A Review of Sewing Bras: Foam, Lace & Beyond

Hello! Welcome to my stop on the Canada Cups – Cross Your Heart Relay blog tour, 2016.

banner-improvedYou’ll see in my sidebar menu, I’m an affiliate with Craftsy. I decided to do this because I can do it without any compromise. I really do think they’re great. In fact, I love the whole concept: You buy a class that never expires; you can watch it anytime; the instructors answer your questions. From sewing to cooking to gardening and more, they have classes. They really are great!

I’m reviewing Beverly Johnson’s Sewing Bras Foam, Lace & Beyond class and so is Rachelle from That’s Sew Venice. Have you seen Rachelle’s blog? She has some great posts on her blog, and I think you’ll love what she does. Any blogger who falls in love with making lingerie is my kind of blogger too.

Here’s my review: The first thing Beverly Johnson, suggests in this class is that you take Sewing Bras Construction & Fit, which is another great class. I have that first class, and go back to review my notes again and again. I still find it valuable.

So, once we have that foundation on making bras, Beverly now takes us into the gorgeous world of lace bras. Oh, so much lace! And oh so pretty. I love lace. But as the name of the class implies, it’s not just lace. It’s Foam, and Lace, and more.

Here is some of what Beverly covers:

What lace to use

Lace on the upper cup

Full lace bras

Lace partial-band bras, and lace full-band bras

Lace and foam

Making Demi cups

Making Balconettes

Preformed foam cups

Cut & Sew foam cups

And there’s more. This class really covers a lot.

Here’s a screen shot from the class of a beautiful lace-covered full-band bra.
lace covered full band

Isn’t that lovely?

Here’s another sample from the class:

partial band

Isn’t this gorgeous? Just wow. Beverly not only makes everything look amazing, she really instills confidence that we can do this too.

Here’s one more example from the class:

foam

The bras Beverly makes and teaches in this class rival any Ready-to-Wear bra – anytime. Every time.

Both my Eastern partner, Rachelle, and I both made a bra to go along with what we were learning from the class. Rachelle used the Pin-Up Girls Classic pattern to make a Demi cup bra. I’m starting with the same pattern, but just wait until you see how different our makes are!

The bra I chose to make is from this class and Beverly’s first class (Construction & Fit): the Heather bra.

In Beverly’s first class, her model, Heather, was wearing a RTW bra that became a Craftsy hit! Everyone wanted to learn how to make this bra, and naturally attributed this beauty to Beverly.

Heather

Here’s another screen shot of Beverly measuring Heather wearing her lovely bra. I was going along with the crowd on this one – I loved that bra too.

In this class, Beverly takes us through the steps to make our own Heather bra.

Heather on Ashley smallerHere’s Beverly’s Heather bra. It’s gorgeous!

The first thing Beverly shows us is how to change the seams on our bra pattern. She takes about a minute and a half to show this, and she draws it all out and cuts it. It took me… longer than that… and a break for lunch, and two cups of tea to do mine.

IMG_0665Once the pattern was done, it was time to cut the bra out. I’m always amazed at how little fabric goes into a bra. This little pile is about to become something very pretty.

Here’s my Heather bra:

Front

A few of the alterations I made to my Heather to make her fit me are: I lower my bridge, so my bra has more of a plunge look to it. (All my bras do.) I also used a smaller cradle and wire (Omega shape), and shortened the underarm of the bra. Those are my personal fitting alterations.

The last change I made was to  use polka dot tulle and sheer cup lining under my lace. The Heather bra usually only uses sheer cup lining.

Here’s where it all starts. Remember, go see what Rachelle from That’s Sew Venice is making – we’re both starting with this pattern. The Classic Pattern or ‘Linda’.

il_570xN.435957751_6jhv

You can see by comparing the photo of my bra front to the pattern, the cross cup seams are different. Where the straps join is different as well. Beverly shows how to change both of these in the class. There are also some pattern pieces included in the Materials of the class, so you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.

Now for a few more features of my bra.

Front bow

On this close-up of the front you can see I made my bows out of the polka dot tulle. Just peeking out from behind that bow you can see a Gothic arch. Those are so comfortable.

Bow

Here’s another little bow. Both straps have bows covering the seams where the upper cup and strap are sewn together. Another change I made was to have the trim that’s along the upper cup go all the way up the strap.

The polka dot tulle continues up the straps as well. And around the bra band for a delicate polka dot look to the whole bra.

Band

I love polka dots.

This class was really something I’d wanted for a long time. Since I first saw the Heather bra, I knew I wanted to make one too. There is so much more in this class as well. Don’t forget to pop over to Rachelle’s post to see what she made using the Pin-Up Girls Classic pattern, and read her review.

Do you have a favorite bra from one of Beverly’s Bra-making classes on Craftsy? I’d love to hear which one it is.

I want to thank Craftsy for donating this class to me to review.

14339952_10210984887124239_819227118_o

Tour Schedule Itinerary

Follow the magical tour to see what we all have under our clothes

Canada Cups Logo Draft

Wednesday, September 14

Every day I’m posting the day’s links. Want to see the whole blog tour schedule? The complete schedule will be available at the end of the tour.

We have such a wonderful group of bloggers on this tour! They’ve all done an incredible job. Thank you.

bloggers

 Happy creating!

My Bosom Buddy

Welcome to Michelle’s Creations. Today, it’s not about me at all. Today is all about my Bosom buddy– everyone else was doing right/left bra cup analogies, but we’re making panties… the bra cups don’t fit here or there. I know…. she’s my booty buddy!

picmonkey-image-banner-2016

You’ll read all about our makes and reviews on Friday, but today? Here’s a fun peek at Deb.

14339192_10153706309875764_683850691_o

This is Deb’s favorite photo of herself. Her hubby took this photo of her just a few days ago.

Deb’s favorite bra is a red one!

debs-red-bra

Oh! The pinstripe and the little crystal heart with the bow. I can see why this is a favorite!

Her least favorite bra is “…one that makes my boobs look way too pointy…like Madonna’s cone bras.” Uh, that would be a least favorite of mine too!

8911880c6b88ec0f9bd2db1c41c1bf5a

It’s just not a look that’s in fashion anymore. And just so you all know, this is not Deb.

Deb’s favorite pattern? “Anything Burda. I love their fit and styles.”

“My favorite lingerie pattern? I have a lot of undies patterns (all Jalie) but don’t have a favorite lingerie pattern yet. I’m loving the style of Ohhh Lulu.”

full_706_83266_ohhlulu1315claracamisole_4

“Either the Clara Cami or Hannah Chemise.” Above, Clara; Hannah below.

il_570xn-793472152_tcyf

“My worst sewing mistake was in 2002. I used to make prom dresses. And this is the story of why I don’t make them anymore. I would make a muslin from the lining, then have the girl try on the lining and  sew up the real dress. Two days later she had her dress. Well this one girl did 5 fittings and never wore the same bra twice. It changed the shape of her bust so it never fit the same way. I finally got the dress done 2 days before prom. It was hanging in my living room and I noticed a funny pleat at the bust line. So I turn on my iron to fix the funny pleat in the fabric and I burnt the bodice. I had to start over!”

il_570xn-554139350_e2rx

“The garment I made that I was really proud of myself for making was a jean jacket with top stitching on all my seams. The inside was finished off with bias binding. I didn’t have a serger at that time. It was probably one of the first things I made for me. The pattern was Butterick 6376.”

This is a fun look into my ‘booty’ buddy. Thanks, Deb. You can see Deb’s peek at me here. I’ve had so much fun sharing our makes and working with you on the tour.

bloggers

Above are the rest of our bloggers. What an incredible job you’ve all done!

14339952_10210984887124239_819227118_o

Happy creating!

Canada Cups Posts for Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

picmonkey-image-banner-2016

Here are the tour posts for today. Don’t forget to enter the give-away!

Tuesday, September 13

A big thank you to all of our bloggers! You’ve done an incredible job.

bloggers

And I’m sure we’re all thankful for the sponsors! Thank you for making our tour so much better.

14339952_10210984887124239_819227118_o

Canada Cups Posts for Monday, September 12th

banner-improved

Just to save you a little time hunting and clicking to find the tour posts for the day, here they are. And don’t forget the give-away and discounts!

Monday, September 12

Happy creating!

Announcing The Canada Cups – Cross Your Heart Relay Blog Tour

Over the last week, I’ve posted a couple of teasers for our upcoming tour.

picmonkey-image-banner-2016Well, the wait is over. The tour starts today!

Welcome to the Canada Cups – Cross Your Heart Relay blog tour, 2016!

The tour begins with the incredible Fairy Bra Mother herself – Beverly Johnson. Pop over to the Fairy Bra Mother’s blog for a great kick-off post!

Fairy Bra Mother’s blog

Happy creating!

When Bloggers Meet-Up

There’s a blog tour coming.

picmonkey-image-banner-2016Isn’t that exciting? You’ll have to come back to see more, but there will be lots! You won’t have to wait long either. The tour starts tomorrow! That’s all I’m saying about it for now. Well, I will tell you one more thing. There are two teams – an Eastern team and a Western team. I’m a Western girl, so I’m on the Western team.

We’ve been planning, sewing, and putting everything in order, and we’ve been having a really good time. We even decided to do a Western Meet-Up.

We had :

Jessica of Gracious Threads

Karin of Mrs. Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables

Lisa of Glitter in My Coffee

Michele of Pink Lilli Bad Gramma

Michelle of Little Heart Threads

And of course me.

We had our meet-up all planned. In order for us to all get together, we met for lunch. Some of us have to work. After our lunch it was time for a shopping trip.

It really was great to have a meet-up, but not all of us could make it in person, so… We got creative.

Me and Lisa first to arrive (2)

Lisa and I were the first to arrive at the restaurant. Lisa lives a little too far west for her to join us, but we just couldn’t leave her out!

IMG_0629

Here we all are. We’re just waiting for our lunch to arrive. While we were waiting, we didn’t miss an opportunity to chat up our waiter and let him know we were all bloggers. It turns out he is a fan of blogs, but he only reads sports blogs, not sewing.

IMG_0633

We’d had our lunch, and had to say goodbye to one of our Michelles at this point. (There were three of us!) The rest of us hit Marshall Discount Fabrics store.

Lisa and some lovely lace I've seen before

Lisa found this gorgeous lace! (You know I love lace and there were other lace-lovers there that day too.) I kind of have my eye on that polka dot material behind her too. We really were determined not to leave Lisa out of our day.

It was really great having someone like Karin along. She has so much knowledge, and we were all asking questions.

We spent a little longer in Marshall’s than we planned. We were hoping to hit Deep Fabrics too – an East Indian fabric shop. We ran out of time. Hmm. I should still plan a little trip there.

Jessica Lisa and Michele

Just before we all headed back to our blogs, Jessica, Lisa and Michele took one more photo. (I know this is not the best photo, but their smiles are all so great. I had to include it.)

It was short, but it was sweet to meet-up.

Happy creating!

Unfortunately, Michele of Pink Lilli Bad Gramma wasn’t able to continue as part of our tour. We had a wonderful time meeting with her though. Thanks for joining us while you could, Michele.

Canada Day Blog Hop – Jalie Sewing Patterns

Tomorrow is Canada Day. Happy birthday, Canada!

For my stop on the Canada Day Blog Hop, I’ve used a pattern from a Canadian pattern company that’s new for me. Although I’ve heard of Jalie Patterns, I had yet to try any of their patterns. Thank you, Jalie, for providing me with your 2568 Camisole & Panties pattern for our blog hop.

jalie-logo

First, I’d want to say, I had a little difficulty finding the sizing for Jalie’s patterns on their website. It’s not prominent, but it can be found. You know all those sayings about reading the instructions first? Well, the sizing information was with the instructions. I could have made things easier for myself if I had started with them. So if you try Jalie’s patterns, don’t search all over their website for sizing – it’s with your pattern.

For anyone who’s wondering, I found Jalie’s sizing spot on. First, I found my size on their sizing charts and marked my multi-sized pattern, then I pulled out my knit sloper to compare. It was so very close, it might as well have been an exact match – my bust and hips on my sloper hit exactly where the sizing charts put me. That’s good! However, I was wondering about the neckline and if it would be too big. I wasn’t sure, so I decided to follow the sizing guidelines. My reason for wondering is I’m a S, M, and XL all wrapped into one. Jalie doesn’t use the sizing S, M, L… Their sizes run from an F to a FF (looking at the Panties). So it’s a completely different way of sizing. Everything is explained clearly, so just follow what they’re saying and you’ll get a great fit.

Jalie’s patterns are multi-sized patterns – 27 sizes in all. Before you faint when looking at all those sizes, take into consideration there are Children, Women’s and Plus sizes all on one PDF pattern. Being multi-sized with so many sizes, there are at times some dizzying lines to follow to cut out your own size, but it’s all doable.

Jalie pattern piece

You can see from this piece of the pattern there are a lot of lines coming together at that one point. I’m used to Adult multi-sized patterns with only four or five lines.

So, how did that neckline fit? It is loose. However, I made this camisole into a nightie, so I’m not minding that it’s looser in the neckline. For a camisole, I would make a smaller size for the neckline and adjust for the bust.

wider lace at neckline

Above you can see the neckline in the pre-sewing stages. I first looked a thinner lace (below), but decided on this one, which is the same lace I used for the hemline.

Lace for neckline

This thinner lace has no oomph at all. The thinner lace was used for the armholes and leg openings.

Here’s my lovely summer nightie:

Nightie 2

To make this I simply added six inches to the bottom of the camisole pattern. It was very easy.  As I mentioned, I added some lovely lace to dress up the hem a bit more too.

Now onto the panties. I chose the low-cut Hipster panties from the pattern. The pattern comes with four different styles of panties to make and match the camisole. There are low-cut Hipsters, high-cut Hipsters, Bikinis, and an all-lace Hipster option.

Hipsters

These panties are super cute. Overall, this is a very sweet camisole/panty set.

Set

In celebration of our blog hop, and Canada Day, and everything Canadian, all of Beverly Johnson’s classes on Craftsy are 50% off! Yes, just follow this link and you can get any of Beverly’s bra-making classes, or her swimwear class – but only until July 3rd. ‘Only in Canada, you say?’ Well, we’re not talking Red Rose Tea here. These Craftsy savings are for anyone! (Sorry if you missed our discount. I’m sure there will be more savings in the future.)

And speaking of the Fairy Bra Mother, if you missed it, pop over to Seam of my Pants to read Marsha’s interview with her here. It’s a great interview! (Why didn’t I think of interviewing the Fairy Bra Mother!!!)

As well, don’t forget all the deals I mentioned when our blog hop started. You can find all the savings being offered on Happy Okapi here.

Happy creating!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop Schedule

Be sure to visit each of these brilliant blogs this week for more on our
outstanding Canadian designers and suppliers:

And, of course, to enter our giveaway for some sweet-like-maple-syrup prizes.

June 24: The Tour Starts HERE at Happy Okapi

June 25: Celine guest posts on Happy Okapi; Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

June 26: Fiona @ Tangled Blossoms Designs; Carla @ Half Dozen Daily

June 27: Sherry @ Thread Riding Hood; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 28: Nicky guest posts on Seam of my Pants

June 29: Daniela @ On the Cutting Floor; Reece @ Happy Okapi

June 30: Michelle @ Michelle’s Creations

Canada Day–June 31*: Ula @ Lulu & Celeste

July 2: Marsha @ Seam of my Pants

July 3: Keshia @ Sand Dollar Design Studio

July 4: Wrap Up @ Happy Okapi

July 6: Giveaway winners announced

* Yes, we know!