Author: Michelle

The Smallest Bralette and Panty

~ Michelle

It’s been a busy few months for me. I had overcommitted to too many things, but things are slowing down a bit and I’m catching up.

One of the things I was catching up on was sewing a new pair of panties for the store display. I wanted to sew something that reflected my own style and what I would teach more. For me, that meant cotton Lycra rather than power net for a main fabric for panties.This is a lovely heathered cotton Lycra from BMS. I’ve also used the Veronica Panty Basics pattern from there.

It felt really good to get these done as I’ve been promising them for more than a month.

Central Sewing has also had a few requests for a Bralette class, so there was no better time to sew up a matching bralette.I used the Poppy pattern from House Morrighan. I made the size 6 but graded the cup to a B cup instead of the C/D cup in the pattern.

Here’s the sweet little set together.So cute! One of my favorite things about this set is the little hints of color coming through the bralette. The reason for this is the tulle I used to line it. It has stretch in one direction so worked for this. It’s this multicolored tulle from B,Wear.Isn’t this lovely? I’ve used it a few times now, and been so happy with it every time. Because it has stretch, I’ve used it to cover foam cups.

With the bralette, there’s just bits of this lovely color coming through.

Above there are hints of pink, blue, and yellow.

Along another part of the hem is yellow, pink and blue. I really love how this turned out with these bits of color peeking through.

Here is the cute little set on the display when you come into the store. The date for the bralette, and the panty class will be with the display soon.

That really is an adorable little set, and I’m pretty sure the smallest set I’ve made so far.

Happy creating!

A New Shop and a Shop Re-Opening

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I’ve had a few people contact me asking me where to buy the Poppy pattern, and other House Morrighan patterns. I reached out to the owner to find out.

I knew there had been changes to Etsy, and I knew as a result a few shops are no longer on there. I don’t know if the changes are the reason House Morrighan was no longer on Etsy, but I knew they weren’t there. As well,  I didn’t know where her patterns could be purchased now.

Then I read some good news on her Instagram. She’s setting up her new website. More good news is you can purchase her patterns now by sending her a message on IG.

That’s great news! She’s still going to be selling her patterns – and I think they are wonderful patterns. In fact, I’m going to be teaching the Poppy bralette as a class soon.I’ll share more on this bralette soon.

So that’s the shop that’s re-opening, but there’s more exciting news. There’s a new shop in town. Well, not exactly in my town and maybe not in yours either. However, this new shop won’t be far from me. It’s a new shop in Canada!

Margie B Fine Lingerie Supplies. 

  I’m excited for this shop to open because it will be great for when I want to order one finding kit, or something else small. This way shipping won’t cost very much.

She’s going to be carrying all my favorite supplies too: bra kits with Duoplex, power net, lace, elastics, findings. She’s even carrying special kits from B, Wear. It’s very exciting!

If you’re wondering about some of her kits from B,Wear, well, you can double check but currently they’re exclusive to Margie B.  This kit for example. Lollipop. It’s darling and Margie B is the only one carrying it right now. Johanna is another lovely kit that is currently exclusive to Margie B.

If you are looking for duo kits and finding kits and don’t see them, she has them! Just send her a message. Both of these wonderful shops are still getting their websites finished.

Margie B is owned by a woman who’s taken all the professional classes that I’ve taken. In fact, we were in the same classes! I’m so excited for my colleague as she begins this new adventure and moves forward with her dream. And there’s more coming, but I can’t share that just yet.

One of the items I’m most excited about though is Margie B is going to carry flexible wires! And they’re really nice looking flexible wires too. Right now, no one in Canada sells flexi wires.

Here’s let me show you a pair of the wires I’m using now, and a pair of the new style of Flexi wires. Mine are on the right.They both just look like wires, right? Well, the ones on the right look a bit thinner. Let’s take a closer look. In the photo above are the wires I’ve been using. They work wonderfully. I have no problem with them, except there are no shops in Canada that carry these wires. In the past, I’ve had to order my wires from the US. So I had to deal with the exchange rate, expensive shipping, and then I was usually hit with duty when it arrived. Those wires would end up costing me more than twice what I was expecting to pay. It wasn’t fun.

Here are the new Flexi wires.Ooh, right away I think these look prettier. A more even shape throughout the wire.

Here’s one last close up.This photo is showing the ends that inserted into the channeling. The new wire is smoother, more of a continuous piece, and that will make that job of inserting them much easier. There were pliers involved in the past when inserting flexi wires.

One warning though, they are just a bit longer than the US-style of flexi wires. They are the same length as a standard long wire of the same size. So if you’ve been using the US-style of flexi wire, you’ll need to adjust your pattern. Ask me how I know.

So you can really see I’m excited about a new shop opening here in Canada, and one of my favorite pattern shops reopening. All the best to both House Morrighan, and  Margie B!

Happy creating!

A Late Valentine’s Josey Milady

~ Michelle

I’m really loving my Josey Milady (named after my best-fitting bra pattern and Prima Donna’s lovely Milady bra). In fact, I find myself reaching for these ones that I’ve made more than any others in the bra drawer. I think I need more of them.

This one is inspired by the most gorgeous lace, and my recent Brenda Brief panties.  I really like these panties. So really wanted to make something to coordinate.

My newest Josey Milady.This gorgeous lace comes from B,Wear.

I love the red and black together.   Oh, I love this combination.

  A lot of my inspiration comes from RTW bras, and this one is no exception. I love the Fantasie Leona bra. Here’s the inspiration.

And here’s my take on it.I hope you all have wonderful inspirations that you bring to life.

Happy creating!

Making a Foam Lined Bra

~ Michelle

I had been asked a few questions on how to make a foam lined bra. Here’s what I’ve been doing.

The first thing I do is take my pattern pieces and mark where the seam allowances are. Most of mine are where the designer put them, but all my bras are adjusted for an Omega shape. And yes, you can do this if you have an Omega shape.

You’ll have to ignore the orange markings on the bottom of this first photo if you’re following along to do this yourself. You DO NOT want to cut that part off. The rest of the seam allowances you do cut off.

Here’s another example. You can see on the bottom here I’m not cutting off the seam allowance on the bottom of the pattern. You will need that – that is the part that is sewn into the cup.

Once you have cut off the seam allowances on your pattern, you have a foam cup pattern pieces that fit you and will line up perfectly with your lace cupped bra.

Sew the foam cups together with a wide tight zig-zag stitch. Once you’ve sewn your foam cups together cover the upper edge of the foam with fold over elastic.You’ll want to sew both the foam and lace cups into the cradle at the same time.

The underarm elastic will fold over the foam, so it only gets one pass of sewing (the second one) when sewing on the elastics there. 

Your foam cup is fully attached to the cup. It is attached at the bridge, fully under the cup, and at the underarm. It does not move. The foam cup is loose under the lace at the top.    As well, you can change the shape of the upper edge of the foam, and have some fun with the foam not being exactly the same as the cup. The foam on the cup above follows the curve of the lace cup.

On this bra below, instead of following the curve of the outer cup, I gave the foam more of an up-swirl towards the underarm.I do my best to line up the vertical seams on the foam with the seams on the cup.

I hope this blog post has answered all the questions you’ve had, but if you have others please let me know.

Happy creating!

Brenda Briefs View D

~ Michelle

I made another pair of the new Porcelynne pattern – the Brenda Brief. The pattern has four styles, and loving lace as I do, I made the other style with lace.

I have a lovely black and red lace on my cutting table so thought I’d make something that would coordinate with that.

I think these are darling! I really do love the lace on the side on this pattern. So pretty.

One thing I did differently on these than the last pair is I didn’t use FOE.

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

  This is clear to see, I used a fabric band for the waist instead of FOE. This is quite easy to see.

This is harder to see (although I overexposed it) I also used fabric bands instead of FOE at the leg opening. I wanted something just a little softer, and thought I’d experiment.

I think it turned out wonderfully. It looks the same as FOE.

Isn’t that a lovely side view?

Lastly, there’s the back view.

Another very pretty view of that lace.

These look like briefs on my model here, but they are true hipsters. They aren’t a difficult sew, but the joining of the FOE and lace is a touch tricky. Thankfully, there’s a sew-along video coming to show you how to do that.

This is another lovely pattern from Porcelynne.

Happy creating!

Porcelynne’s Brenda Brief Pattern

~ Michelle

I recently made the new Brenda Brief panties from Porcelynne. I have to admit, I was taken with the lace at the side of the leg. It’s such a pretty feature. It can also be color blocked, but it was the lace that won me over.  Brenda Brief Pattern - image 1 I knew exactly what I wanted to make with this pattern too. I wanted something to match my new Prima Donna inspired Josey bra.So, here is my newest make – the Brenda Brief pattern. Oh, well you know how I feel about these. I say the same thing over and over. I love them! I really love this lace! You can find it at B,Wear.

I love this side view. I love the lace at the side.  Isn’t that just lovely? What a great way to make a matching set by using the same lace at the leg opening. Or do a little scrap busting by using the color blocking option.

I really like this pattern. It comes in four styles. Two briefs (view A & B) which sit higher, and two lower styles (view C & D) which are close to a hipster. I plan to make the hipsters next!

Happy creating!

The Prettiest Josey Bra

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

You’ve heard me say this many times before, but I loved this lace when I saw it. Do you all have the same problem? I can’t be the only one to fall in love over and over with laces.

But. I saw this lace and thought it was so beautiful. You can find it at B,Wear. The link is in the photo as well.It’s described as Light Beige with Pink Flowers. The above photo is on a pink background. Below it is on a darker background.Oh, it’s so delicate and so pretty.

I did something I’ve never done before. The same day I received the lace in the mail, I had the bra cut out and began to sew it up.I had some copper power net and I found it went perfectly with the leaf outlines in the lace.

Here’s my lovely new Josey bra. Because this is a stretch lace, I’ve lined the frame and the cups with an ivory sheer cup lining.Here you can just see a bit of the copper power net.Above is a bit more of a side view. Oh, I love this! The lace is so delicate and so pretty. And the back view. I really love copper power net and duoplex too. I wish I could find the perfect cotton Lycra to match copper though. Has anyone found that? Let me know.

One of these days I am going to try another bra pattern. (I do have one cut out to try. Really.) However, this time it was too hard to resist this lace. I used my TNT Josey pattern so I could sew this up right away.

Happy creating!

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!