Poppy’s Sister, Dahlia

October 18, 2018November 21, 2018 ~ Michelle

I was testing another pattern from House Morrighan. This time it was Poppy’s sister bralette, Dahlia.

Dahlia is a cross-over front bralette. If you know your size with Poppy, you can just change the cups and use the Dahlia cups. That’s just what I did here. Although, Dahlia has her own great-looking Racer back.

Dahlia

The photo above shows the racer back feature. I simply chose to use the same bands as I used for Poppy.

Here’s my Dahlia.I used a gorgeous 4-way stretch material and lined the cups with black mesh. The bands are lined with the same floral material – just to make it really pretty on the inside too. This fabric was from Fabricland.

I can see this being a great sleep bra. I’ve heard Poppy is being used that way. Oh, just think in a nice soft cotton Lycra. Another very comfortable, yet supportive bralette.

Here’s the side view.I do one alteration on my Poppy, and I did it on Dahlia too – I put a dart in the underarm. I need to do that on almost every bra or bralette pattern I make.

And the back. I think this is my favorite make yet. I love this material. I was a bit reluctant to use the racer back because of some neck sensitivity, but I think it looks wonderful! The really nice thing with these patterns is you can mix and match. Just wait until you see the next pattern. I love it!

The Dahlia pattern was released today. You can find it here.

One last little detail I love about this is the elastic I used for the upper band and cups.OH! That’s such a pretty detail. This elastic is from Libelle, and I adore it!

I’m testing another pattern for House Morrighan right away, and have an Angie all cut out. This is such a fun sewing season. I’m having a hard time fitting in the gifts I’ve planned for Christmas.

Happy creating!

Bra-Makers Challenge – August

September 1, 2018August 30, 2018 ~ Michelle

I made a matching set for my August Challenge – Lacy Days of Summer! “Use 2 laces to create a bra, bralette, panties or corsets. Two is better than one!”

I’ve used my drafted panty pattern and two laces.These are my Hipster draft. I made these from black cotton Lycra, and two laces. The multi-colored lace is very light-weight, so that is backed with CL, but the pink/mauve lace is a firmer lace and is on its own with no backing. Because it’s firmer, I didn’t add elastic to the waist at the front either.

In fact, I think these qualify for three laces! There’s a narrow black lace trim at the legs and waist. That’s three laces in one panty!

Here’s the back of the panty.I fully meant to finish the back of the panty the same as the front, with both laces. However, I sewed these up on my trip to the mountains and didn’t remember to either: a) cut the lace out and pack it, or b) pack it. So these will only have the one lace on the back.

A Lacy Poppy

I combined testing the Poppy Bralette with the August Challenge to make myself a sweet lacy set.

Here’s my Poppy. The bralette can’t be part of my challenge entry because it’s not a Pin-up Girls pattern, and I didn’t draft it from BMS information, but I still wanted to make myself a set.For this Poppy, I made a smaller band and larger cup size than the first two. This one fits me perfectly.

I also kept the scalloped edge of the lace on this. Poppy is an easy sew, with generous sizing. And it’s really comfortable and although this one is stretch lace and power mesh, it’s still supportive.

My Lacy Set

Here’s my self-drafted panty and my Poppy set.I really wondered how I would like two laces together, but I really like this. And only having one lace on the back of the panty? Well seeing it from the back with the bralette, it works much better this way!

Happy creating!

The Poppy Bralette

August 5, 2018August 6, 2018 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

When I started sewing my own bras, the Pin-up Girls Shelley pattern wasn’t even available yet. So many patterns have been released since then.

There are some new bra and bralette patterns available right now. And I’ve heard there are more patterns coming too. I know of three more soon-to-be-released patterns. What an exciting time to be making our own bras!

The Poppy Bralette was released today. You can find it here.

The Poppy Bralette

I heard of this new bralette pattern when the designer put out a call for testers, so I offered to test the pattern. Do you see the cup sizes? This pattern isn’t all smaller sizes. This one will actually fit me. The only other bralette pattern I know of that is in my size range is the Pin-up Girls Sweet Sixteen pattern. I was really excited to learn of another designer who’s designed for larger cup sizes.

Here’s the sizing for the Poppy Bralette.

If you need a smaller size, those are coming too. The designer simply decided to test and release the larger sizes first. When the smaller sizes are available, I’ll let you know.

Other than the larger cup sizes, another appealing feature of this pattern is it can be made in cotton Lycra. Ooh! I love cotton Lycra!

Materials

This bralette can be made in CL. It can also be made in Viscose Spandex, Stretch Lace, and Stretch Mesh. It’s fully lined. You can line it with cotton Lycra again, or something with a little more support like power net.

I’m going to use cotton Lycra for my main fabric and line it with power net. Here’s the fabric I’m using:Recognize this? I just used this gorgeous cotton Lycra to make my knotty pants. I think a pretty bralette to match will be very fun.

My Poppy Bralette

Here’s my Poppy Bralette.I think it’s adorable! However, it’s a smidge small in the cups.

After talking with the designer, we both thought it might have been the power net lining. Power mesh might have been a better idea, or simply cotton Lycra.

I did sew this together with wash-away thread, so I’m going to soak it and then try those changes.

Impressions

Making this bralette with power net as the lining makes it very supportive. It’s definitely not flimsy!

I like the shape of this bralette too. The cup shape is flattering, the wide back and sides are very comfortable and supportive.

Here’s the side: I need to gather the elastic under the arm more. I’m very shallow there, and have to make that adjustment on almost every bra I sew.

Here’s the back view:Look at this nice deep back.

One of the things that impressed me the most with this pattern is almost all the seams are enclosed. Talk about comfortable! Just look here at the side seam.This photo shows the side seam and the under-bust seam. Both are enclosed. It’s a very nice feature. The only seam not enclosed is the center front.

Here’s the center cup seam, which is enclosed too and you can see the center front. It’s not enclosed, but it’s sewn down flat. Do you see that nice wide elastic at the bottom edge? That’s 3/4″/19 mm elastic. Another supportive feature of this bralette.

My Second Poppy

Seeing as I used power net on my first Poppy, I decided to use all cotton Lycra for the second one.This looks the same on the outside, but the inside is lovely soft cotton Lycra. Soft, comfortable, and those lovely enclosed seams. It’s really nice.