Alterations

April BMS Challenge – A Spring in Your Step

~ Michelle

The April Bra-Makers Supply Challenge was A Spring in your step – this challenge is about making garments for an active lifestyle. How about jumping into the challenge and working with spandex, Supplex, wickables and other performance fabrics? Any type of activewear is eligible – be it shorts, leggings, running gear or gym wear. You can even make ath-leisure wear, that perfect combination of activewear and leisure wear.

I knew what I wanted to make for this Challenge. I saw the cutest, and littlest pair of athletic shorts  on a half-size mannequin at Central Sewing. Jeanette had sewn them to show with the half-size Ingrid on display there.I told Jeanette I was going to copy her idea. These are adorable, and I knew my own pair would go so well with the Ingrid bra I just made.

My Pattern

  Last year I made athletic pants for the Challenge. I used my self-drafted panty pattern to get the right size and shape, and the Pin-Up Girls Tankini bottoms to get an idea for the length and how to shape the legs.

For the pair I’m making for this year’s Challenge, I’m going to use the same bases for my new pattern, but change things up a bit more.

This year I didn’t want to make full-length pants. This year, I’m thinking Capri-length will be nice. As well, I’m adding that stripe of scuba down the side. I also wanted a different waistband this year. I wanted a cross-over waistband like in the Miami bikini shown below.

I’ll probably change that a bit too. I’m thinking I want it a bit higher than this waistband.

My Challenge Capris

I’m really happy with how my Challenge Capris turned out.

These are cotton Lycra and scuba from Bra-Makers Supply.

I’ve put the Capri pants on Catherine. I’m working on getting a Legs Display, but until then, Catherine will have to do.

Here’s my Ingrid showing the same scuba. Here’s the scuba panel I added to the side seam. The scuba is really nice to sew, and it adds such a lovely pop of color. I’m so glad I saw Jeanette’s little shorts and copied them.

And here’s the back view. Even the back has a little pop of color with the waistband.

Yes, these turned out very well.

I really like this waistband. It’s one piece that wraps all the way around the back to the front and overlaps. I added two inches to the height of the band pattern. I didn’t think the band would look as good if it was a narrower band – at least not on pants.Lastly, here I am putting my new capri-length pants to good use.I love these, and am happily planning my next Challenge entry.

Happy creating!

Cut and Sew Foam Class

~ Michelle

Another class I took this Spring was the Cut and Sew Foam bra class at Central Sewing, again with Jeanette of Sew Uplifting.

In this class Jeanette was teaching us cut and sew foam drafting and construction techniques with our personal fitted bra pattern. Most of the class sewed a foam bra from our drafted patterns. We all also received the Ruby bra pattern. Jeanette brought in her own sample foam bra, and we all had to inspect every detail of the bra. One detail I noticed was she used jewelry findings for the rings on the front. I loved that detail!The fabric on this is so pretty.

Pattern Problems

 I have to say, I really didn’t enjoy the first day of our class. My drafted pattern, which fits, wasn’t converting to a foam pattern easily.

Here’s my drafted bra. This fits me perfectly.  To make the pattern work for foam, all we had to do was cut off some of the seam allowances. I did that. I did that three times.

Each time I did it, I kept getting the same result. I was shorter along the cross cup seam on the top than on the bottom. My pattern pieces were not fitting together. Jeanette looked at my pattern pieces, and she tried to make them work. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with those pieces either. For whatever reason, those pattern pieces would not line up.

It was so frustrating. I was using my original pattern, and had transferred all the markings from it. I cut off the correct seams. It should have worked, but it didn’t. It was out by a 1/2-inch!

So, I finally decided I’d just add that 1/2″ difference at the underarm side, and hope for the best.

My Foam Bra

We used a lovely scuba for the foam bras, and they were all so pretty. Here’s mine. I’ve used the red and black floral scuba with all red findings, including red foam on the inside.

Here’s the side view, showing more of the red. One small disappointment was my band turned out to be too big. It’s not fitting well on the display either.Looking at it when I was sewing it, I thought it might be, so I just have the hook and eye tacked on here. I’ll take that off and trim off a bit from each side. After I measure and compare to a well-fitting band, of course.

Class Details

     One of the very pretty features we learned in our class was to do a rolled edge on our bras.Isn’t that a neat and pretty neckline finish? Below you can see it from the inside of the cup.We also learned how to stabilize our strap elastics to give better support. We’ve sewn non-stretch seam tape to the inside of our straps at the front. It’s nice and soft, and helps keep those elastics from stretching.

My Adjustment

 You can see here in the photo below how I added that 1/2″ to my foam upper cup.Have you been wondering how that adjustment turned out?

Well, let me just say I had two choices – I could have made it a little longer, or I could have made it a little shorter. My logic was shorter wouldn’t be better because it could end up too small.

And the results? My bra is 1/2″ too big at the underarm.

Sigh.

The good news is the bra is still wearable, and I’ve adjusted my foam pattern to account for that 1/2″ extra at the underarm. Why it wasn’t all lining up, I’m not sure I’ll ever know, but the pattern has been corrected and is good for my next bra now.

Happy creating!

Halla Agnes – Libelle Round 4 Pre-Order

~ Michelle

I had one more adorable meter of fabric from Libelle Sewing’s Round 4 Pre-Order, and I was thinking another House Morrighan Abbie. But, my hubby thought this material was too cute to not be seen, so he requested something I would wear outside.

I chose my favorite summer top – the halla swing top and dress.Aren’t these Kawaii Cherries adorable? The link will take you right to them. This is such a lovely bright cheerful print. I think my hubby was right on this one – it is too cute to stay indoors.

My halla agnes

 I made a swing top this time. My favorite agnes has been a tunic length, which is between the top and the dress. However, I’d need more than 1 meter of fabric for that. As it was, I was just a tad short to make the top.

I just happened to have some of that gorgeous red and black lace I used for the Frankie/Clover panties sitting on my cutting table.I immediately changed my pattern to include the lace.

Here’s my Kawaii Cherry lace halla agnes.Those happy little cherries look even prettier with some gorgeous lace. And I have to say, ‘Well done!’ getting that line of polka dots around the neck band. I didn’t even plan that. That was a happy accident.

Here’s a close up of the lace and neckline.Aren’t the polka dots perfect? Yes. That turned out very well seeing as I was using whatever bits were left over for the bands.

Here’s the side view.So cute!

And the view from the back. This material is lovely to sew. It’s a Cotton Lycra with very good recovery. And it’s almost my last project for Round 4 Pre-Order.

I had just enough to make one more pair of Clover Boybriefs for Em.

Em’s Clover Boybriefs

Oh, these cheery little cherries are even more adorable as Clover Boybriefs.

I had talked to Em, and she said she loves the lace trim even more than the bands. That turned out to be a good thing as I was out of fabric after cutting these out and had to use the lace trim to finish them.

Here’s the side view.Yes. These are really adorable.

And the back view.The trim helps them give just a little more coverage on the back.

The Libelle Sewing Round 4 Pre-Order ends on March 24th. There’s also still time to take advantage of the Warehouse Sale. They have lace, elastics, bra kits, and so much more.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!

A New Ruby

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I wanted to make another Ruby. I am really loving the new patterns that are available. I’m thinking after this, another Angie, or maybe I’ll try the Jessica, and then the Amethyst pattern. Well, maybe I’ll do some of these fun new patterns in-between Christmas gift sewing and the Bra Drafting course I’m taking. I’ll share more on that next week.

Lace

 I did have a Ruby all cut out, so was working on that first. For my lace, I’m using some from Kantje Boord again. In fact, I’m using the same lace I used on my last Angie. The first photo below shows the lace on black Lycra (from the Kantjeboord website). The second photo is my black cherry bra with the lace flowers cut out and appliqued. I thought it would be fun to see how the same lace can look very different used in different ways. I’ll be using black duoplex and power net for my newest bra.

Ruby

For this Ruby, I did make one small alteration to the pattern. The straps felt a little too widely set for me, so I’m moving them in just a bit. I’m using my TNT cradle for this Ruby too. Other than that, the only alterations I made were for my Omega shape.

Here’s my Ruby:I am loving this! I love the colors. I love the shape and fit. Oh, these new patterns are so nice.

When making this Ruby, I did make another change – this time to the style of this Ruby. I decided in order to show the lace off as much as I wanted, I wouldn’t use fold-over elastic along the neckline edge. I changed the neckline to allow the lace scallops to show, and did what I usually do to stabilize a lace upper cup – sheer cup lining and some of that wonderful upper cup elastic from Kantje Boord.

Here’s my Ruby from the side:

And my Ruby from the back:I really do love this bra. It’s kind of funny, but my hubby is taking all the credit for this bra because he brought the lace back from Amsterdam. We all know there’s a little more to the bra than just lace. But he’s having fun taking credit.

To add a pop of color, I used a black cherry bow and added a black crystal to the bow’s center.It’s a very pretty pop of color.

Lastly, here are the two bras together:Even though I used the same lace on both of these bras, they definitely look different. Do you have a preference? Let me know which one you like best.

Happy creating!

BMS Challenge – November

~ Michelle

I originally wasn’t going to make the November BMS Challenge – Support Your Man. Men need support too. Show them some love this November by making men’s underwear and see how creative you can get.My son loves his SAXX, and said he preferred them over the Michael Men’s Underwear pattern. He said he did wear the ones I gave him, but would prefer I bought him the real ones.

So. I wasn’t planning on sewing him any briefs this year. However, I read a comment (somewhere I can’t find now) regarding the Men’s underwear pattern. It was saying you could either do the front opening on the underwear OR the sling, but not both.

Right away I was thinking, ‘That’s not right.” I knew you could do both because my son has a pair that has both the front opening and the sling! I had him send me a picture of the front and inside. Let me just say, I’m a brave woman. That pair of SAXX is over four-years-old! He sent the pictures, and that underwear looked like it was over four-years-old.

However, it helped me see what I wanted to see.

Michael Underwear

Here are the Michael Men’s Underwear with a sling and front opening. I’ve lightened this photo to show the detail a little better.These are a basic black cotton Lycra. And you can see the front opening.

Here they are from the inside.The sling is a light blue. I chose that so it would show up better in these photos, and so it wouldn’t be a headache to sew black on black, on black, with black thread.

The key to making these underwear with a sling and front opening is that front piece. The pattern says to cut one. However, as you can see below, I’m not using just one piece – I’m using two pieces.I altered the front pattern to be a front-opening panel. You can read how to do that here on BMS’s blog. And I cut two front panels.  Then one piece is flipped so it becomes a mirror of the other. The two pieces are basted together, making sure there’s an opening on each side, and on opposite sides. Then they can be used as one piece. After basting them, I add the sling just as I would normally add it according to the pattern.

Here are my son’s Michael’s from the side.And here they are from the back. (Again, lightened. The seams just wouldn’t show otherwise.) My son also let me know when I made him his last pair of Michael’s that he didn’t like the band. He found the elastic too firm for his liking. Now to be fair, he’s a personal fitness trainer, so probably doing a little more movement while wearing his. So this time instead of elastic, I simply made a band out of the same cotton Lycra.I’m sure he’ll find this more comfortable.

One last image.   Here are the Michael underwear showing the front and mirrored inside front openings both opened showing the blue sling behind them.

I hope my son likes these ones better than the last ones I made him.

Happy creating!

A Hallå Agnes for Em

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Em asked me if I would make her a dress. How could I say no?

It Starts with Materials

I got this gorgeous black and white Liverpool knit from Libelle Sewing.  It’s so lovely! I really love black and white. I love black and white photos, and pretty much any and all clothing that’s black and white. So when I saw this material, I loved it right away.

As soon as I got it, I knew what I wanted to make with it. It has a lovely drape. I knew the  Hallå Agnes would be perfect. I sent Em a photo and asked if she’d like that. Yes. She loved it.

Pattern Adjustments

I have Em’s measurements from ever so long ago when I made her first Watson bra. But Em’s lost some weight, so I got her new measurements and saw she doesn’t fit into just one size either. She does for her hips and waist, but to make the pattern fit her bust, I needed to do a Full Bust Adjustment.

Check out this video for the Craftsy Full Bust Adjustment for Any Pattern class. At 1:09 she shows just what I did for Em’s FBA.

                     Once I’d made this one small adjustment to the pattern for Em, I was ready to cut out the material and sew it up. The Agnes pattern is a quick sew too, which is another plus.

Em’s agnes

  Here’s Em’s Agnes on my dress form.Oh, this is lovely.

Here is the side view. You can see, even though I did a FBA on the pattern just under the arm, it hangs perfectly straight – and I added over an inch to the bust.And the back.You can see here I also did a lettuce edge for the hem instead of a regular hem. I really like this. When I’ve made the Agnes in the past, I was using cotton Lycra, so this was the perfect material for this hem.

     Have you tried the Hallå Agnes yet? It’s a wonderful pattern.

Em came over and tried on her dress. She loved it and it fit perfectly. She loved how light the material is, and the drape of it too.

Here’s Em in her agnes dress.Happy creating, and seeing as it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Ruby for the Challenge

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

This is a long post. I’ll warn you right up front. But I had a lot to share on the new Pin-up Girls’ Ruby pattern.

I had no time for the June Bra-makers Challenge. I was testing two patterns – you’ve seen the Ingrid pattern. There’s another new pattern coming in just a few days. I’ll post about that in a couple of days.

As well, I had to make the Knotty Pants as soon as that pattern was released, and I’m loving them.

But, I am trying to fit the challenge in again this month. To do that, I’m combining two things for this post – I’m trying the new Ruby pattern, and I’m making Ruby for my Bra-makers Challenge submission.

The Challenge

  The July Challenge was Your Birthday Suit, and the challenge was to work with sheer fabrics.This pattern has quite a few options listed. Foam-lined or all fabric. Underwired or wire-free. The bras I’ve seen sewn up are lovely! Here’s one from the BMS website:This is so pretty!

Ruby for the Challenge

Here’s my Ruby/July Challenge. I think she’s she’s lovely!I’ve made this with sheer cup lining, and black elastics. I think it works very well together.

 Here’s the side view.Ruby has a lovely shape. It’s definitely a rounder shape to the cups.

The upper cup on this pattern is shorter. A shorter upper cup helps to give more lift.This pattern calls for 1/2-inch elastic for the bottom band, which is a bit of a change for me. I usually use 3/4-inch elastic. However, this is still supportive.

It also uses 3/8-inch elastic for the upper band. Another smaller elastic choice for me.

Here’s the back of the bra.Ruby doesn’t have fabric straps. For mine, because this is a tester to see how it will fit, I only used strap elastic. However, the pattern suggests sewing some ribbon over the elastic at the front for more support.How the straps attach on the Ruby is different too. The strap is attached to the ring at the front, giving it a lovely modern look.

Another feature Ruby has is the fold over elastic along the upper cup.It’s so sleek and modern-looking!

This photo shows just how sheer my Ruby really is.  She’s lovely.

Impressions of Ruby

My first impressions of Ruby are it’s a lovely pattern. It went together easily, with no problems at all. It does go together a little differently than Shelley, which I’m so used to making, but then it’s a different pattern. The two patterns have different neckline finishes, different straps, and a different cup shape.

I do think I’m going to enjoy Ruby and make another one soon. In fact, I already have a kit to make one.

Made for Omega?

I’d read somewhere that Ruby had sewing lines for Omega shapes. I quick email to Bra-makers Supply let me know this is not the case. There are seam lines marked on the pattern. However, those seam line could be used as a guide to adjust the pattern for Omega shapes.

This photo below shows a bit of the pattern with the seam lines pointed out. I’ve drawn in a curved red line where one could adjust the pattern if you’re an Omega shape.This adjustment I’m showing would shave off 1/4-inch from the wire line, but leave the fullness of the cup. You could shave off a 1/4-inch from other cup pieces too – as many as you needed.

PSA

Do you read all of the instructions before you start a project? I don’t always read them all, and I should!

I had read through the beginning of the pattern, and traced off the Fabric pattern pieces because I wasn’t using foam cups. Then I altered the front frame, and the cups to fit my shape.

After doing that, I was looking through the pattern for the instructions for sewing fabric only. I found them on page four – there are only four pages of instruction.

Imagine my surprise when I read this:Hello? What’s this? Remember? Remember what? I didn’t read this anywhere!

So I go back to the beginning, and I read all the beginning instructions again. Nothing.

I read it again. I’m still not seeing anything.

All I could think was I’ve spent all this time tracing the pattern, altering the pattern, and cutting it out only for it to be the wrong size?

Well, it is there. It’s in the first paragraph… which I didn’t read.I saw, ‘Thank you…’, and skipped right past that paragraph to get to work.

I’ve highlighted it now so I won’t be able to miss that again. I may mark on the Fabric pattern pieces too so there’s no way I can overlook this vital bit of information again.

As a result of my oversight, my Ruby is a little small for me. All the adjustments I made worked out perfectly though. And this being sheer cup lining, it does have a little more stretch than duoplex. It almost fits. However, I will need that next size up.

I’m off to alter the next cup size…

Happy creating!

Angie Take Two

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I was a bit disappointed my first Angie tester bra didn’t fit. However, that was all my own fault. I changed my cup size after already figuring out what size to make. I should have stuck with the original size. That the cup size I’m using now.

I do have to say though, even though the cups were too small, I was encouraged by the shape and the lift of that Angie.

 Angie Take Two or Three

 So, to count, I made some cups and put them in my tester frame. Then I changed my mind on the cup size, and made a whole second tester with the Angie band and straps. So this is my third attempt. But it is my third attempt using the second band, and first cups. Oh, that’s not confusing at all!

Here’s my most recent attempt sewing Angie. This is still a tester though. I’ve sewn this with wash-away thread.This fits really well. And those vertical seams really give great lift.

After a quick soak to dissolve the wash-away thread, I’ll be ready to sew this very pretty bra up for real.

Here’s the side view.

 Adjustments

I’m making a few adjustments to the pattern to help it fit me better. Being an Omega shape, my wire size is smaller than its corresponding cup. So, I’ve used a smaller cradle than would normally be used with my cup size.

I also used my custom bridge with this Angie. It’s lower than the original Angie bridge, which I’ve heard is lower already. However, for me, I’ve lowered it a bit more.

My wires overlap at the top of the bridge.

To make the cups meet my lowered bridge, I’ve lowered the cup almost a half-inch where it meets the bridge.

And I’ve thinned the band under the cups.

Messy Testing

 When making a tester bra, I don’t want all my elastics cut to the exact size. What would happen if I needed to lengthen the back band? I’d be short elastic. So, there are all these little bits that are folded, or simply tucked out of the way for photos.

Below you can see I didn’t finish the bottom band elastic. I’ve thinned the band for my comfort once the ‘good’ bra will be sewn, and that elastic will have to be trimmed. I didn’t want to cut the elastic yet though, so it’s just tucked up for trying on and photos.

There are little bits of elastic that are sticking out all over this bra that got tucked away for the nice photo.
You can even fold elastic so it’s out of the way, and sew over it like I did for the hooks and eyes. The only finishing on this bra that’s been done is the top-stitching. I was pretty sure these cups were going to fit perfectly, so got them all ready for the next time I sew them.I can’t wait to sew this up knowing it’s going to fit so nicely.

Happy creating!