Bra Sew-Along

A Few Thoughts From Other Blogs

~ Michelle ~ 10 Comments

This week I want to share a few thoughts I’ve had from reading other blogs.

The first one is from Erin. Do you follow The Sewing and Life Adventures of Emerald Erin? On her June 11th post Erin made an announcement:

“A Special Summer for the Bra-A-Week Challenge!

Hi All! I said earlier this week that I would announce the summer host for the Bra-A-Week Challenge – and here is the announcement!
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I am delighted to announce that the Bra-A-Week Challenge will be hosted by the lovely….

Michelle!
 
 
“Michelle is such a wonderful fellow bra-maker, and I’m sure you’ve all admired her work over the last 21 weeks like I have, and she most generously offered to host the challenge for the months of July and August for me!!”
Thanks, Erin! I’m pretty excited about hosting the challenge, and hoping some of my bra-making friends will join me and sew up a bra or two (or more) along with all the other wonderfully creative sewists who have contributed.  There’s more information on Erin’s blog if you’ve been participating in the challenge already and want to continue. You’ll still send your submissions to Erin. I’ll just be doing the write-up and posting it.
It’s great that the challenge will continue over the summer months!
This next blog comment I want to make really has nothing whatsoever to do with sewing – or does it? My good friend, Valerie over at Intricate Knits has been blogging about and telling me about her favorite author for years now. She just recently posted some scarves she designed that were inspired by Susanna Kearsley’s novel A Desperate Fortune. You can see Valerie’s designs here. After seeing the scarves, and having heard so much about Susanna, I decided I’d get A Desperate Fortune and read it myself.
This photo is from Valerie’s blog and shows a couple of the designs Susanna’s book has inspired. Valerie does such beautiful work. Check out her blog, and if you see something you love, she sells her beautiful creations on Etsy.
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Aren’t these lovely?  This morning as I came into my sewing room, I didn’t even want to sew! I wanted to get back into A Desperate Fortune. So far, I have to say, I can recommend Valerie’s favorite author as well.
Happy creating!

Pattern Preferences

~ Michelle ~ 10 Comments

I’ve had a number of people ask me which I prefer, the Sewy Rebecca or the Pin-Up Girls Shelley. The Rebecca was published before the Shelley. I had also sewn the Rebecca pattern a couple of times before the Shelley pattern even came out, so was used to that pattern before I even tried the Shelley.

In fact, it was the Rebecca pattern I made for the Sew-Along hosted by Amy of Cloth Habit. It was during that time – when the Sew-Along was happening – that news of the Shelley pattern came out. I loved the Pin-Up Girls Classic pattern, and have both of Beverly’s Bra-Making Manuals, so was excited about a new pattern from her.

Over the years, I’ve had people email me and ask me which bra I prefer. And honestly, I had a hard time deciding which bra I did prefer.

The Sewy Rebecca pattern consists of a three-part cup: the upper cup, lower cup and power bar. This photo of the Rebecca pattern is taken from the Sewy website.

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The Pin-Up Girls Shelley is a four-part cup consisting of the upper cup, split lower cup, and power bar. This photo of the Shelley pattern is from the Bra-Makers Supply website.

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The two bras really are similar in design. One big difference is the Sewy Rebecca is fully lined inside the cup, and that really makes it look so professionally finished on the inside – something I love.

However, I’ve made a couple of Shelley bras now and lined them on the inside making them look as professionally finished as the Rebecca always does.

My most recent bra that I made was a Pink and Ivory Rebecca and while wearing it, I realized, for my shape I prefer… the Shelley.

So, what finally made me prefer one pattern over the other? Well,…

I have read many comments on blogs, bra-sewing forums, and personal emails to me where people have expressed their thoughts on another bra – the Marlborough by Orange Lingerie.

I know sewers who love this pattern. It’s their TNT pattern that they go to every time. I haven’t personally made up the Marlborough, so can’t say anything from personal experience. One of the reasons I haven’t made it up is I’ve heard it has a shallower fit. Another reason is I’m outside the bra’s  size range. I can play around with sister sizing and grading to get the right size for me, but hearing the bra fit more shallowly has been the one factor making me hesitate to try the bra. Although I must say, I’ve seen so many beautiful examples of the Marlborough sewn up and they all look lovely. I don’t think it’s the right pattern for me.

After wearing the Rebecca, I’ve realized there’s a shallowness to the fit of it as well. Although the two patterns, Rebecca and Shelley, are very similar, they don’t fit the same on me.

The Pin-Up Girls Shelley bra pattern gives me a nice shape and lift. The Rebecca pattern does not give me the same nice shape. Even though the patterns measure pretty much the same – the cross cup seam is the same length, and the bottom cup depth is the same, the upper cup is shallower on the Rebecca. I even added 1/4″ to it, but it still just didn’t give me the shaping I want.

Happy creating!

A Couple Pair of Matching Panties

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

This week I have a couple of pair of panties to match the Ivory and Pink Sewy Rebecca bra I made. I mentioned a few posts ago how I was going to use some Cotton Spandex Double-knit from Bra-Makers Supply. The color wasn’t an exact match though. It’s close, but not exact.

Here’s the bra and panties together.

Full Set on Catherine

Here you can you see the cotton looks quite a bit deeper in color than the Duoplex. However, I’m still very happy with this set.

The panties are from my TNT pattern – Kwik Sew 2286. I prefer the KS 2286 because it so closely resembles my very favorite RTW panties from La Vie En Rose. They had the lace at the legs and waistband as well, and I loved that.

I used KS 2286 without any alterations this time, and then used the two remaining scraps of lace I had left over from making my bra, and added those to the panties. There was so little lace left too. I’m always sad when a much-loved lace is gone.

On this pair, I sewed the pink and ivory lace to the stretch lace I used on the waistband and then sewed it to the panty as one piece. I cut away the cotton from behind the lace as well, to make a ‘window’ of the lace.

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Here are the two together. I do think the lace pulls them together pretty well.

For the second pair of panties I made, I had even less lace than this first pair. It was time to get creative with what I could do with it.

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Here I was just laying the lace out in different patterns to see what would look nice and what I preferred.

And here is my second pair of panties to match my Pink and Ivory Rebecca.

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I like these as much as the first pair. Again, I cut away the cotton from behind the lace to make a window. You can see the window in the picture below.

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There, two pretty and much-loved cotton panties to match my new bra.

Happy creating!

A Pink and Ivory Rebecca

~ Michelle

In my efforts to decide if I prefer the Sewy Rebecca pattern or the Pin-Up Girls Shelley pattern, I made another Rebecca. I know I love my last Shelley bra, and wanted another comparison with a few more adjustments made to the Rebecca.

This time I used a little bit of lace that was left over from a bra I’d made for a friend. And I mean there was just a little bit of lace. There was just barely enough for the upper cups – no mirroring the lace here, but they’re close – and then I had to get creative with the scraps that were left over to use them to make matching panties.

Here’s my very pretty Pink and Ivory Rebecca:

Front

This is so pretty! I love this lace and have looked for it again, but… I can’t find it anywhere. I’d bought it at Bra-Makers Supply, and I haven’t seen it since. I’m ready to start hoarding lace! This is a lovely pink lace with very distinct ivory or cream in it. And it goes so well with the ivory Duoplex and Power net.

Pretty Side

On the side view, you can see where I added just a thin strip of lace that was left over. It doesn’t take a lot of lace here to make the side look so much prettier.

Back

And a basic back. I’m still using my alternate method of attaching the straps. I use some of the bottom band elastic on the outside of the band and fold that over the top of the band with a slider attached to it. Using the elastic here allows more stretch and movement than the strap elastic, it also conforms to the U-shape more smoothly. I also use two sliders rather than a slider and ring. I find the strap has a little less movement and making it less likely for the strap to fall off my shoulder.

So, what alterations did I do to the Rebecca to make it fit me?

The first changes I made were to the bridge – I know I have to lower it 1/2″, and an adjust for a flat spot on the bridge too. I also changed the cradle to a smaller cradle that normally takes a 36 wire rather than the 42 cradle the cup needs.

I thought about making small darts in the pattern to take out the excess, and although I love that neater look, I’m finding it does compromise the cup’s fit a bit. I need the extra space those darts take away. So, I put in gathers along the wire line.

The photo below shows the excess cup compared to the cradle. I have to make that all fit.

Excess Cup

This photo shows the gathers in the wire line seam. I run a long gathering stitch along the wire line, pull the bottom thread to make small gathers all along the bottom of the cup. Then I sew the cup to the cradle. It works very well, and although there is still the odd little wrinkle where a gather is showing, steaming it well with the iron really does make most of those gathers disappear.

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I used the Flexible wires again on this bra. They do make a difference in the fit. They are long enough for me, and conform well to the shape of the smaller channeling and cradle. However, they are not the easiest to get into that narrower U-shaped cradle. I had to fight with them a little. I told myself they are worth the effort. And once they are in, I don’t need to take them out again for a long time.

The inside of the bra is so pretty with its enclosed seams. I really do love that aspect of the Rebecca pattern.

Pretty Inside

And one last detail:

Clearer Crystal

I sewed a pretty crystal in the inverted V of the bridge. It has movement and does move a bit. It’s so pretty when it catches the light.

Next week some matchy matchy – matching panties.

Happy creating!

A Pin-Up Girls Shelley with a Sewy Rebecca Twist

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I’m still trying to decide which bra pattern I like better. It’s a very close match between Beverly Johnson’s Pin-Up Girls (PUG) Shelley pattern and Sewy’s Rebecca pattern. They’re quite similar – both feature a lace upper cup and a power bar. Shelley has a split lower cup as well where the Rebecca doesn’t.

Here’s the Sewy Rebecca photo from their web site. I’ve been to their site a number of times and am getting used to where things are even though I don’t speak any German. However, if you open their site in Google Translate, everything is much easier. You just can’t place an order on their site using Google Translate.

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Oh, that’s a lovely bra!

And here’s Beverly’s Shelley pattern from the Bra-Makers Supply web site.

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Absolutely gorgeous!

One difference I’ve noticed is when the patterns are both flat, the upper cup along the cross cup seam is straighter on the Sewy Rebecca than the PUG Shelley. The Rebecca is on the bottom, Shelley is on top. See how much more curved the Shelley is? But they are both the exact same length.

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According to Beverly in the Bra-Makers Manuals, a straighter bottom edge on the upper cup will give more lift. Who doesn’t want more lift? However, to be honest, when I’m wearing the Rebecca, I don’t notice any difference.

So, which bra wins out? I’m still undecided. I do know one aspect of the Rebecca that does win hands down – the enclosed seams on the inside of the bra! I love that! It does take a fair amount of work, but is so worth it.

Due to my immense fondness for those enclosed seams, I Sewy-fied my Shelley this week. I added lining and followed the instructions for sewing the Rebecca to completely enclose my seams. I even upped it a bit and added a lower cup lining, so the whole inside of the cup is now lined with no seams showing. The only fault with the inside is I forgot to change thread colors and there is beige thread from top-stitching very evident on my black lining. I noticed it too late to change it.

Here’s a photo of the bra’s inside.

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Oh, those enclosed seams. That is so pretty and, I think, more professional. On one Prima Donna bra that I owned, wore, and then took apart, all the seams were enclosed. I’m still trying to figure out how they did the strap and made it enclosed too. But they did.

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Here’s my Shelley from the outside. I think I’ve figure out the best way to stuff the bras for Catherine. I use the cut and sew foam cups I made that are the same size and shape as the bra cups, AND the pre-shaped foam cups, which are sturdier. Finally, a mostly wrinkle free photo.

This is a fabric kit from Merckwaerdigh‘s Etsy shop. I really do love her laces. I’ve backed everything up here with sheer cup lining, Duoplex, Power Net, and elastics from Bra-Makers Supply.

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Here’s my Shelley from the side. Again, I added another touch from the Sewy Rebecca and used lace on the power bar. The lace here looks so different from the same lace with the black sheer lining behind it on the upper cup.

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A very basic back.

For alterations on this bra, I made a smaller cradle, narrowed and lowered the bridge, adjusted for a flat spot on the bridge and cups, made the underarm area smaller, I shortened the wire line seam (with gathers again), added linings to the cup, and used a flexible wire.

Happy creating!

My Sloper Versus A Couple of Patterns

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

This week was a non-bra week, in keeping my hubby happy. Even though he loved my last bra, he does let me buy material without grumbling about it, so I don’t mind honoring his request – that I sew with all the material I have.

I have some lovely material for a cowl neck top. And I bought Deby Cole’s Cowl Neck Top from her Craftsy store. I think I’ll really enjoy wearing it too. I love this material paired with my denim Flirt Skirt.

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However, if you’ve followed me for any time at all, you know I usually have two, or three or more ideas and projects on the go. Before I jumped into the cowl neck, I wanted to re-visit my Ann-T-Top from Style Arc.  I printed off the next size down, and compared it to my sloper.

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Here’s the Ann T-Top with my sloper over top. I outlined the side of my sloper in black so it shows up better against the pattern. This size is much better. I still have a hard time believing how far off I am from the size charts. On this, I might want to shorten the upper bodice by 1/2″ so the underarm is hitting where my underarm hits, which will also help the waist hit at my waist. However, I do think this is a much closer fit, and one more size down would be too small. And although it doesn’t show, the neckline is much better too. There’s a 1/2″ difference, and I think I’ll like the little bit looser neck. I think I’ve found my size! I will need to make a hip adjustment, but if the base of the garment fits better, the rest can be done.

Carmen, one of my blog readers, mentioned using the upper bust for the pattern size, and this is something Kathleen Cheetham teaches in her Craftsy class, Adjust the Bust. I just picked up that class, and I’m sure it will be useful. Thanks, Carmen!

I also started to work on Deby Cole’s Cowl Neck Top.

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I have my sloper laid over Deby’s pattern. Again, what I’m dealing with is I don’t fit into just one size, or even two. I’m three sizes in all! For this pattern, I started off tracing the small shoulders and neck, and then loosely followed my knit sloper for the rest of the pattern, so my cowl neck top will be more shaped than the original.

Everything for my cowl neck top was cut out, and that’s as far as I got. I didn’t get any sewing done. I don’t even have a photo to show you – the cut material is pinned to my dress form. And I can’t even take a photo for you. I’m not anywhere near my sewing room. I’m in the mountains enjoying my anniversary. Any and all sewing will have to wait until I get back.

Here’s the view from our room. Oh, I love the mountains.

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This is my view from sitting at the kitchen table. We’re here in the mountains celebrating our anniversary, but my DH isn’t feeling wonderfully right now, so we’re having a quieter afternoon.

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I have windows on three sides, and there are mountains out each window. Oh, how I love being here.

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And the last view. Oh, I’m enjoying my time away, but if I want to submit a bra in Erin’s challenge this week, I’m going to be very busy sewing when I get home. That means a top and a bra in a couple of days! I don’t know if I’ll get all that done, but it will be fun to try.

Happy creating!

A Red Rebecca

~ Michelle

I knew when Erin from The Sewing and Life Adventures of Emerald Erin put out her Bra-a-Week Challenge, I wouldn’t be making a bra each week, but I have been trying to keep up with a submission every other week. And this week I have one.

My Red Sewy Rebecca.

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I can’t say enough how much I love sewing this bra. As the seams are coming together, they’re turned and then hidden between the lace and lining on the upper cup, or the duoplex and lining on the power bar. And the inside looks so very neat and tidy. It’s really a delight to sew.

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You can see here the inside of the upper and lower cup but there are no visible seams. Oh, that is such a nice touch.

The bra came together fairly easily, but I honestly think that’s because I have experience sewing bras. The instructions I have are the English instructions from ELingeriA and they’re not my favorite. I find I’m often looking at what they’re saying to do, and then ignoring it and following instructions from Beverly’s Craftsy class, or one of my Pin-Up Girls patterns.

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There are a couple of things I like about this pattern. One is the lower edge of the upper cup is quite straight. A straight bottom edge to the upper cup gives more lift. I do like that. Another thing I like is the underarm area is smaller and I don’t need to adjust it. The fewer adjustments, the better.

Again, on this bra, I gathered the cup to fit into the cradle. I had intended to adjust the pattern, but my week was going by quickly and I wanted to get sewing and forgot. Next time I’ll make some adjustments and show you what I do for that.

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The back of the bra is pretty basic. I do like the black findings kit with the red, and the red and black lace. All the materials came from Bra Makers Supply. I already plan to order more of that lace. It is so pretty. When I’d ordered the kit, I put it away for a little while and when I pulled it out again this week, I thought it was just black lace. So when I unpacked it, it was a treat to see those red flowers.

This photo is the inside of the bra. Look how neat that is! Here’s a close up:

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Love, love, love this!

Enclosing the cup seams would be quite easy to do on any bra, just use some lining material and ‘sandwich’ it when sewing. Let’s talk about that using the upper cup and lower cup. Place the two cup parts right sides together as you normally would. Then the lining material, which was cut from the upper cup pattern goes on the wrong side of its non-matching part – the lower cup. You make a sandwich of the cup pieces with the upper cup material and lining as the bread, and the lower cup as the filling. Sew, trim, and turn the matching upper cups pieces so they are now together. Press, top stitch and enjoy seeing those enclosed seams hidden neatly inside your upper cup.

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You can see here the seam is exposed still, but has been trimmed. The lining will fold over the seam to meet its matching upper cup and then press and top stitch. It is so neat and lovely.

It’s the same for the power bar. Place the power bar with the cup right sides together – just the same as when you’re sewing it without lining it. Place the power bar’s lining on the wrong side of the cup; sew, trim, press with the power bar and lining together, and top stitch and now your whole cup is so neat and enclosed!

Happy creating!

Panties To Match

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Here are my panties to match my Sewy Rebecca bra.

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Did you know Sewy actually has panties to match their bra pattern?

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Here they are. This is from the Sewy website. And here’s the line drawing of the pattern from their website.

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Aren’t they lovely?

And on a side note, I’ve found being an English-speaking person, who does not read or speak German, the best way to navigate the Sewy website is on Google Translate. You can read everything translated into English, but you can’t place an order when using Google Translate. Ask me how I know. You can see the Sewy website translated here.

Back to my sewing. The panties I made are from my TNT Kwik Sew 2286, but I altered the front. This time, since I was adding the lace panel and wanted to keep the scallop at the top of the lace, I remembered to add the lace elastic to the waistband before sewing the lace panel on. I love them.

And here is the matching set.

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My intent is to make two pair of panties for each bra I make. So after my Rebecca was done and I got out my cotton spandex, I realized I only had enough cotton for one pair of panties. I already have the lace cut out for the second pair of panties, but it looks like I have to wait for them.

I told my hubby I needed to order more cotton material, and, well, we had a discussion and he suggested that since I’ve bought all this other material with plans to sew other things, I needed to sew something other than bras and panties to match. Sigh. He just doesn’t understand how addictive bra making is. And for a garment I have to wear every day – it’s just such a delight to put my own on rather than anything RTW.

We came to a compromise – I ordered more material and I’ll sew something else before I sew another bra or panty. But… there was the Watson Sew-along, and there’s Erin’s Bra-a-Week Challenge going on right now, and there are patterns to perfect now that I have my size and fit all figured out. I’m having a very hard time choosing another project when I want to sew bras and panties.

So, I told myself, while my supplies are on the way, get something else sewn and then I’ll have both time and resources to sew another pretty matching set.

So, a Flirt Skirt it is.

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This is in a stretch denim. Look at that flare at the back. Such fun. It really is flirty. My skirt’s not quite done. I still have the waistband to finish, but that won’t take long at all. The ‘top’ is simply material I draped over my dress form. I’d bought some of material to make a cowl neck top, so that will be next… after my second pair of panties.

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Happy creating!

Long Line Watson and Some Bling

~ Michelle

I had such hopes my Watson was going to be perfect this time. The good news is my hopes aren’t completely dashed. My Watson isn’t perfect, but it’s not that far off.

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Here it was beginning to take shape. I’d made two changes. The last time I’d made it, I made the largest size, but it was a bit small in the cup, so on this one I graded the cup up and then put some gathering stitches along the seam line and aligned those gathers at the bottom of the cup where it crosses the cup seam. Those little gathers are hardly noticeable and then I didn’t have to change the cradle at all.

The other change I made was to ‘beef’ it up a bit. I lined the cups with power net. It does offer a fair amount more support than the last one.

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I have no idea why the front looks off-center like that with the foam cups in, but it doesn’t look like that without them. However, it does look a lot more deflated.

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There, all deflated with wrinkles and puckers. However, the center front isn’t off. It now looks fine.

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Here in the side view, you can see it gapes open a bit where the cup meets the cradle. It does that when it’s on me too, so I may need to shorten the underarm length on the pattern there. However, the more exciting part of this photo, which I don’t know that you can see there is really is more support to the cups with the power net added. It does give them more of a firm shape.

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I didn’t do anything different on the back. In fact, I was a bit lazy. I often do the elastic along the band separate from the straps, but they’re all one this time. I also used band elastic again. I have it on hand, so used what I had. Especially as this bra was still a test.

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On this side of the bra you can see where I put a pin. I didn’t have any sewing pins with me in my bedroom, so just used a safety-pin to know how much I’ll want to remove from the pattern. That’s an three-quarters of an inch fold there, so a fair bit to remove from the pattern, but I also have to remove from my Pin-Up Girls patterns there too.

So, will I make the Watson again? Well, if I do, I won’t use the power net for the cup next time. I may try a mesh instead as it’s a bit lighter, or I’ll double up on the Lycra. The single layer of Lycra just isn’t supportive enough for my size. An inside power bar is another option I’ve thought about to add more support to the Watson.

Lastly, a dear friend had her 50th birthday this week. She wears a Medical Alert bracelet but only has the one bracelet. I asked her if she’d like a second bracelet that can inter-change with her ID tag. She loved that idea – something with bling she said. Out came the Swarovski crystals and some lovely small hematite beads. She was so happy to get some more bling. What girl doesn’t love some bling?

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Happy creating!

Lots of Plans, Not A Lot of Sewing

~ Michelle

I mailed my Mum’s cardigan to her early last week, and she got it by the end of the week. She said she loved it, that it was precious, that she wouldn’t need a spring jacket now, and that I’d done a beautiful job. That is always so wonderful to hear.

A little history, my Dad didn’t contribute very much at all to our family. My Mum was the one who provided for us, made sure we had the clothes and food we needed, and for me she sacrificed a lot and made sure I had music lessons too. Even though things were always a challenge, my Mum would take family in if anyone needed help. My Mum was a great example of a strong woman. So, for me, it’s a pleasure to be able to give back to her and please her. When my Mum said she wanted a black cardigan, I made it the next day.

This week, I have little to show on my blog – just a few projects I’m planning. My week seemed to be spent running around to appointments. I did have some fun on all those errands – with a couple of visits to the fabric store. I bought two beautiful prints and felt quite pleased I’d resisted a third print.

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I love both of these and think they both make adorable bra/panty sets.

As pleased as I was with these prints, that third print stayed on my mind for a day or so. I went back to the fabric store and found the print again – but on sale this time: buy one get one free. I did like that.

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This is a delightful black and beige polka dot Lycra. Can you see why I really couldn’t resist?

I feel very ready to start the Watson Sew-Along now with not one, but three beautiful new Lycras from which to choose. This week we were to gather our supplies, and look at Bra Fitting Alterations.

Happy creating!