Author: Michelle

Em’s July Bra

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I received the loveliest softest fabric from B, Wear this month and knew right away I wanted to use it for Em’s bra.

She needs softer fabrics and this is just perfect. Pantie fabric -Pink flowers on a white base This is actually a pantie fabric but will work wonderfully for a soft bra for Em.

  Now, the next decision was what pattern to use. The Watson works so well for her, but I did want to try something different, and I had a little more time this month to do that.  

I chose the Romy bra pattern by OhhhLulu. The Romy Soft Bra PDF Instant Download Sewing Pattern Comfortable Lingerie image 1It’s adorable, and I think perfect for Em.

This patten is fully lined for support, but I didn’t do that for Em.

  This is lovely. It’s a bit too small for my display form, but that tells me it will fit Em just fine.

I decided to make Em some matchy matchy this month. Or as I recently saw on a British Sewing Bee episode, some Co-Ord. The littlest pair of Clover Briefs, but without the upper band. So they’re really Clover Hipsters.

They’re adorable and so very soft.

Here’s the set. Just adorable. I hope Em loves this set.

Happy creating!

Being Innovative with a Finding Kit

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

So. My Michelles Special Freja. Do you remember I didn’t add upper cup elastic? 

It should have looked more like this with thin elastic along the upper cup: Or like this: But it shouldn’t have looked like it did.

I also didn’t have any thin elastic in my stash that would match the findings in that bra. I actually used it up making the second bra with that lace, my newest Margareta.

So, what is a girl to do?

Something I’ve done before, and suggested in my classes, is if you’re not using the neckline trim elastic – use that! Carefully cut off the scalloped part, and you are left with a perfectly usable thin strip of elastic. Perfect for along the upper cup.     Yes, that worked just fine.

Once that was done, I had a lovely long strip of scalloped elastic. Then I had another thought. I could sew it along the strap elastic to add a pretty detail to the straps.    I love it! I may just do this more often. However, I do hope the next time I do this I’ll do it when putting the bra together – rather than doing it after the bra is finished. I love the strap detail.

Happy creating!

One More Michelles Special

~ Michelle

I couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous the colors were in Em’s June Watson. I loved this lace with the fuchsia powernet.

I knew I had to make a bra in these colors. I had just enough lace left for an upper cup. So I looked in my stash for some fuchsia sheer cup lining. Jackpot! I had some. Oh! It’s love again.

I made the B,Wear Margareta again because at the moment it is my favorite bra. I had a dream a week ago and was packing for a trip and looking for my Margareta bras to pack. You know you really love a pattern when you’re dreaming about it. I often dream of sewing, but dreaming about a specific bra pattern was a first. I used fuchsia sheer cup lining and power net from my stash. I used the same gorgeous hot pink findings from The Bra Makery again on my bra because I loved how they looked with the lace and fuchsia on Em’s bra. 

Isn’t the hot pink gorgeous with the fuchsia? I did one other little alteration to my Margareta. It was a little bit loose around the upper band, so I took it in just a smidge there. I didn’t forget my upper cup elastic this time. Everything fits like a dream.

A P.S. to my post about my friend’s bra. 

She loves it. She said it fits perfectly and she’s wearing it all the time. That’s so good to hear.

Happy creating!

Michelles Special Part Two

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

It was my turn to sew up something with my very special kit!

I decided I would stick to what was in the kit. Often, I open a kit and inspiration will strike and off I go. However, I fell in love with the bra shown on the website, so wanted to do my best to create something that looked a lot like it.

Isn’t this so pretty? Yes. I wanted a bra like this.

I decided to make another PUG Freja. I really do like that pattern and it’s shape and design.

However, the upper cup was a little bit too long for me. It was time for me to adjust my pattern and sew up a very pretty Freja. This lace! It’s so pretty.

Yes, the newest alteration worked out well. I was a bit nervous as I’d never adjusted an upper cup like this, but I trusted the process of shortening it and it worked. 

 

If you’re wondering how I shortened the upper cup. I put the side pattern piece and the lace pattern piece together along their seam lines, and drew a line across them. I measured 1/4-inch and drew another line. I cut on the bottom line and taped the pattern pieces back on the upper line. I removed 1/4-inch from the upper cup.

After that I just had to ‘neaten’ the design lines up again.

I love the sheerness of this. The original used sheer cup lining under the lace. But I had used some of my lace for Em’s bra. I couldn’t recreated it exactly. As well, I am using a different pattern. Overall, I’m very happy with my new Freja, but…

I made a mistake, and it wasn’t with the adjustment I made. No. I made a different mistake.

Let me show you. Do you see it?

I forgot to sew on the upper cup elastic. I tried on my lovely new Freja thinking about how the new adjustment would make it fit. And my upper cups were all floppy! “What? What was wrong with my bra? How did taking 1/4-inch out make the upper cup floppy?”

Back to the sewing machine to fix this.

Happy creating!

A Very Special Kit

~ Michelle

Sometimes you see a bra kit, and it’s so lovely. You know you want it, but you just can’t buy everything all the time.

That happened to me a few months ago. I saw the most gorgeous bra on B,Wear’s site. Isn’t this gorgeous?

Well, by time I went to buy it about a month later, it was gone.

I was disappointed. But an email to B,Wear, and they said they could put together another kit for me.

To my great surprise, I got to see my name on the kit! Michelles Special. That was a real treat for me, along with the kit being available again.

I had to get it! You know I had to get it, right?

And I am not disappointed at all.

As much as I was looking forward to sewing with this kit right away, I wanted to sew up Em’s June bra. I decided I would share my precious lace with her this month. Oh! These colors!

Orange isn’t usually a favorite color of mine, but paired with this fuchsia… LOVE! This is just lovely. The colors are so rich.

The findings here aren’t actually fuchsia. They’re hot pink from The Bra Makery. I adore how they bring a little extra pop to the bra. Just adding a bit more depth of color to it all. Yes, this adorable Watson bra is bow worthy.

I have to share with you, I was a terrible tease to Em. I asked her if she wanted a hint what her bra was for June. She said yes of course. So I sent her this. 

I know! A terrible tease, but she laughed.

Happy creating!

An Ivory Margareta for a Friend

~ Michelle ~ 7 Comments

A dear friend of mine recently underwent surgery and I told her as soon as she could wear a bra again, I wanted to sew her one. We just came to that point in time, and I got to gift her a well-fitting bra.

She came over and we tried on some fitting bras, and I fitted her for a wire. Then she looked at some photos of recent bras I’d made. She fell in love with my ivory Margareta, and she wanted the same bra. Here’s her ivory Margareta. It’s very similar to mine, but she has no Omega issues.

So her bra cup fit so nicely into the frame. No adjustments at all that way. It was a refreshing sew.

I also didn’t have to over lap her wires. She has enough ‘real estate’ between the girls to have the wires sit side by side. It was a pleasure to be able to help a friend and make her a lovely new bra.

Happy creating!

My First Quilt

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Do you quilt? I’ve wanted to learn for a while now, but Craftsy classes just didn’t seem like enough for me. What if I had a question as I was going through the pattern?

I even tried a block of the month quilt. However after I signed up, the colors were changed. I really didn’t like the new swapped out colors, but I was charged for them and that’s what I got. They’re in a box in my sewing room…

Then at my last class at Central Sewing I saw a lovely quilt on the wall. There was an upcoming class for that lovely quilt too. I asked if it was a beginner class. Yes it was.

Great! Sign me up. Isn’t this lovely? Knowing nothing about quilts or quilt-making I had no idea of all the work that needed to go into this.

However, I was signed up. Again, knowing nothing, I didn’t want to try and put fabric colors together myself. The pattern called for a Layer Cake, so I got one.       I love these colors and prints! Benefitting a cause is always a good thing too.

So, again, knowing nothing about quilting… The pattern suggests if this is your first quilt to do the smaller quilt. It comes in two sizes. Well, why would I do that? Yes, I made the larger one because I didn’t know what I was doing.

It was a lot of work. A LOT! And it’s not quite done yet. Here’s my quilt top almost done. Looking at how close it was to fitting my bed, I’ve decided to add another border to the edges to make it fit. I might need more than one so it drapes over the side.

So it’s not quite done yet.

Everyone is saying now you’ll be addicted to quilting. I don’t think so. I’ll make a couple more for my kids, but bra sewing is my passion.

Happy quilting creating!      

Basic Black for Em’s May Bra

~ Michelle

Originally, Em said to surprise her this month as to what color she wanted. She said she loves all of her new bras. Then she thought and said, no, I want a black bra. As Em wished, she’s getting a black bra. Another Watson. The fabric I used for this Watson is the softest, most luxurious feeling fabric. It also has a nice weight to it. I’ve used it for the entire bra except the lace on the inner cups. It is so soft. I think Em will love this.

As you can see I used the lace edge on the inner cups. Cloth Habit has a lovely tutorial that was part of her sew-along that explains how to do this with your Watson bra. It was my first time sewing this feature, and I think it’s lovely. We all need a basic black bra, right? A lovely one is even better. I can’t wait to hear how she likes this one.   Usually I’ve used a 3×3 hook and eye for the back band, but I used up all my extra stash items making the Fitting Bras. I’m going to have to stock up a bit again.  

I had a wonderful class this past month teaching seven ladies how to sew their first bra. If you can believe it, one of these women sewed her first bra and it fit wonderfully! She’s a quilter, and knows how to sew a 1/4″ seam really well. It was a great class, and everyone went home happy with a well-fitting pattern, and at least one well-fitting bra.

Happy creating!

Ivory Margareta II

~ Michelle

When making the fitting bras, which I’ve now sewn twice (PUG Classic, and B,Wear Margareta), I realized the benefit of batch sewing.

It’s a great way to sew more than one bra at a time. Wanting a whole new bra wardrobe was also the perfect time to do a little batch sewing.

Two ivory Margareta bras are better than one, right?

However, this second ivory bra has a little more spark to it. I can’t remember where I got this lace, but ooh-la-la.

Let me show you what I mean.Many of the lace petals lift up. It’s very fun and adds that little something extra. Isn’t this lovely? I used all lace for the bra cups. It’s really lovely. It does remind me a little of the bee fabric I’d used before, but this time it’s petals and sheer. Here I’ve removed the foam cup from behind the bra. You can see the cup is no longer filled out on the mannequin, but I wanted to show you how sheer this is. It’s so delicate and lovely. I couldn’t resist cutting out one of those little floral motifs to add to the center front.

Happy creating!

An Ivory Margareta

~ Michelle

Looking at my bra wardrobe, I realized I had too many darker colors, and I really wanted lighter colors for Spring and Summer.

You know what that means – it’s time for a new bra wardrobe! 

To start off, I made myself a new Ivory Margareta. The Margareta is currently my favorite pattern. Classic and lovely. I’ve used this lace a couple of times now, and I love it every time. I might even have enough for one more bra in the future. Yes, this will be perfect for summer. A lovely first bra for Spring. Look how pretty and delicate this lace is. And the perfect shade of ivory to match the duoplex.   One last feature I really love with the Margareta pattern is this little strap tab where the strap meets the cup. It’s just adorable.

That’s all for this week. Short and sweet.

Happy creating!