the back together.

These are lovely.

I was asked to test this pattern, and found them easier to sew together than I first thought it would be. I used some cream cotton Lycra from Black Rabbit Fabrics, and a very pretty lace I had in my stash from Libelle Sewing.Oh, I like that lace wrapping around to the front. It’s a very pretty detail.

Here are the panties from the side. Here’s where you start to get a little more of that lace detail showing itself.I do like this lace and cotton combination together.

Now for the real feature of these panties, here’s the back view.   They are such a lovely panty, and I had fun making them.

The pattern is available on Etsy in Full Cups Lingerie‘s shop.

Happy creating!

B,Wear Mystery Box

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I pretty much love all things bra-making. I love patterns, laces and materials, and even elastics. So, when I first read about B,Wear’s Mystery Box subscription, I knew I wanted to try it. However, finances don’t always let me do what I want, when I want. Sometimes I have to wait. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

Fortunately for me, Christmas came and I got a subscription as a gift.

The Mystery Box

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in getting excited when bra-making supplies arrive in the mail. Whether it’s that one item I need to complete a project, or a brand new kit. I get excited.

Well, this box really just adds to that excitement! Look at that label. I bet it’s even intriguing for the mail carriers who are delivering it. Just what is in that Mystery Box?   What fun! I couldn’t wait to open it.

The inside was just as fun as the outside.Once the outer box is opened, it’s still a mystery as it’s wrapped up in tissue paper and sealed with a foil heart. I loved this. It’s a lovely presentation. And it only got better for me.

What’s Inside?

What was inside was a treat for me. The January Mystery Box was all about making panties.Doesn’t that all look pretty? Let’s unpack and take a closer look at just what was in the box.And if you’re not sure what one of the items is exactly, there’s a note outlining everything.This is perfect for me. I love cotton panties! I can’t wait to sew this up. But do you see the bottom of the note? There’s one more item included in the Mystery Box – a new pattern.

Tippi Classic Window Brief

  The Tippi pattern is designed by Laurie Van Jonsson – the same person who released How to Grade a Bra and Brief this past year.I haven’t tried any of her patterns yet, so this will be a fun new experience for me. The Tippi is described on her website as:

‘This brief sits low and has all the detail in the back.’

That does sound interesting. However, before I sew this pattern, and have fun with this Mystery Box, I’ll be back to sewing my Fitting Bras. I’m on my fourth bras for the month, so far.

Happy creating!

Fitting Bra One Done

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Things aren’t completely settled after my FIL’s unexpected move last month. There is still a lot to be sorted out. But getting him settled, and the apartment cleaned out were the most important parts. The rest can be done when we have some time, and my hubby and I are doing bits here and there.

In spite of having all those things to sort out, I found some time to sew my first Fitting bra. When I was thinking about sewing 22 bras, I decided I’d start with the larger sizes first. I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to sew those smaller sizes, and thought they’d be a little more fun to sew. Those cute little bras will be my reward after sewing all the rest of the bras.

First Fitting Bra

Here’s my first bra. I chose to do them in ivory.   This is a 48 H Pin-up Girls Classic bra.

I can tell you, it was awfully hard to write the size on it. After taking care to sew it all so nicely, then to mark it up. Oh my! But the reality is I’m going to need to be able to see the size easily, so needed to mark it. It was hard though.

I’m sure after sewing and marking 21 more bras, it’ll be old hand to me.

Here’s the back of the bra. There were a couple of things I didn’t do while sewing this bra. I didn’t do any top-stitching. However, I did do some reinforcing stitching like at the strap and where the band attaches. It’s a little hard to see but there’s the seam and then that seam is reinforced with another seam. Those aren’t decorative stitches. Those are to strengthen the straps, and band.

Something else I didn’t do on this bra is finish the channeling at either the front, or the side. I wanted to keep the channeling open in case I need to use a different wire size than what is  normally used. Trust me, I know very well that a different wire size can be needed. So, I decided it will be better to not finish the channeling on these fitting bras.

Fitting Bra Two

Fitting Bra Two looks just like Fitting Bra One, doesn’t it? This is size 46 H. I’ve yet to mark it up, but I’ve decided to include a few other pertinent bits of information while writing on my bras. I’m also writing the wire size and the Bottom Cup Depth.I have a few other sewing projects waiting for me, but they’ll have to fit in and around these Fitting Bras. My goal is to get as many done in February as I can. Let’s see just how many I can do.

Happy creating!

We Got Your Back – BMS January Challenge 2019

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

The January Challenge for Bra-Makers Supply is We Got Your Back. The idea is to ‘make creative, unusual, or off-the-wall crazy backs for your bras, swimsuits, corsets or underwear. Yes, this month we are looking at bra backs and how to make them pretty and even more supportive than they usually are.’

Thinking about this challenge, I knew just what I wanted to do. A while back I received an email from Booby Traps about Bare Bax, a company that specialized in interchangeable bra backs. Not only that, but bra backs that are meant to be seen. I loved this idea!

Dual Reasoning

As well as participating in the challenge, I had another reason for wanting to make a bra with a fancy back – a gorgeous sweater my hubby gave me. Isn’t that a great back right there? I was thinking of wearing a camisole under this, but a bra with a fancy back might be more fun. A pop of color, that doesn’t look like a bra back might be just what I’d like behind this sweater.

My Challenges

The one challenge about my Challenge entry is I need my band to provide the support for my bra. So, rather than just use lace for a pretty back, I’m thinking lace backed with power net. The lace will still be all that’s seen though.

Another challenge I’m facing is I can’t get hooks & eyes in the same color I’m using for my bra. I’m making a lavender bra, but the 5 x 3 hooks and eyes don’t come in that color. Even hook and eye tape doesn’t come in lavender. I’m going to have to dye my hooks and eyes – a first for me. So, since I’m jumping into dyeing, I’m going to dye some elastics while I’m at it.

Dyeing

 My adventure into dyeing went pretty well. I had everything set out, including the bit of power net I wanted to match. Honestly, those findings weren’t in the dye two minutes before I looked at the hooks and eyes and thought, ‘They need to come out. Now.’

I turned around to grab my spatula handle, and they were already darker than I wanted!I realized just how quickly these findings will take color. However, the BMS Challenge for January was coming close to an end, so I decided these will do nicely.

I found dyeing very interesting. Look at the one ring and how it took color differently. One is noticeably darker than the others, but they were all in for the same amount of time.This has me thinking, I might want to do some timed tests with bits of elastic and such and record the results after say 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes…

Back to the Challenge.

My Fancy Back

  Here’s my lovely lavender bra, with a removable lace back.I’ve used 5 x 3 hook and eyes on each side of the bra to attach this back. I can take this off and use another back in the future (When I get another back made.)

As well, I’ve adjusted the height of my lace for my back. You can see how much I shortened the height of my lace by cutting and matching the pattern on it.

Here are the hooks and eyes that connect the back to the bra. And if you look closely, you can just barely see the seam in the middle of the lace. Below is my bra from the front. It doesn’t look any different from a normal bra.Lastly, here’s my bra under the sweater on my display.What a subtle but lovely little pop of color peeking out!

Happy creating!