Bra-Making

Another Autumn Josey II

~ Michelle

I wanted to make another beautiful Autumn toned bra, and I knew just the lace I wanted to use. I knew it would pair perfectly with the copper kits and finding from Bra Makers Supply too.Oh, it’s another love for this. The lace is so delicate and so pretty.Oh, those salmon/coral colors.

I had everything for this bra from a leftover kit, well everything except strap elastic. So I had to use beige, which doesn’t look quite so light and different in person.

  I’d made this Freja bra in a copper kit, and was thrilled I have enough power net, and duoplex to make a whole other bra. That was a very happy occurrence. Above is the Freja bra I made.

Back to the Josey II. Here’s the back. I do have to say, I prefer copper over beige. It’s a warmer richer color.

I’ve been looking for some cotton Lycra that will go well with this copper. So far I can tell you,  the ‘copper’ cotton Lycra I found doesn’t. Neither does ‘tan’ I found recently. Hopefully I’ll find a great match soon.

Happy creating!

Thinking About Autumn

~ Michelle

I’ve started to think about Autumn. The weather is still lovely and hot most days, so it’s not that making me think about the change of season. But I am thinking about it.

I have a few lovely summery kits that have been waiting for me to sew up, but I think they’ll wait a while longer. I’m thinking fall colors.

The first of my fall lingerie wardrobe is a gorgeous kit I bought at Bra Builders last year.

Do you know I don’t have a favorite color? I don’t. There were colors I didn’t like though. Yellow and orange come to mind right away, and I remember when that changed. It changed years ago for yellow, but just last year I started to really like orange. Don’t ask me why. I don’t have any idea. I just started to really like the color orange, and wanted orange in my wardrobe.

So when I saw this lovely lace, I knew I had to make a bra with this beautiful it. Bra Builders is still carrying this lace too. You can find it here. Oh, I love it.

Here’s my gorgeous new fall Josey II. Yes, I love this. It’s such a rich deep color. The color is one of their Legacy colors: Burnished Copper. I think it pairs with lace beautifully.

Here’s the back.

This kit is micro duoplex, and I had no trouble sewing with it at all. It’s so soft too. Still, no stretch, but soft.  

There’s one thing I love more than anything else about this bra. I love how the different base colors affect the look of the lace. The upper cup has black sheer cup lining, and it looks quite dark. However, the power bar has micro duoplex, and looks completely different. 

Here’s a closer look a the same lace but looking like two different colors.     Oops, I see some threads I missed snipping. (smile)

I have some gorgeous orange cotton Lycra to make some panties next.

Happy creating!

Winter Dream

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I cannot even begin to say how happy I am to have not one or two bras that fit so well, but I’m building a whole drawer full! It’s really a great feeling.

So as I’m happily sewing away, I’m catching up on some lovely kits I bought, and finally using them.

This latest bra is the Josey II (again). This time in a gorgeous kit from B,Wear. This kit was called Winter Dream.I’m also really pressing into sewing right now because we’re going to be moving! I need to sew now before I pack, and unpack.

Here’s my lovely new Winter Dream Josey.As well as having an applique leaf on the top of the bridge, I also added an appliqued flower to the lower bridge.

   Those little scrap lace appliques made their way onto the sides of the bra as well.

To match my Winter Dream Josey, I plan to use a few panties I’ve already made. These basic ivory ones will go nicely.

I’m also thinking for more of a pop of color, to try them with these.For that second option, here’s my bra and panties together. I guess which pair I choose will depend on my mood that day.

I have two more bras I plan to cut out and sew up before I start packing. My next couple of posts will be short and sweet.

Happy creating! 

An International Beauty

~ Michelle

I’ve made another Josey II. I have so many other bra plans, but this bra pattern fits me so well, I’m just sewing Josey all the time right now.

 Look how pretty this Josey is. I’m calling her my International Beauty bra because parts of her come from all over the world.

The oh-so-pretty Mirrored Embroidered Tulle Lace is from Emerald Erin’s Bra shop. Aren’t these gorgeous?   I have a confession here. I bought one of each of these. They were too pretty for me to resist. I still have enough of the black to make another bra! 

So my bra is one part Canadian. It’s also one part American. The frame is microduoplex from Bra Builders.And lastly, the finding kit I used was from B,Wear in Sweden. Truly, this Josey bra is an International Beauty.

Let’s go back to the tulle for a moment. I loved the bright floral design so much, I used a bit that would normally be scrap for the inner lower cup. It’s a pretty way to add a few more flowers in the cup.The rest of the cup is sheer cup lining. You can see the difference in the above photo.  

Lastly, I couldn’t resist using a single floral leaf that was in some scraps for the center front. A bow just didn’t seem right.Isn’t that adorable? I love it!

I have 3 more bra kits sitting on my cutting table, and I may just sew them all up using the Josey II. The new year might be the perfect time to try those other patterns I want to try.

Happy creating!

Smoke and Mirrors

~ Michelle

Bra Builders recently released their new seasonal colors, and I fell in love with more than one color. Just look at that first color – Burnished Copper. Oh! Gorgeous! However, my favorite would have to be the Plum Pudding. They describe it as a beautiful eggplant purple – rich and smoky. It’s so pretty!

Well, not only did I fall in love with a few of these colors, but I was accepted as one of Bra Builders’ Featured Artists, and had the priviledge of working with this beautiful Smoke and Mirrors tulle lace and some Plum Pudding micorduoplex!It was love at first sight.

When I saw this lace, I knew it would be perfect for an all-lace cup. The design throughout the lace, and the darker border on the lace make it perfect for this. I used the Josey II pattern for this bra.I am so happy with this bra. I love this bra kit. I adore these colors!I couldn’t resist using a little bit of the upper edge of the lace along the side of the bra.These rings and sliders are the Rainbow ones from Bodil’s Wear. They match the eggplant color in this so well.I have a few more matchy matchy to share with you in my next blog post.

Happy creating!

The Prettiest Viola

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I had ordered a kit from B,Wear earlier this year. It is such a pretty kit, I had to use it now that I again have a well-fitting pattern.

Yes, this is another Josey II. I do plan so sew a few other patterns, but right now Josey is getting all the attention. 

I decided to do something different with this bra. Instead of using duoplex/microduoplex or even lingerie satin for the cradle, I made a lace cradle and backed it with sheer cup lining. Making a lace cradle allowed me to have a pretty lace edge along the bottom of the bra.I love the colors in this lace, and the coordinating elastics all in turquoise. It’s so pretty. That lace edge makes it look like a bralette to me, but it’s a wired bra.To make a lace edge, you need to have a center seam in the cradle.

Actually, there’s a great video by Liz Sews explaining just what you need to do to add a lace edge to your bra pattern here.   The band doesn’t have lace on it. I think I’d like to make one like that, but I used almost all the lace in the kit doing the cradle and cups.

This kit was called Viola, and I do hope B,Wear will carry it again. I looked to buy some more of the lace and couldn’t find any more.

They do have this lovely lace which is similar, but with a pink flower instead of a purple one.  Lastly, here’s the back. The B,Wear kit had both a black and a turquoise set of hooks and eyes included. I decided I can use the black on many other bras, but on this one the turquoise would coordinate perfectly. How could I pass that up?Isn’t that lovely? The constrast between the turquoise and the black is striking! This is another very happy make. 

I have one more kit I want to sew up right away, but I think Viola needs some matchy-matchy first.

Happy creating!

Using MicroDuoplex

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I have a couple of really beautiful bra kits with Microduoplex in them. I’ve heard often that it’s very hard to sew, so I ordered some plain white to practice sewing it.

I’d also read as many tips as I could about how to sew it. Those tips are things like: use tear-away paper underneath two layers, use a microtek needle, use So Fine thread, lengthen your stitch length, use a straight stitch plate.

I tried almost all of the suggestions – probably in the same order as above too. There were a lot of skipped stitches and sections where the stitches didn’t take at all the first few times. Believe it or not, this was sewn all the way across. You can see the skipped stitches, and where there are no stitches in the material at all.

I didn’t find the paper underneath did a thing. Nor was I finding any of the others tips helpful either. That is, until I decided I would buy a straight stitch plate for my machine. Once I had the straight stitch plate on, the microduoplex sewed so easily. It was amazing the difference it made.

It sewed so easily without any paper underneath, and without the longer stitch length. Let me tell you, while I was sewing, I thought that new stitch plate was completely worth the money I paid for it!Once I started sewing, I was excited to finish a bra. This one was only using  white mircoduoplex, and then a bit of lace left over.

 This is very pretty. I have to say, after trying the straight stitch plate for the cups, the bra came together quite easily.

I can see one problem with my photos though. The foam cups I’ve been using really don’t fit my size now. I’m going to cut out some new foam cups this week.

One bit of experimenting I did on this bra was to add some non-stretch lace to the strap elastic at the front. My thought was many high-end RTW bras use strap elastic only, but have a bit of embelishment on the front strap. I was thinking it’s more than just decoration – it’s to stabilize the straps.

I would have used a bit more lace, but I was down to scraps and that was all I had left. That lace was very well used.

If you haven’t tried microduoplex, I do encourage you to try it – but make sure you have a straight stitch plate! It really is a lovely material for our bra-making.

Happy creating!

Another Josey

~ Michelle

Well. I really liked my newest Josey Bra. So much so that I cut out another one right away and sewed it up.

Yes, I really like it. The only thing I needed to change on that first Josey was I actually made the band too long. I don’t even know how I did that seeing I used my tester frame.

So I fixed the length of the band. On this one I also decided to use the cradle and frame that comes with the Josey pattern. I made sure it was matching my cradle, and the corrected length of my band before I cut it out.

   I used the same lace as from my Summery bra. I love the delicate floral pattern in it. Seeing as it had bright pink, I decided to match it with some fuchsia I had in my stash. My hubby told me he doesn’t like the combo.

Look at those pretty colors in there. Pink, purple, a light orange. I think they’re lovely, and match with the fuchsia well.

I think it’s a very pretty summery bra.

I also added some lace to the center front. This pattern has a split cradle, so I took advantage of that feature to easily add the lace.My only disappointment at all is the little embroidered flowers aren’t showing on the bridge. One of them is barely showing. Just peeking out from the bottom edge.

I’m sure there will be yet another Josey very soon, and some matching panties too.

Happy creating!

Josey Bra Take Two

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

My first attempt with the Josey Bra came up short. Well, a bit short across the cup anyway. But overall, I knew I was close.

I was thinking about doing a hack, but part way through drafting it, I decided I’d be better off to just do a quick test of the next cup size up.

So that’s what I did.I grabbed some scraps again, and did a quick tester cup. It’s looking good.

Next I measured the bottom of the cup against the cradle. I had to find 2 1/2-inches to remove from the bottom of the cup so the cup will fit into my cradle.

Once that was done, I had a working pattern. It was time to break out a bra kit and try this pattern. 

   If you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time, I’m sure you can imagine the self-talk that was going on while I was making this bra. After all the tries and trials I’ve had, I kept telling myself to not get excited. That is probably wasn’t going to fit. That this was just going to get me one step closer, and it was fine.

Well, it fits! It fits perfectly! No alterations. No fitting issues. No adjustments. This pattern fits as is, with only the Omega adjustments to fit it into my cradle.The bridge is the correct width for me, the cups fit, and the bridge also tacks all the way to the top of the bridge. I hated to take this off for photos.

I decided to make fabric straps to go with the bra, and I do like them. I may change that up for my next one so they don’t have the lace trim on the inside. Just for a different look.

As well, mine is made of duoplex, as I don’t have a lot of micro duoplex in my stash. I did order some so I can try it. 

I was also so excited I immediately dug into my stash looking for some panty fabric to make a set. Oh, these are adorable!

Here’s my whole set.

I’m a happy bra-maker today, and I’m already planning my next one. However, I also have a dress to make for a family wedding. I’ll have to fit in some time for me too and make a few more pretty Josey bras.

Happy creating!         

A Pretty Summery Bra

~ Michelle

Oh, some very good news. Draft number four fit so well I couldn’t resist making a new bra. For the most part, my cups were fine. I’d done a lot of work on those. The wires and the bottom of the bridge were what needed the most improvement. So, now I had a well-fitting band, with the correct wire shape, I had to make a new bra.

I looked in my stash, and this lovely delicate lace was calling my name.Oh, I love this lace. It’s so pretty.

My next decision was what to use to finish the bra? I decided to try the lingerie satin B,Wear sells. I had ordered some, but hadn’t tried it yet. I think I fell in love with it as soon as I touched it. It’s so soft!

This lingerie satin does have a bit of stretch, so I wasn’t sure how my bra was going to fit, but I am not disappointed.This is the BMS Ruby pattern, adjusted for an Omega shape.

This fits perfectly – except I forgot to adjust the top of the bridge to make it lower. This bridge is for using elastic along the upper edge, so the bridge and the wires aren’t the same length. However, that’s a very small complaint!You can see here where the wires aren’t coming to the top of the bridge. There’s maybe 2 cm, or better yet 1.5 cm and a touch of wiggle room for the wires. It’s a very small adjustment after some of the others I’ve had to make.

You can also see in the above photo, I had some wrinkling with my elastic under the cup there. I had this problem on my other tester band too. I’m wondering if I have too much of a curved shape there making it just too hard for the elastic to fit to those curves.

Here’s the side view of the bra.Oh, I’m so happy with this. I used a trick I learned in one of my classes with Jeannette to help my large cup fit into my smaller band – I stretched the frame on the outside, and ‘eased’ the cup in. It works so well.

Lastly the back view. I’m so thrilled to have finally found my correct sized wire, and figured out just how to fix my band as well. I have my next bra kit all picked out, and I’m going to sew some more bras!This is another lingerie satin kit from B,Wear.

I do like a power bar, so I’m thinking for my next bra I’ll make a BMS Shelley.

Happy creating!