Author: Michelle

Prima Donna Inspired

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I have a favorite older RTW bra. The Prima Donna Milady. (I won’t show you the same photo again! I’ve been showing it to you for years.)

However, the Milady isn’t my only inspiration. The Prima Donna 2022 Madison collection has some gorgeous bras too.

This is their non-padded full cup seamless bra. This was my inspiration for my latest Josey. Although I do love how my Josey fits me, Booby Traps has a lovely darted bra that might look even more similar to this style. 

 I really loved my latest make – my 3/4 foam cup lined Josey.I really wanted to make it again, but in colors similar to the above Prima Donna. So I did.

Again, I decided to use the 3/4 foam lining, but I lowered it about 1/4-inch. I found both the upper edge of the foam and the cross cup seam were both hitting at the same place. I felt it would look better to sit either below that line or above it. Seeing as the Josey seam is above the apex as it is, I lowered the upper edge of the foam.

This foam-lace bra is so very comfortable, and it’s still a pretty lace bra. It’s the best of both worlds – foam cups and lace cups.I love this! I’m really happy with it.Here is one last photo of my new Josey Milady. Showing the inside of the bra, and the curve of the foam cup.I have to admit, I really love the leopard theme in Prima Donna’s collection. Here’s another inspiration from the same Madison collection.This one I think will be perfect for the Josey pattern, or the Shelly pattern, but I’m going to try copying this color combination on Lilypa’s new bra pattern – Lusamine.I love this style. I can’t wait to make my own bra using the colors of the Madison above.

Happy creating!       

A Couple of Kitten Briefs

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

My son and DIL love cats. They have two, and call them my grand-kitties.

I saw this gorgeous stretch rayon fabric and knew exactly what I wanted to make for my ‘kids’.

  Isn’t that adorable for a couple of cat fans? They were both going to get undies with cats on them.

His 

For my son I used the PUG Michael pattern. It’s similar to SAXX in that it has a cup for support and comfort.

I’ve made this pattern before and my son likes them.In the past I’ve made a front opening for these briefs, but I was thinking these would be more for sleepwear than daily wear. As a result I didn’t make the front opening this time.  I think he’ll like them.

Hers 

For my DIL I used the House Morrighan Clover Boys Brief.

I really like this pattern, and sadly it’s not on Etsy anymore. None of the House Morrighan patterns are. I don’t know where they can be found now. 

Oh, both briefs are so cute. 

They were both fun to sew, and the material is cute and so soft.

I don’t have a lot of experience sewing on this type of elastic waistband, and the first time I did a few years ago, it looked terrible! This time I did much better, with just one little pucker at the back on hers.

Happy creating!

A Christmassy Bra

~ Michelle

Sometimes I see a lace and love it right away. Okay, that actually happens a lot. It happened with this lace from B,Wear. In fact, I had this lace in my favorites for quite a while but it was out of stock. I’d asked to be notified when it was back in stock, and as soon as it was I went to buy some.I love the red and black check. For me, this spoke Christmas. So, I made a Christmassy Josey Milady bra.I’m just teasing. I couldn’t resist playing a little bit with some photo effects.

Here’s a better photo.Oh, this is pretty! I’ve added a 3/4s foam cup inside again. It’s my current favorite style, and I find it so very comfortable.I love this lace so much, I wanted to use it for the frame of the bra as well. Because this is a stretch lace, I’ve lined the frame with sheer cup lining. I didn’t line the cups as I was using foam inside. The back is solid red, but still Christmassy.

One last photo. Although I did mirror the plaid pattern along the upper cup, I didn’t even think of trying to match up the plaid on the rest of the bra! No, that would have been quite the feat to do that.

I have some red cotton Lycra on my cutting table ready to make some matchy matchy for this Christmassy bra.     

I hope your holidays are filled with family and friends this year. Merry Christmas and happy creating!

A Matching Table Runner

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I finished my tree skirt and love it! The panel is Christmas Splendor by Color Principle for Henry Glass.I love the colors and the pattern so much on this. I knew I wanted to find a matching table runner. And I did.  And I was able to fit it into my sewing schedule and get it finished quickly too.

I didn’t have enough of the black fabric to back the table runner like on the skirt below.So for the table runner, I chose a fun bright green snowflake print.

Here it is all set up on my dinning room table.And one last photo. 

Happy Creating!

A Modified Josey

~ Michelle

For anyone who’s followed my blog for a while, you know my favorite RTW bra of all time. If you’re new to my blog, well, it’s the Prima Donna Milady.

Isn’t this pretty? It’s a lovely lace cup with a 3/4 inner foam cup. It’s comfortable, and gives great support and lift. But it never did fit me because the wires were too big.

It’s long been a desire of mine to clone it, but I just didn’t want to do all the work. By that I mean, clone a bra that doesn’t fit me, then do all the adjustments to modify it to fit me. It sounded like a lot of work I didn’t feel like doing.

Then I had an idea. Why not use my very well-fitting Josey bra pattern to make my own Milady. It turned out perfectly!I used this is from a lovely kit I found on BMS.I used the lace for the whole cup so it would look more similar style-wise to the PD Milady.I love how the lace details lined up on the cup pieces. Trust me, that was a happy accident. I didn’t have that much material for cutting them, so didn’t follow the Dogs on the pattern for cutting those cup pieces. What a happy occurrence.  Yes, I’m very very happy with how this turned out. I’m sure there will be more Josey Miladys soon.

One last photo since the foam really doesn’t show in the photos. Here’s one I took a photo of the inside of the bra.Oops, I see the channeling popped out from under the upper band elastic. I guess I’m not quite done this bra yet.

Happy creating!

The Sahaara Wireless Bra Pattern

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I was excited when the Sahaara wireless bra pattern became available. It reminded me of the Watson bra pattern, which is a pattern I think is charming. However, the Watson is not in my size range. The Sahaara is!

I was very excited to try it.  PDF Rubies Bras Sewing Pattern- Sahaara Bralette

However, what really made me want to make this pattern was seeing one made up on the Nellie Joans website. Mini Review ~ Sahaara Bra by Rubies Bras – Nellie JoansIsn’t this stunning? Just beautiful.

I had to make my own version. Having sewn bras for a few years now, I had most of what I needed for this. I did order a few other supplies, like the lovely lingerie satin from Bodil’s.

  I did use a different lace, but I think it has a similar enough look to it. I love this!This fabric combination is very elegant.

I found the pattern to fit well using my measurements. I didn’t have to change anything. I fall between two band sizes, so think next time I’ll make a half size version. I couldn’t resist. I’ve already purchased a soft tulle kit for this pattern.

Wirefree kits with Soft Bra Tulle for the Sahaara from Rubies Bras - 3 I have two wonderful kits on my sewing table, so can’t wait to share more with you soon.

Happy creating!

My First Stanton Hoodie Dress

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I really loved the look of the Stanton Hoodie Dress when I saw it. Since first seeing it, I’ve seen other hoodie dresses, but I don’t think they’re as nice.

I had this gorgeous cotton fleece I bought a few years ago from Fabricville. I’d been saving it to make a warm winter dress, and I knew I wanted it for my Stanton.I love this material!   I think this makes a lovely Stanton hoodie dress too. I decided for this one (I have others planned already) that I wanted it all one color with a pop of color for the lining.I actually didn’t have enough fabric to make the hood lining and the pocket lining the same color. I was using up some scraps. But seeing as the pocked will be laying flat most of the time, we’ll be the only ones who know.

As you can see here. The lining on the pocket really doesn’t show, so no one will notice those two different lining colors.I love this material for this and I decided to use it for the cuffs and hem instead of ribbing.

Here’s one cuff:

And here’s the hem:I’m very happy with how my Stanton turned out. It’s going to be wonderful on those really cold -30C winter days! Well, actually, I don’t go out much on those days. It’ll be lovely on the -20C days. (smile)

My DIL Em came over to take a few pictures of me wearing my Stanton. She loves it. She’s planning on getting material for her, and dropping hints that her mom would love it too!  

Happy creating!

Christmas Tree Skirt

~ Michelle

Two Christmases ago I found a gorgeous tree skirt panel and I loved it as soon as I saw it. My husband said to go ahead and get it so I could make it for next Christmas.

Well, the next Christmas it was packed away in a box somewhere. We’d just moved three weeks before. So although I did remember it, there was no way I was going to do anything about it.  It was an easy project. Just cut out the panel, cut out a backing, and cut out the layer of batting.We don’t have our tree set up yet, but I did have this little tree so I could take a quick photo and show all of you just how pretty this panel is when sewn up.

I found a cute mistletoe fabric for the back.

Here are a few close ups. I love all these motifs. It’s called Christmas Spendor by Color Principle for Henry Glass.

I’ve found a matching table runner from the same collection. That will be my next Christmas project.

Happy creating!

Hooded Baby Towel

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I was recently invited to a baby shower for a sweet little girl. I decided I’d make my TNT baby gift: a hooded towel I first saw on a Sewing With Nancy program.

IMG_8814

It’s been a while since I’ve made one, but our weather just turned cold and I thought it would keep that sweet little baby warm.

I didn’t add ribbon this time, but have in the past.

Nancy’s book is no longer available, but it’s not a difficult project to sew. Just add equal folds towards the center and sew them in place. Then narrow the top of the facecloth for the hood by sewing from the side where the folded facecloth meets up towards the top at a bit of an angle. Lastly, sew the hood to the body of the towel.

I’ve heard from parent who were still using this for the four and five year old children because it was so warm.

Happy creating!

A Couple of Classic Bras

~ Michelle

Now that I have all my fitting bras sewn, I’m able to fit some friends and family who have been waiting for this.

My daughter-in-law is one of those people who has been waiting, so I got her fitted and she doesn’t have to wait any longer.

She’s a perfect 2.75 BCD, and I didn’t have to make any changes at all for her. Oh, how nice for her!

I let her pick a couple of kits she liked, and she picked a pink one and a beige one. Before you think how wonderful for her, she didn’t have pick from all my kits. No. there were a few I removed from the pile and said I wanted these for myself. She was still happy.

Here’s the beige bra she wanted.

I really do love this color. It’s not blah at all to me. To me it’s golden and shimmery. It is so pretty.Sewing these smaller sizes I learned that, yes, you can make a bra in a couple of hours. It was a new experience for me.

Here is the pink bra for Em.Now, I love beige, but not this pink. I know many who do love it, including Em. She grabbed this kit right away. It’s interesting to see, my mannequin is larger than a size 2.75. This barely fits her.  Em’s all taken care of for the time being. Next I need to sew some dog boots before the snow comes, and then I have a couple of Josey II bras waiting to be sewn and a new bra cup fabric too.

Happy creating!