Inspiration

My BMS Chart

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

The idea for this week’s post comes from a reader and friend. I sent a chart I’d made to my friend, Naomi, and she said what a great idea it would be for a post. Okay. Here it is.

I really like things to match, and match well. I don’t think I’m excessive. When I think excessive, I remember a high school science teacher who wore everything in the same color – top, skirt or pants, pantyhose, shoes, purse. If she came to school wearing green, everything was green! I have distinct memories of a lot of green! I’m not that bad, but coordinating bra and panty sets is something I want to do.

A lot of my bra-making stash comes from Bra-Makers Supply. I like the quality and choice of materials, I’m in Canada, so it’s one of the best options for shipping for me, and Beverly Johnson is such a wonderful help. On the BMS web site, you can see the colors of their Duoplex, Power Nets, Finding Kits, and Cotton Spandex Double-knit – these are the ones I look at because these are the ones I want to co-ordinate. I’ve spent a lot of time going back and forth on their web site looking to see what colors are available in all of these categories.

They also offer sample packs of all of these materials so you can see and feel what you’re getting. I have a mini stash with a sample pack of each of these. When I got these with my order a while back, I was most excited about them when I opened the box! I couldn’t wait to see all the colors available.

Sample packs

However, even having those samples, I found myself flipping back and forth through them, checking and re-checking to see what was there and what matched with something from another pack.

So, in my desire to match materials for bra and panty sets, I put together a chart. It’s up on the wall beside my sewing desk for easy reference.

chart

Here’s my BMS Chart. It shows the colors of the Duoplex, the Power Nets, (both Regular and Double Knit), the Cotton Spandex Double-knit, and the Finding Kits. It’s even color-coded for ease. *Note: BMS has added more Finding kits since this chart was made.)

When I want to make a completely matching set – you know, be all matchy matchy – I look at the Pink highlighted rows. Those rows show where each of the categories has the same color. If you look at the red, it has Duoplex, Power Net (both), Cotton Spandex, and Finding Kits all in red.

The blue highlighted rows aren’t complete – it’s missing one of those matching components, but still pretty complete. The Ivory, Peach, Fuchsia, Turquoise and Navy Blue don’t have Cotton Spandex in those exact colors. However, I just ordered some Banana in the cotton which is close in color to the Ivory, and some Indigo which is close to Navy. By using the same lace on both the bra and panty, it will bring the set together well.

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Here’s an Ivory Trio from BMS on top of the Banana Cotton Spandex. The Banana is a bit deeper in color, but close enough that I’m happy with it.

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Here’s the Duoplex in Ivory and the Banana Cotton with an Ivory and Peach lace. I think this looks fabulous!

The Purple on the chart is the only one that has all matching categories except the Finding Kit. I think that would still be wonderful as a set with either a Black or Lilac Finding Kit to complete it. And of course, again, the lace can pull things together. If I used black lace with the black findings and purple for the rest of the bra and panties, it would be lovely. Or Lilac…

I used my chart to help me decide what findings to use with other lace finds I come across. If I find a lovely lace I just can pass on, now I can take a quick look at my chart to see what options are available for pairing that lace with the rest of the components I’ll need to make a bra and panty set. In fact, I have a bra kit I ordered from Merckwaerdigh‘s Etsy store. However, I need firmer support than Lycra can offer, and large findings, so I supplement the kit I bought. I checked and a few options that would go well with it were Ivory or Navy. You’ll be seeing a lovely set with Navy in the future.

Merck and ivory

Merck and navy

I hope my coordinating chart makes it up on some new walls and helps others to be all matchy matchy too.

Happy creating!

When I Can’t Sew, I Plan

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I’m still coughing, but not nearly as much. So I’m starting to think about sewing again. I think panties sound like a perfect just-starting-to-feel-better project. An order with some lovely cotton spandex just arrived from Bra-Makers Supply. Perfect.

While I’m not sure if I’m feeling up to sewing anything more complicated than a pair of panties, I’m planning some future projects.

A few months back I bought some lovely material. It was on sale, not at all what I was looking for when I was in the fabric store, but there was no way I was going to pass it up. It was with all the other denims, but I’m not sure that it is denim. It’s Cotton with a bit of stretch, and has a bit of a waffle texture to it.

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I love it. It’s a nice medium weight and will make a lovely spring jacket. So, now to decide on a pattern.

There are a couple so sewing boards I follow, and on one a really nice jacket from Grainline Studio came up.

MORRISillustrations

This image is taken from Grainline’s web site. I love the lines of this, but something about those lines looked familiar to me.

I’d recently bought The Magic Pattern Book by Amy Barickman and it reminded me of one of the pattern in there. Here’s a photo from the book of The Dorothy Jacket.

Untitled

I know the collars aren’t identical, but there’s a similarity there. Seeing as I already have a similar pattern, I decided not to buy the Morris Blazer pattern.

I also decided not to use The Dorothy Jacket. I have a confession. I’ve come to realize I don’t love PDF patterns. Well, I do love that I can have instant access to a pattern. That part is great! I don’t love all the work that goes into making a garment before I even start to make the garment. I don’t love taping it all together – and it’s bulky to store afterwards. I don’t love that the pattern lines don’t always match up when you match the symbols there to match. Sigh.

So, again, with all that taping ahead of me, The Dorothy, and most of the other patterns in The Magic Pattern Book will just be for inspiration at this point.

What was I going to use to make a jacket? Back to my pattern stash. I had a pattern from McCall’s that I’d bought when ClubBMV had a sale. McCall’s 6516.

M6516

I’m leaning towards view D right now. Again, it has some similar lines to the other two patterns. A draped front with relaxed lines. Let’s hope this week sees me cough free and feeling myself again.

Happy creating!

The Flexible Wire Experiment

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I did a little bra-wearing experiment. I still wasn’t 100% happy with my fit. Do you get the idea I’m looking for perfection? I am!

At the end of the day, I could see when I undressed, the wires I was using weren’t fitting me perfectly. I also knew from experience that a size smaller felt like it pinched a bit. So, if the size I’m wearing is too big, and one size smaller is too small, where did that leave me?

I’d read something recently about the flexible wires available at Bravo Bella, Needle Nook Fabrics, and Sew Sassy. I decided to give them a try and see if they’d solve my wire problem. I ordered three sizes from Needle Nook Fabrics – 36, 38, and 40. Anne St. Clair was so very helpful. I must say, women like Anne and Beverly Johnson are a tremendous help to us non-professional bra-makers. Thank you!

I could tell with just a glance that the 40 wires were the same size I’d been using, so I ruled them out, initially. The 36s felt perfect but were too short for me to use. That left the 38s. I popped out the Vertical wires I’d been using from my most recent Black Butterfly bra and wore the flexible wires for a day. (Here’s a confession: I didn’t even sew the seams up!)

Here are the two 38 wires  – one regular and one flexible:

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And this second photo shows just how much these flexible wires can flex:

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That’s tremendous. There’s no way a regular wire is going to move like that! As well, the flexible wires don’t splay outward anymore than the regular wires I’d been using did – I checked. They flex inward.

Just before I popped those new wires in, I pressed them together to make the curve a little narrower. On the Bravo Bella web site, Monica Bravo has a couple of videos about the wires, and on one she explains how they can be shaped. That sounded perfect to me.

At the end of the experimental day, I could see these wires were a much better fit for me. Yay! I now have a nice little stash of flexible wires on their way to me.

Now to adjust my pattern to help with the wire fit. I’ve learned though, change one part of the bra pattern, and it means changing something else. Now I decided to look at the cradle those wires are fitting into. What I’ve been using is drawn from a 38 wire cradle that I lengthened to fit the 40 Vertical wire. I wanted to change that. Clearly, the channel that fit a 38 wire was too big.

In this photo, you can see the bridge and then the 36 and 38 cradle lines. There’s not a lot of difference between the cradle sizes, but I think one size will be just enough to make things a little more comfortable and fit better. The main problem with a cradle that’s too big is the weight of the breasts will push the bra frame down and you won’t get the support you need. The cradle really needs to fit.

I traced the 30E on this pattern (the smallest cradle size on it). I’d been using the 32E cradle for my last few bras. I’d even tried the 34E cradle, which would normally take  a 40 wire, so I would have fewer cup alterations, but I found it really didn’t help with my fitting issues – just my alteration ones.

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So, out came my pencil, eraser, and medical exam table paper. I traced of the 30E cradle and then laid my custom pattern pieces over that to add those aspects to the pattern – the narrower and lower bridge, adjusting for a flat spot, thinning out the elastic under the bust, and raising up the side 1/4″.

At this point all the alterations were good to go. In fact, you’ve seen them! I used them all on my last bra – the Sewyfied Shelley. That bra is my best-fitting bra! There are only a couple of cosmetic changes I want to make at this point. What a great feeling that is!

Happy creating!

Size Chart Woes

~ Michelle

I had two experiences this week that I want to share with you. Both were basically the same thing – and both dealt with size charts. I have a question to ask you: Do size charts actually work?

My first experience was when I ordered the Rhonda Shear 3-Pack Pin Up Lace Leisure Bra. I heard on the video how Rhonda said to ‘order your top size.’ Well, great, but when I’d looked at the size chart that didn’t make sense. There was no way my top size, usually a Medium, was going to work, or at least that was what I was thinking. My bust and their size chart put me in the XL range. I was too hesitant to order my top size, so followed their size chart.

Rhonda-Shear-Size-Chart-REVISED-1

Here’s their size chart. The photo is from The Shopping Chanel.

The bras arrived yesterday, and they’re lovely leisure bras. And they’re too big. Not a lot too big. The Medium would not have been a better fit. I think, judging by how the bras fit me, the Large would be my best fit. However, they are for leisure, so a little loose will be okay. I’ll know for next time.

Here’s one of the bras on Catherine.

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For on Catherine, I’ve added foam cups, so the bra is filled out the same as when I wear it. It’s really lovely and very comfortable. I was thinking when I bought the bras that I just might be interested in cloning them at some point.

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Here’s the back. It’s super smooth on, and again, very comfortable.

My other experience this week with size charts was with Style Arc. Style Arc’s Ann T-Top on Etsy. Again, I looked at the size charts and saw where I fell by my measurements. And I ordered that size for the top.

Nope. Again. Too big.

Style Arc chart

Here’s a screen shot from the Style Arc Web site showing the size chart.

This time the size was off, not just by one size, but by two. This time the charts put me in a 16, but when I printed it off and laid my sloper over it, it was way too big. So I contacted them and ‘exchanged’ the pattern I’d bought for a smaller size. I made up the 12, and it looked close when I laid my sloper over it.

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Here’s my Ann T-Top. This top has some elasticized gathering at the waist. I think that little detail is very attractive.

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Here it is from the side. I have the same Rhonda Shear bra under the top to give it a more realistic fit.

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And from the back.

Here’s me, (finally getting a photo) in both my denim Flirt Skirt, and my Ann T-Top.

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And a tired me (it’s almost midnight), in my Ann T-top. It’s too big.

The highlight of my week was ‘a little lingerie surprise parcel’ that came in the mail for me. Thank you, Ginny! What a treat!

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After watching Beverly’s newest bra class on Craftsy, I have lots of ideas for how to use this lovely lingerie fabric!

Happy creating!

Sewy Rebecca Revisited

~ Michelle

This week I’m looking at my Sewy Rebecca pattern again. I do really like the pattern, so wanted to revisit it. However, the hard part was I felt like I was starting all over again with fitting. I’m not, but I’ve had too many ‘doesn’t quite fit properly’ experiences to not be a bit gun shy.

So, the first thing I did was compare the muslin I’d made a few months back to my correctly fitting Shelley bra. I pinned the muslin over top of the bra on Catherine.

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You can see here, the size I’d traced off and sewn up was too big. I wasn’t sure of my size, so actually graded up one size from the largest to make sure I was getting the proper depth of cup. I’m glad I did. I could see I really would be fine with one size down. Also, I traced around the muslin in pencil to show where the seam lines are underneath.

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You can see the lines here at the underarm, and in the first picture at the top and bridge. I also traced the bottom of the cup where the seam is for the cradle. That gave me a clear indication of sizing.

Once I was finished I took the muslin apart and trimmed off the seam allowance. Then I laid those pieces over the pattern pieces to compare those. Again, I was pretty sure I had the correct size. And one last comparison – I measured the wire line length and the cross-cup seam length and they both match up too. I was ready.

For the band, I laid my Shelley band over the Rebecca pattern to find the size. I really did use my whole pattern as a sloper to make the new pattern fit.

I adapted the Rebecca bridge to the right height for me, and added in the correction to the pattern for the flat spot I have. I also made the cradle smaller to fit the smaller wire I use. So the last change I need to make was to adjust the larger cup to fit into the smaller band.

Before I cut into my good material though, I sewed up another muslin.

sewy on fav

There. Almost all the wrinkles are gone. There are wrinkles on the dress form’s bra though, so this is looking perfect. Now to pick out some material.

I’ve bought some lovely material over the last couple of years that I’ve been saving for that day when I had my fit down. It was time to break some of it out!

I picked a gorgeous Black Cherry kit I’d bought from Bra-Makers Supply. I loved this kit and was really looking forward to using it. I’m not disappointed.

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One of the first things to happen was a set back. I went to press my seams and one little touch of the iron scorched my material. I don’t know how my setting dial on my iron was turned to the hottest setting, but I adjusted it and got out my seam ripper. I had some lace on that band and I still wanted to use it.

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Next I want to show you what the Omega shape means – in practical terms, it means the cup is bigger than the cradle. Do you see those edges do not meet? As this was still a bit of a test run – even though I took a lot of preliminary steps – I didn’t do any alterations to the cup pattern. I will take in the wire line of the cup’s pattern on the next one I do. On this bra I did a gathering stitch along the bottom to ease those two parts together.

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You can see here the gathers inside the cradle. But with some serious steam after the cup was sewn into the band, you can’t see the gathers at all.

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And here’s my Sewy Rebecca. I love this color. I love so many things about this pattern. It looks as neat (almost) on the inside as it does on the outside. I really love that. As I was sewing, that was what excited me the most.

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Here’s the cup before it was sewn into the cradle. All the seams are enclosed. The cross cup seam is enclosed between the lace and the lining. The power bar seam is enclosed between the duoplex and the lining. It looks so very neat inside. I’m quite excited about that.

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Here’s the bra from the side. That little piece of lace was unpicked from the scorched section I showed you earlier. I’m really pleased I took the time to do that. I’m loving that little detail. As well, the steam really did make those gathers disappear. You can’t see them.

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And here’s the back. The findings kit isn’t available in Black Cherry, so I used black. The cotton isn’t available in the Black Cherry either, so next week black cotton and lace panties to match.

Happy creating!

A New Family Member

~ Michelle

We just celebrated Valentine’s Day, and today is Family Day in Canada. So, it’s a perfect day to show you all our newest family member.

Gibson face

This is our new dog, Tiberius; Tibbers for short. Tiberius is a rescue dog. He was found wandering the streets of California and was taken to a rescue shelter there for a month. After that he made the trip up to Canada and another shelter for a few more weeks. Now he’s with us. This photo was taken while he was still in California – you can tell by the lack of snow!

What a wonderful Valentine’s day gift to our family. He came over on Saturday, so our Valentine’s celebration was all about getting to know him and him getting to know us.

Gibson

Without seeing his parents, there’s no sure way to tell exactly what breed mix he is, but the pet adoption agency thinks he’s Dachshund/Manchester Terrier mix.

We found a great adoption agency in the city near us. Calican Rescue Foundation. They specialize in adoption of small dogs, which are a lot rarer here. Everywhere else we looked were only large dogs. We just don’t have the room for a large dog. Calican bring them up from California, which has a lot of smaller dogs available. We loved what they were doing.

Something else that really impressed us with this organization was how they don’t even place the dog with you unless they think it will be a good fit. The first part of the process is a phone interview. After that, there’s a one week trial in the home. So our Tiberius has a week to get used to us and us him. I can’t see any troubles though; he is a really sweet dog.

A big inspiration for me came from Novita over at Very Purple Person. Novita blogs about caring for foster dogs, and has had a few go through her home in the few years I’ve been following her blog. That sounded wonderful to me. I thought I’d suggest it to my family. Well, there was no way my family wanted to care for a dog and then let it go. NO way! That conversation did open the door to some talks about adopting though.

He has quite the personality too. He’s very well-behaved and learning commands quickly. He loves to cuddle, and is a bit mischievous. I came home to find only one slipper at the front door when I’d left two there. He’s made off with one of my son’s socks, and pulled a stuffed toy off the shelf. After that, we bought him his own stuffed toy and he’s content to leave the other one alone.

We’re having a wonderful Family Day with our newest family member.

Michelle