This is another short and sweet post.
I like to make a second pair of panties for every bra I make. And I didn’t have time to make a second pair to go with my Blushing Bridal submission for the June Bra-Makers Supply Challenge – at least not in time for the deadline at the end of June.
But there was nothing to stop me from making a second pair after the deadline. So, I did.
Here’s my second pair.
For this pair, I’ve used lace across the front of the panty, and cotton Lycra and lace trim for the rest of the panty.
I also moved the side seam further to the front on this panty.
I moved this seam only because I wanted it a little further forward. I could move it forward still, but really, I’m just playing with the seam at this point.
The side looks pretty much the same as the previous pair of panties and so does the back. The front is the only difference between the two – with the lace detail.
Here’s my full Blushing Bridal Part II set:
Happy creating!
There was a Fitting binder, and a bra and finding kit in my bag (not shown). As well as the great canvas tote. For students who hadn’t taken the Drafting course, they got a few more goodies like sample packs of Duoplex and Power Net, as well as a set of Pin-Up Girls patterns. I had all those already.
On Day Two we were starting to learn what changes to make for different alterations – all using those little tiny bra pattern pieces. It was really great to have these, and to have them to keep as a reference.
You can see here in this example, it wasn’t a complicated adjustment – just lengthening the band. Having the samples makes it much neater to look and see any of the adjustments – much better than me freehand drawing these examples.
Overall, I have to say it was a great class, and gave us all some fabulous tools to take and use going forward.
Yes. This was my favorite Challenge make.
How could I not want to sew something with a little silver and tan pup like mine? There are so many panels coming, but not until Spring. We all will have to wait for a little bit for this adorableness.
It was a pleasant surprise to find I knew the other students. We’d all taken either the Beginner Bra-making class or Shelley class at Central last year. And of course, we’d all taken those classes with Jeanette of Sew Uplifting Bras too. It was like a class reunion.
This is the manual we were given. It has the complete Drafting course in it, as well as a bunch of other great resources.
We also got a full set of Long wires, and a complete set of Classic patterns (all the sizes). There were sample packs of duoplex and power net, a notebook, a binder (shown above), a set of curves, and a bra kit with findings. All in a great bag. I’m pretty sure that was the best swag bag ever.
By the end of the first day, we’d all been measured and learned how to measure someone else by measuring one another – all under Jeanette’s instruction. We were almost ready for Day Two, but before that, we had homework to do.
Day Three built upon Day Two. We were starting our lower cup draft. Well, we needed our frame to be done correctly at this point, and the one I had with me in the class still wasn’t corrected. Things weren’t fitting together. Again, Jeanette pointed out what I’d done wrong on my frame. I was back to the drawing board. Literally. I’d had a little more practice drawing frames by Day Three after Day Two’s homework, so it went much more quickly. I was on track in no time. We finished the day with a draft of our lower cup, our upper cup, and lots of information on how to do adjustments if needed.
Something I’ve heard and read repeatedly is: To get accurate measurements you have to start with a well-fitting bra. It’s so true. Jeanette brought fitting bras with her, so we all started with a well-fitting bra to get our measurements. And it works!
On my drafted bra here, I added a couple of features just because I could. I gave this bra a Gothic arch, and a thinned band under the cups. This draft is for a Horizontal seam. This seaming is the basis for the ‘Heather’ bra. The Heather bra is actually a Wacoal bra. It’s the Retro Chic Full Figure Underwire Bra.
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.
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.
For this Poppy, I made a smaller band and larger cup size than the first two. This one fits me perfectly.
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.
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!
Here’s my drafted cradle and the tester frame. This was pretty good.
This one is good too. And it will be much easier to use with the added material in the cradle.
That’s quite a difference the wire makes.
Everything is exactly where it is supposed to be. The bridge is right up where it needs to be, not pushed down, not coming away from the chest wall. The wires are just right too.
How is it fitting? In all honesty, this probably would have been fine if I’d made it into a bra. It fit better than any RTW bra I’ve had. But I figured why not go for the brass ring. Seeing as this was still only a tester, I still made a couple of changes to my pattern.
Another adjustment was deciding if I wanted to lower the upper cups to meet the bridge, or raise the bridge a bit. I pulled out the custom bridge I’d drafted a few years ago, and decided to incorporate that into the frame. That means the cups won’t need to be lowered any more than they are now. The bridge will come up 1/4-inch to meet them. I’ll have to overlap my wires, but I’ve done that before.
Once again, I’m going for that perfectly matched cradle and cup at the side seam, and once the upper band elastic is added to the underarm of the cup, I’m going to have it! 
Yes, I’m happy with how this is all coming together.
I wanted to change the cups on this to make them a little rounder. I also wasn’t completely happy with my power bar. Something seemed a little bit off where the strap tab and the underarm were meeting. I also changed the band to a downward hike, but it needed work too. More on that later in the post.
There’s really very little difference between these two, but I decided to use the white. Seeing as my lace is a little bit darker than the ivory duoplex I’m using, I thought the white behind it brightened it up a bit.
I even enjoyed taking my time with all the top-stitching. I was only finished the cups in the above photo, but they were so pretty I had to take a photo.
Here’s my favorite part of them – the side view.
Here they are from the back. It’s so pretty how the lace wraps around to the back.
The pattern is adorable. But, sadly, I’m not as in love with my version as I’d hoped.
The first one illustration looks quite minimal. The second one looks pretty balanced. The third one just has too much going on. What I like about these is they show me I can add the lace trim to the waist and leg openings and still maintain the design I’m wanting.
This is an ivory bra with a lace upper cup. It looks lovely, but the cup is a little bit too small.
I used gold-toned rings and sliders. I thought they’d look really pretty with the ivory, and they do!
I love this polka dot material.
