The Loveliest Margareta

May 18, 2024May 17, 2024 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Do you ever save a piece of lace? It’s just so pretty, you save it for that perfect project?

Well, I’ve had this lace for a few years now. It’s just so pretty. But it was time to sew it up, and I have to say it’s made the prettiest Margareta. This lace has a story too. I think it started with Karin (Braphoria), then Maria who bought the company next. Then MargieB bought it. However, once I saw it, I knew I had to have it.

Still, I think it’s lovely for a well-traveled lace. Oh, those shades of blue are lovely. The shading detail in the sheer mesh behind the embroidery.

I really do love lace. And I think I really love this bra! It’s so pretty!

I think I need some navy cotton Lycra now for some matchy-matchy. I’ve made a few adjustments to this pattern, and I think this just might be it, but looking at it in photos, I might need to re-look at how the sides are fitting.

I was also thinking of trying Prima Donna’s downward hike on a bra again.

I think I’ll go check my stash to see if I have any navy CL.

Happy creating!

Perfect Pistachio

December 2, 2023September 28, 2023 ~ Michelle

A while back I bought a lovely Black Beauty (Emerald Erin’s) bra kit. I saw it and loved it. What can I say?

So the very pretty kit was sitting patiently on a shelf in my sewing room waiting for just the right sew-jo to inspire me.

Then B,Wear brought out Pistachio finding kits! Oh my!

Findingskit -Pistachio green - 3 I knew right away they’d match perfectly with that kit. The green is the perfect pop of color.

Here’s my lovely Pistachio Bra. I chose to only use the Pistachio on the upper part of the bra. My frame is sheer cup lining and power net, so I wanted to keep it looking black. If I’d been using duoplex or nylplex the pistachio wouldn’t have shown through, but it really did show through the sheer cup lining.

What I wanted though was just a little peek of color with the upper band elastic, and then the straps with that pop of color. And I think I got it. This bra has such lovely rich fall colors. I’m very happy with my new make, and I’m still loving the Freja pattern.

I was asked last week if the frame I’m using for my pattern is the one that comes with the pattern. No. Most definitely not. My frame is highly adjusted for my Omega shape. I’ve narrowed the upper bridge, widened the lower bridge, used a smaller cradle size – so it’s definitely not the same frame as comes with the pattern.

Lastly, here’s the back of the bra. I really love this Pistachio color! I was looking through my lace to see what else I had that would go well with it.

Do you remember this bra I made? I still have some of this lace. I think this will match perfectly with the pistachio color too. But not with the burn orange this time. Basic black always works.

Happy creating!

Loungewear Cami

October 22, 2022October 19, 2022 ~ Michelle

I recently received the most gorgeous Black Leopard stretch lace and knew right away I wanted to use it to make a new camisole. This lovely lace is from B,Wear (as you can see in this photo from their website). In the descriptions, it says it comes straight from France. Ooh la la!

As I said I knew I wanted to make a camisole with this, but the question was which pattern?

I looked at a few, and I didn’t want a lace border. It’s already lace. I looked at a lot of patterns, both patterns that I have, and sewing patterns available on the web.

I actually have a favorite RTW camisole, and wanted to find something similar. My favorite has bust darts, and a more rounded neckline. After looking for a bit, I decided the Style Arc Loungewear Cami was the closest to what I wanted.

One thing I changed is I made the neckline a touch rounder, but only on the front.

The pattern has a facing on the front and back, so if you follow the pattern, the top and back neckline seams are enclosed. I didn’t want to use the facing as I didn’t want anything to detract from this gorgeous lace pattern.

I finished the edges with some black fold-over elastic. If I were doing this again, I would use the FOE on the front the back necklines, sew the side seams, and then do a continuous strip of FOE along the underarm.

I love this lace!

On the back, I left the pattern in more of a V-neckline.

This is so very pretty. It’s a lovely soft lace with some stretch in one direction. I have just a bit left over, but I’m thinking it will be enough for some bra cups.

Happy creating!

Lace Ideas

August 7, 2021August 6, 2021 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I recently saw the most lovely creative use for scraps of lace. It was on one of the forums on Facebook.

An artist, Hot Cross Floss, is using bits of lace and incorporating it in her embroidery. Her artwork is gorgeous. She was asking in one of the groups for scraps of lace. I have some of those! I’m going to send her my scraps.Isn’t this lovely?

She also shared this one.Her work is really lovely. You can see more on her IG page.

I know this next part seems totally unrelated to the above work, but stick with me.

This past week I was looking for a collage quilt from Laura Heine. She’d done a European village scene. When I did find it, I realized it was Spanish Row Houses, and it was only available for a retreat.Despite this not being available now, it got me looking at her patterns. I found this one on Etsy. This is Pretty In Pink. I’m in love with this. I am going to do this! I love the leopard print band on the bra, and the floral power bars. Oh, there is so much I love about this.

Then I started to think what a great way to use some lace scraps. I could incorporate those into the pattern. I think it would still look great done in quilting cotton, but perhaps a lace power bar, or lace straps. I could take my favorite bra pattern and incorporate the design into the collage – give it different seams, or a lace upper cup.

What fun ideas have you thought to use bits of lace? I’d love to hear.

Happy creating!

Angie’s Twin Two

July 11, 2020July 10, 2020 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I made another Angie’s Twin. And I also broke into one of my very pretty bra kits.Oh, I like this. I also like the Angie’s Twin pattern. Other than a few adjustments for an Omega shape – smaller wires & frame, and a larger cup – I didn’t have to change anything on this pattern.

I have to say, I love this lace! There was very little left over. Not enough to do any other projects. This is so pretty, I’d love to have some more. Sadly, I only bought one kit, and I haven’t seen anymore in B,Wear‘s store.

The original kit came with sheer cup lining, white elastics, and the lace. And I’m sure it would have been lovely, but I wanted to play with all the colors in the lace.

I had a little bit of pink duoplex and power net left over from another bra. It was just enough for the straps and frame. As well, to continue pulling colors out of the lace, I went with some red elastics rather than the white. I love it.

Here’s the side view. There was just a tiny bit of lace left over to add to the sides. Just to add a bit more detail.

And the back. All that red really pops here.

Lastly, a closer look at the side and front. Oh, such pretty lace!I tried a couple of different bows on the front to see what color I liked the best. I decided, even though the pink blends in, it was the only one that didn’t seem to pull the attention away from the lace. I love it too.

I already have my next bra kit out and ready to sew another bra. And I’m testing a few more patterns, so will have more fun things to show you soon.

Happy creating!

Dyeing Findings

September 28, 2019September 27, 2019 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I ventured into dyeing some findings again. The first time, and the last time I did this was for my January challenge entry. I needed lavender, and only had purple dye on hand. A few seconds in the bath, and my elastics were already a little darker than I wanted. But they all still worked, probably because the lace had lighter and darker elements and brought it all together.

You can see in the above photo how the elastics are just a bit darker than the power net.

I decided it was time to dip some findings into a dye bath again. This time, it’s not for a challenge entry though. This time it’s to match some of the gorgeous lace my husband brought me from Amsterdam last year.This is a lovely coral and silver lace, with coral sheer cup lining, coral stretch mesh, and some coral findings. As well, it has small silver strap elastic, and silver upper cup elastic.

Here are my newly dyed findings. I’m so pleased with how well they turned out.Does anyone else feel a little geeky about how excited they get over lace, or findings? I hope I’m not alone, because I really did get excited about these.

I did think about using BMS’s platinum findings to match this – because I prefer the larger findings and elastics. But…I also prefer softer elastics. The BMS platinum elastics are the firm ones. So instead I bought some soft white elastics, and white findings, and dyed them. (I have heard a rumor that the BMS elastics are being changed to something right in the middle of soft and firm. I hope that rumor is true!)

Here’s another white kit ready for my next dyeing experiment, along with my new silver grey findings. Didn’t they take color beautifully? I really am seeing why so many others have started to dye their findings or lace to make the exact colors they want.

Everything took color so well too, except for one little thing.Look at that glaringly white bow. It didn’t take any color at all. It must not be polyester like the other findings. It’s a good thing the kit from Kantje Boord came with three little silver grey bows.

Here’s my lace with my newly dyed findings.Perfection!

I have to say, this dyeing experience was even more fun that the last one. The last one I didn’t have the exact color of dye I wanted, so it didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted. This time, I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Happy creating!

Panache Inspired

August 25, 2018August 24, 2018 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Inspiration

Recently I read an article by Who What Wear saying Boyshorts are going out of style. That won’t be terrible for me. Boyshorts aren’t the most flattering on me. I think they’re adorable, but they just don’t suit a curvy shape as well as they suit a less curvy shape. That’s probably why they’re called boyshorts.

The article showed a few up-coming styles and there was one I really liked.

The Panache Lingerie Quinn High Waist Brief: Oh! These are lovely.

I started looking for patterns that had similarities. Here’s what I found.

First, Daydream Patterns Nora Knickers.

This pattern has lace attached at the leg. It’s great because it attaches the lace the same way for the back. The front is different, but could probably easily be adapted to be the same as the Panache panties.

Another pattern I thought of is the Ohhh Lulu’s Betty High Waist Panties. It’s quite a similar shape, and I’ve always adored the look of these panties..

Here are the three panties together.The Panache is in-between these two patterns, but is a bit closer in shape to the Betty. If you haven’t taken Beverly Johnson’s panty class on Craftsy and aren’t comfortable drafting your own pattern, either of these patterns would get you close.

My Master Pattern

I have taken Beverly’s class, so decided I would make my own Panache-inspired panty. I pulled out the master pattern I made using the Craftsy class Sewing Panties: Construction & Fit. I usually make Hipsters with my pattern, even though on my dress form they look like briefs.Although these come up to the form’s waist, they’re hipsters on me.

Pattern Adjustments

The first thing I did was add back the 2-inches I’d removed from the pattern’s waist height when I made them into Hipsters. The pattern is again a brief. Loving hipsters as I do, I decided to go with a brief rather than a high-waisted panty. We’ll see how much I love briefs before I try high-waisted.

Next, I added a seam to the front/side. I’m keeping the side seam too, but going to move it back to the side. My ‘side’ seam is moved forward so it doesn’t show. The purple line shows where the side seam would normally sit.

You can see in the photo above how the seam is moved to the front of the panty and not sitting right at the side.

The Panache panty has a back seam as well, but I’m not adding that. The only time I add a back seam is if I’m short on material. Otherwise, I prefer no seam for the back.

Next, I decided how much lace I wanted, and then added the lace detail to the pattern.

Here’s my pattern ready to get cut out. Lastly, I added seam allowances to those new seams, and traced off my new pattern pieces.

I’m all ready to make my own Panache Inspired briefs.

Happy creating!

Blue and Gold

May 5, 2018May 3, 2018 ~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I recently found the most gorgeous lace. I had to get some, and had to make a bra with it.

This Lace

It is even prettier in real life with those gold leaves on the blue. I found this lace on Etsy. (This is their image too.)

My New Bra

I used my Shelley pattern that’s a combination of my self-drafted pattern, and the pattern from the sewing class at Central Sewing. I’m loving this. You might have noticed, I haven’t added any bows. It’s not because it’s not bow-worthy this time. I’m not sure I want bows. I made some. I pinned them on to see what I thought, but I wasn’t over the top in love with the bows on it. I may look for a little golden leaf charm. I think that would look great on this bra and mirror the gold leaves in the lace.

Perfectly Fitting Together

I’m not going to get tired of this – at all. Look at how lovely that cup and cradle are! They are meeting perfectly and there are no wrinkles, no gathers – just perfectly matched edges. Oh, I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. Let me say, unless you’ve had to gather your cup to fit into your cradle, you’ve been taking those perfectly matched edges for granted. This really is a highlight of my bra-making now.

The Back

I have the sample pack of duoplex from Bra-makers Supply. You can find it here. After looking through it to match this lace, the closest match was the Bluebird blue. The Bluebird blue doesn’t have a matching Finding Kit available. I decided to use beige as it was the closest to the gold leaves in the lace. I’ve also used gold rings and sliders.