Pattern Drafting

A Little Designing

~ Michelle

I was planning my entry for the May Bra-Makers Supply Challenge and thought I’d share my process with you.

 I do have to say, I love polka dots, but stripes haven’t always thrilled me. Remember the apron pattern I was looking at recently? Stripes don’t always play nicely with my hips. However, I set a goal to do all the Challenges this year. So, I sat down and thought of a few ideas.

Panty Idea

For the panty, I knew the perfect pattern right away. The Rad Patterns’ Panel Undies. These are so cute. I have this pattern, but I also made my own self-drafted panty with similar styling. For my submission, I used my pattern.

So I took my inspiration from the Rad Panel Undies and had some fun drawing and coloring a couple of options for what I could sew for the challenge.

I have some adorable black with white polka dot cotton Lycra, and white with black polka dot too. I have some black/gray stripped cotton Lycra I could pair with both of these CLs.

This is one option I’m thinking about, but I did have those polka dot materials planned for a color block halla Agnes top for summer. Hmm, I might have to see if I’ll have enough left over before I go with this idea.

I put these designs aside and thought of another idea.

Tankini Idea

 I had planned to make a Tankini from my swimsuit pattern, and I had already purchased some great swim material from Libelle Sewing last year.Aren’t these great? I hadn’t decided if I wanted the black on the bottom, on the top, or color blocked, but I knew they’d be adorable together.

Then I was thinking about the challenge, and wondering how I could incorporate these polka dots into my Challenge entry.

 I took a look at Libelle Sewing again to see if they had any striped material, and they had this Ombre swim print.Here they are side by side.

Well, I didn’t love the stripes and polka dots together, so I tried coloring a few ideas.

Here’s was my first try.

That was okay, but I wanted the stripes and dots on the same part of the pattern. I kept coloring. I like this one a lot better.

I had one more variation to try.As I was drawing this, I realized exactly what it was I didn’t love about the first two combinations – I wanted more continuity between the top and bottom pieces. So Rad Patterns’ Panel Undies inspiration struck again. I could do an ombre panel on the tankini bottoms as well.

Next week I’ll show you my make for May.

Happy creating!

April BMS Challenge – A Spring in Your Step

~ Michelle

The April Bra-Makers Supply Challenge was A Spring in your step – this challenge is about making garments for an active lifestyle. How about jumping into the challenge and working with spandex, Supplex, wickables and other performance fabrics? Any type of activewear is eligible – be it shorts, leggings, running gear or gym wear. You can even make ath-leisure wear, that perfect combination of activewear and leisure wear.

I knew what I wanted to make for this Challenge. I saw the cutest, and littlest pair of athletic shorts  on a half-size mannequin at Central Sewing. Jeanette had sewn them to show with the half-size Ingrid on display there.I told Jeanette I was going to copy her idea. These are adorable, and I knew my own pair would go so well with the Ingrid bra I just made.

My Pattern

  Last year I made athletic pants for the Challenge. I used my self-drafted panty pattern to get the right size and shape, and the Pin-Up Girls Tankini bottoms to get an idea for the length and how to shape the legs.

For the pair I’m making for this year’s Challenge, I’m going to use the same bases for my new pattern, but change things up a bit more.

This year I didn’t want to make full-length pants. This year, I’m thinking Capri-length will be nice. As well, I’m adding that stripe of scuba down the side. I also wanted a different waistband this year. I wanted a cross-over waistband like in the Miami bikini shown below.

I’ll probably change that a bit too. I’m thinking I want it a bit higher than this waistband.

My Challenge Capris

I’m really happy with how my Challenge Capris turned out.

These are cotton Lycra and scuba from Bra-Makers Supply.

I’ve put the Capri pants on Catherine. I’m working on getting a Legs Display, but until then, Catherine will have to do.

Here’s my Ingrid showing the same scuba. Here’s the scuba panel I added to the side seam. The scuba is really nice to sew, and it adds such a lovely pop of color. I’m so glad I saw Jeanette’s little shorts and copied them.

And here’s the back view. Even the back has a little pop of color with the waistband.

Yes, these turned out very well.

I really like this waistband. It’s one piece that wraps all the way around the back to the front and overlaps. I added two inches to the height of the band pattern. I didn’t think the band would look as good if it was a narrower band – at least not on pants.Lastly, here I am putting my new capri-length pants to good use.I love these, and am happily planning my next Challenge entry.

Happy creating!

Design and Draft Course

~ Michelle

This past week I took the Bra Design & Draft course at Central Sewing Machines. I’ve wanted to take a bra drafting course for a few years now. With the course finally coming closer to home, I could do it.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.

The first day was very exciting. We were all presented with a bag full of goodies. Now, others may not have been so thrilled with the goodies, but for a bunch of bra-makers, it was a thrill! Just take a look.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.

Fabrics

The first day we learned about all different fabrics that can be used in bra-making or lingerie. Some of them were familiar to me, some were new. We were given samples too, with instructions on how they were best used, and not to be used. It’s all neatly contained in our new binder. One of the students is in a Fashion & Design course, and she said she’d learned more that day than she had in her Textiles class. It really was very useful. 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.

Drafting

Day Two was the beginning of a lot of paper and pencil work. We were guided in the art of drafting. We started with our frames. I did something wrong. Jeanette told me what I did wrong, but I was tired and didn’t correct it right away. Let me tell you, all it takes is one little mistake to throw everything off. By the end of the day, we were sent home with homework again. This time we were to practice our drafting. We drafted frames for everyone in the class. 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.

Day Four was similar to Day Three – still more paper, pencils, drafting, and information. Some of us even cut out our newly drafted patterns, and got in some sewing before the end of the day. One woman was almost finished her drafted bra on Day Four. I had my cups finished. I brought them home and put them in my fitting bra frame. I was thinking this would save me the time of completing the whole bra to see how close I was. There was one small little change I needed to make to my draft. That was incredibly encouraging.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!

Day Five was mostly a sewing day for me. But before I could sew, I had to re-draft my upper and lower cups with that one little change. I worked as quickly as I could so I could get to the sewing. I really wanted to be done by the end of the day. Thinking back, I could have just changed my pattern, but it was a drafting class, and I was getting a LOT of experience with drafting.

The great news is I did it. I finished the Bra Design & Draft course and came away with a perfectly fitting pattern and bra – that I drafted from measurements.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.

You can see this has a horizontal seam going across the cup. It’s so pretty. I’m already planning another ‘Heather’ using my new pattern. If you have the Craftsy Class Sewing Bras Foam, Lace & Beyond, Beverly shares how to make the Heather bra.

It was a great week. I can’t wait for the next course!

Happy creating!

Bra-Makers Challenge – August

~ 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!

Panache Inspired

~ 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!

I Didn’t Buy a Stand

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

A few months ago when I went to Sears to buy a mannequin, I didn’t buy a stand. The stands were all being sold separately. I momentarily thought of buying one, but they were priced the same as the mannequins and I wasn’t interested in paying another $50 for what I thought I wouldn’t use or need. For most of what I sew, using this display standing, as it is shown above, will be just fine.

However, this month the Bra-maker Supply Challenge is active wear, and I chose to make pants.

Pants aren’t going to display very well all bunched up on the bottom.

They don’t display the best pinned to Catherine either.These were the Barb pants I made a few years ago – pinned to Catherine. I guess it would work somewhat, but I’m not thrilled with this option.

Modification Ideas

I ran a few ideas past my husband to see what we could do to modify my mannequin to use the stand for Catherine.

One

One idea was to make an adapter out of wood. A larger hole that would fit over the stand, and a smaller hole with a steel rod inserted into it that would fit into the mannequin.

That might work, but it’ll take a little time, and skills I don’t have.

Two

.     Another idea was to use modeling clay and fill the leg cavity with the clay. Before the clay hardened, insert the stand so there would be a hole there when it did harden.

I decided against that idea because of the weight of the clay. I thought it would throw off the balance of the mannequin, and it might not balance on the stand.

I was out of ideas.

Shopping Trip Suggestions

    The next idea came from Em, my son’s girlfriend, when we went grocery shopping together. I was telling her my different ideas and she came up with one. She suggested Styrofoam.

Initially, I didn’t think it would work, but we stopped at the craft store to check it out. Hmm. It seemed harder and sturdier than I thought. It was worth a try.

First Attempts

Well. Styrofoam didn’t work. The weight of the mannequin, and balancing it are going to be the challenges here.

I couldn’t even balance it long enough to take a photo.

Catherine in Pants

  I decided rather than trying to pin the pants to Catherine, I’d put them on her. The stand is running all through one leg. They don’t look as bad as I thought the would. 

Yes, this will do for how often I plan to make pants.

These pants are my muslin for my March Challenge submission. I’m happy to say the basic fit is there. Now to play a little more with what I want to do with them. You can see, they’re basic black cotton Lycra, with a yoga waistband.I have a few changes I want to make to this pattern, but it’s mostly good.

Happy creating!

A Pretty Ivory Bra

~ Michelle

Just before I heard about the Bra-Makers Supply’s Challenge that started in January, I was finishing up some touches on my bra draft. So this post is actually a make that’s a few months old now. The challenge created so many posts, but I didn’t want to leave this make out.

Here’s my draft again.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.

All Those Details

 Before the BMS Challenge, the last number of bras I’d made had been slapped together. No top-stitching, no taking time with details. It was so nice to take my time and focus on some of those details again.

One detail was which sheer cup lining I wanted to use behind the lace. I have both white and beige. Hmm. 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.

 My New Bra  

My bra looks perkier on the clear display form, and less East-West looking too. Catherine’s days as a bra display may be numbered! Especially now I have a display I can use for bras and panties.

Oh, but Catherine is my only display that is pinnable. She’ll still be getting use.

Do you see the upper band on this bra is a little slack? It’s that way on me too.

I used this band again on my red bra for the February Challenge after looking at all my measurements. This should have fit. The only thing I could think of was the I didn’t pull on the upper band elastic for this one. On the red one, I pulled on the elastic and it fits just fine.

Happy creating!

Bra-Makers Challenge – February

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

As soon as I saw the Bra-Makers Ultimate Challenge, I decided it was something I wanted to do. For most of January and February, I’ve been turning things down. No, I don’t want to do that, try that, or join that. However, the Challenge fit with what I wanted to do – focus on building my skills.

 February’s Challenge

Here’s the challenge for February:

February –  Love yourself – make any bra, bralette or panties using red stretch satin. There were a few more guidelines on the BMS website.

Isn’t this a sumptuous color? Just click on the link or the photo to go to the BMS website and see it for yourself. I’ve never worked with stretch satin before. But I’m game.

Plans

 While I’m trying some of these new fabrics and patterns, I’m going to incorporate ideas I’ve picked up along the way. One of those ideas is to try the ‘better Shelley strap extension‘. Beverly wrote a tutorial on how to make an extended strap attachment.This photo is from the BMS blog. You can read the post here. I thought this looked lovely when I first saw it.

Here’s was my sketch trying to decide what to make for February. Did I want to add lace over satin for the power bar? I even entertained using red mesh finished with fold over elastic instead of lace on the upper cup.

All I had decided for sure was to add sheer cup lining to the cups as the satin is a stretch material.

I also drew some new panty ideas for the challenge.I planned to use my mashed-up Aphrodite pattern, but I wasn’t as happy with it as I hoped. I didn’t like my mash-up. The original pattern is so lovely. Unfortunately, I don’t like elastic at the waist and leg openings.

Putting Plans into Action

I ended up using my drafted panty pattern. These are stretch satin and cotton Lycra. Then finished with stretch lace at the waist and leg openings. I’m loving these!

I added a lace garment tag to the side. I’ve added these tags to panties I’ve made in the past.Here’s the side view.  And the back. I was almost out of cotton Lycra, so had to make these with a seam in the back.I love these! Next I made a the bra to match.

Matchy Matchy

There are so many things I love about this bra! Well, let me show you.The whole bra cup and cradle is stretch satin. I’ve lined the cup and cradle with beige sheer cup lining. That little part on the upper cup that looks like there’s nothing there? That’s sheer cup lining. It disappears against the skin.

A Few Features

The pattern I used for this bra is cloned from a RTW bra. I loved how the cups fit, but there are a few elements about the bra that are uncomfortable and don’t fit.

So, I lowered the bridge and the underarm to help make this more comfortable than the original.

Another change was for design only –  to split the upper cup. The lower half of the upper cup is stretch satin and sheer cup lining. The upper half of the upper cup is sheer cup lining alone, then finished with fold-over elastic.

Lastly, I extended the strap as per Beverly’s instructions in this blog post.

Below you can see I only pulled on the elastic in the underarm area where it’s usually pulled. I marked on the strap extension where the power bar ended and the extension began and made sure not to pull the elastic beyond that point.

Here’s the side view:Do you see those puckers where I gathered the cup to fit into the cradle? I don’t like that! Those puckers aren’t so noticeable when I’ve used duoplex. That made me sad.

Here’s the back:Oh, the back looks perfect! The red power net really matches the stretch satin well. I debated using the satin for the band too, but had some red power net in my stash, so went with that.

  What I Love

 I’ve shared with you what I don’t like (those puckers). However, when it’s on me the cup is more filled out than on the display. (I still don’t like them.)

So now, how about something I love about this bra? I love the upper cup!I love this sheer cup lining detail. It turned out better than I had hoped.

I did make a second pair of panties to go with this bra. I’ll share those next week.

Happy creating!

Boyshort Panties

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

Beverly Johnson has a new class on Craftsy. Lingerie Essentials: Boyshort Panty Styles. It is a great class!As soon as it came out, I signed up. I love Beverly’s classes. I have them all and have watched them all too, which I can’t say for all my Craftsy classes.

A few people have told me they saw the above image and thought the class was about making briefs. They weren’t interested in making briefs. Don’t be fooled! Those are boyshorts. They’re a combo brief boyshort. You can see more on them later in this post. I made a pair of these.

Great Fit

I was planning to make boyshorts to go with my January BMS Challenge submission. Before I cut into the very pretty lilac cotton Lycra I had, I decide to make a muslin. My muslin fit so well, I decided they weren’t going to just be a muslin, I had to get some nice lace out and make them into wearable boyshorts. Here they are on my new display. I’ll share more about this display soon.In the first photo the shorts are pinned. In the second photo they’re unpinned. I definitely have more going on in the hip and thigh than this display!

Here they are from the back.Again, pinned and unpinned.

When I held these up, I loved the shape! They reminded me of ’50s shorts. I know they’re higher-waisted than most boyshorts, but they were just too cute to change. They also reminded me of these high-waisted Ooh Lulu Betty panties.I’ve always loved this shape.

I was so happy with these, I did make a pair to go with my bra for the Bra-Makers Supply Challenge. I made the combo brief/boyshort lace-backed pattern Beverly teaches in the class. The combo brief/boyshort is the one shown in the photo for the class too.

 Lavender Set with Matching Boyshorts

Here’s the lilac set I made for the BMS January Challenge. I drafted the bra using the information in Beverly’s Bra-makers Manual Vol. 2, and I drafted the panties from Beverly’s new Craftsy class.I LOVE lilac! I don’t know why I haven’t had a lilac bra and panty set before.

I did decide to alter these panties though. They fit and were fun being high-waisted, but I wanted them to be more traditional boyshort style to see how they would fit. Boyshort styles usually gape at the back on me.

I lowered the waist and finished them with some lilac lace trim. And… they fit.  Below, on this side view, you can just begin to get a peek of the back. This is the combo panty I mentioned earlier. It looks like a brief from the front, but a boyshort from the back.Here’s the full back view of the bra and panty.

Oh! All that lace! This is my favorite set I’ve made!

TNT

 I made a second pair of panties to match this bra using my self-drafted pattern for the panties. I am so happy with these lovely sets and am looking forward to the next BMS Challenge.

Happy creating!

The Fifth and Final Draft

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

This bra is my fifth and hopefully my final draft at this time. I hope it’s… well, I hope it’s perfect!

My Fifth Draft

  I really went back and forth before I sewed this bra – Should I sew it with the water-soluble (WS) thread, or just sew up a bra. If I use the WS thread, even if this bra is perfect, I will be re-sewing it. I really didn’t want to do that. I just want to sew a bra. However, I finally decided to just sew up it as another tester with the WS thread.

This looks better than the other two, but you can see it’s still not finished as nicely as a bra I want to keep.

A wonderful little tip I heard after I’d sewn my first bra with WS thread is to use the thread in the needle only, and regular thread in the bobbin. Water will still dissolve the upper thread, and the seam will come apart just fine. I’ve also heard to just dab the seam with water, which would save a lot of the drying time, and ironing.

Changes

 My band was a bit too big. Well, an inch too big to be exact. I’d recently lost a little bit of weight, and of course my ribs being one of the smallest parts of my body, that was where it showed first.

So before I sewed up another bra, I re-drafted the pattern for my cradle and band with my new measurements. I didn’t mind re-doing it all either. I really want to get drafting down pat, so a little extra practice isn’t a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.

 More

I re-drafted the pattern for my cups, again too – just for more practice. In fact, I spent the better part of a day drafting over and over. I made three drafts of both the cups, and the cradle and band by time the day was done. 

One other change I made while I was re-drafting my cup pattern was to lower my strap placement.

In addition to the changes I’ve mentioned above, I made my usual adjustments: a custom bridge, lowering the upper cup to meet the bridge, and adjusting for a flat spot.

One thing I’m not having to adjust is the difference between my cup and cradle caused by being an Omega shape. Let me tell you what I’m doing differently.

A Different Change

I’d heard before that you can go up or down one size in the cradle from the wire size you’re using. So if you’re using a 40 wire, you can use a cradle made for a 38, 40, or 42 wire.

It’s the same if you’re using a 40 cradle – you can use a 38, 40, or 42 wire. You can go up or down one size.

I’m doing that with my drafting. I’m using a 42 extra-long wire to draft my cradle – that’s one size bigger than the wire I normally use. It just happens to be the same length as the wire my cup size normally uses. Does that all make sense?Do you see how the 42 Extra Long wire is the same length as the 44 Long wire? My cup size matches a 44 Long wire. I normally wear a 40 Long wire. Using a 42 Extra Long wire to draft my cradle size, I’m able to make my cradle match my cup size perfectly.

The Conclusion?

 Somehow the band is still a bit too big! I’m having to fasten it on the middle eyes, but that’s a small adjustment. As well, when I lowered my strap placement, I achieved a bit more Va-va-voom than I want. A few tweaks to my pattern and I’m sewing up a real bra next!

Happy creating!