Author: Michelle

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!

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!

Bra-Makers Challenge – February

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

As soon as I saw the Bra-Makers Ultimate Challenge, I decided it was something I wanted to do. For most of January and February, I’ve been turning things down. No, I don’t want to do that, try that, or join that. However, the Challenge fit with what I wanted to do – focus on building my skills.

 February’s Challenge

Here’s the challenge for February:

February –  Love yourself – make any bra, bralette or panties using red stretch satin. There were a few more guidelines on the BMS website.

Isn’t this a sumptuous color? Just click on the link or the photo to go to the BMS website and see it for yourself. I’ve never worked with stretch satin before. But I’m game.

Plans

 While I’m trying some of these new fabrics and patterns, I’m going to incorporate ideas I’ve picked up along the way. One of those ideas is to try the ‘better Shelley strap extension‘. Beverly wrote a tutorial on how to make an extended strap attachment.This photo is from the BMS blog. You can read the post here. I thought this looked lovely when I first saw it.

Here’s was my sketch trying to decide what to make for February. Did I want to add lace over satin for the power bar? I even entertained using red mesh finished with fold over elastic instead of lace on the upper cup.

All I had decided for sure was to add sheer cup lining to the cups as the satin is a stretch material.

I also drew some new panty ideas for the challenge.I planned to use my mashed-up Aphrodite pattern, but I wasn’t as happy with it as I hoped. I didn’t like my mash-up. The original pattern is so lovely. Unfortunately, I don’t like elastic at the waist and leg openings.

Putting Plans into Action

I ended up using my drafted panty pattern. These are stretch satin and cotton Lycra. Then finished with stretch lace at the waist and leg openings. I’m loving these!

I added a lace garment tag to the side. I’ve added these tags to panties I’ve made in the past.Here’s the side view.  And the back. I was almost out of cotton Lycra, so had to make these with a seam in the back.I love these! Next I made a the bra to match.

Matchy Matchy

There are so many things I love about this bra! Well, let me show you.The whole bra cup and cradle is stretch satin. I’ve lined the cup and cradle with beige sheer cup lining. That little part on the upper cup that looks like there’s nothing there? That’s sheer cup lining. It disappears against the skin.

A Few Features

The pattern I used for this bra is cloned from a RTW bra. I loved how the cups fit, but there are a few elements about the bra that are uncomfortable and don’t fit.

So, I lowered the bridge and the underarm to help make this more comfortable than the original.

Another change was for design only –  to split the upper cup. The lower half of the upper cup is stretch satin and sheer cup lining. The upper half of the upper cup is sheer cup lining alone, then finished with fold-over elastic.

Lastly, I extended the strap as per Beverly’s instructions in this blog post.

Below you can see I only pulled on the elastic in the underarm area where it’s usually pulled. I marked on the strap extension where the power bar ended and the extension began and made sure not to pull the elastic beyond that point.

Here’s the side view:Do you see those puckers where I gathered the cup to fit into the cradle? I don’t like that! Those puckers aren’t so noticeable when I’ve used duoplex. That made me sad.

Here’s the back:Oh, the back looks perfect! The red power net really matches the stretch satin well. I debated using the satin for the band too, but had some red power net in my stash, so went with that.

  What I Love

 I’ve shared with you what I don’t like (those puckers). However, when it’s on me the cup is more filled out than on the display. (I still don’t like them.)

So now, how about something I love about this bra? I love the upper cup!I love this sheer cup lining detail. It turned out better than I had hoped.

I did make a second pair of panties to go with this bra. I’ll share those next week.

Happy creating!