Willowdale Take Two

~ Michelle ~ 8 Comments

I was very impressed with my first attempt of the Willowdale pattern, so I decided to make another one right away. This time, with a narrower bridge.

This one fits perfectly!

Isn’t this the most lovely material? This comes from B,Wear.

   Oh, I really love this! This fabric is is very similar to duoplex, but is a bit firmer. The lace actually comes in three colors. Pink, blue, and a mint green. Oh, they are all so pretty!

It would have been a dream come true if there had been matching power net too! However, I had some light pink in my stash that I was happy with. White would have worked as well, but I preferred the pink.

 I have a bee kit all cut out, so time to do some sewing again.

Happy creating!

A Satin Watson

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

B,Wear recently asked for testers to try out some of their fabrics and show what could be made from them. I jumped on that. I love testing patterns and fabrics.

B,Wear sent me the most lovely Italian Stretch Satin. This is very hard to get a true picture of the color. It’s more a lavender-gray with light blue polka dots.

Here’s the photo from B, Wear’s website.

Here it looks blue. Trust me, it’s really a lavender-gray – not quite full on lavender, but not gray either.

It is so easy to sew. It’s not slippery or hard to sew at all.

My DIL saw it and, well, she’s been hinting she wants another bralette or two for a few months. She even went so far as to tell me she ‘needs’ one. So I told her she could have one with this fabric. She was so excited. 

Here’s the lovely Watson I made for Em. Sadly, it’s a bit too small in the band. I have just enough satin to make her another one, but don’t think I’ll have enough for the cradle and cups.

Em wanted black elastics with this, and I think the little picots peeking out are darling. I would have loved a light blue elastic to match the dots. I did use light blue thread as a complement to those the dots.

 I loved using this light blue thread to match. This was a happy solution because lavender thread didn’t quite match. It was too purple. Gray didn’t match either – it was too gray with not enough purple in it.

Em isn’t big in any way. She’s very petite. So she didn’t need me to line the cups. This satin only has a little stretch in one direction, so if using it for bra cups, I’d line it for me, but I didn’t for Em.

     Happy creating!

Bees on Black

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I bought the most adorable bra kit – last year. I bought it before the International Bra Sewing Bee, thinking how fun it would be to make a bee bra.

Bees on Black Bra Kit Black Beauty Bra image 2Isn’t this charming? This is from Emerald Erin’s bra shop. She has it in black, and Latte. Bees on Latte Bra Kit Black Beauty Bra image 1 I love them both. But bought the black one.

I decided to try a little something different with this bra. It’s something I heard on last year’s Bee – some Omega’s are fuller in the center front than on the side. Well, that fits me (pardon the pun). I’m always adding to the center front.

The suggestion was to use one size larger for the inner cup, and one size smaller for the power bar, blending the lines.

I decided to try this with my latest Josey.  Do you ever just love something you’re doing? I loved sewing this bra together. I love the sheer fabric with these adorable bees!I love this. I’m super tempted to buy more of this so I can make it again.

Do you see that pretty hardware on the straps? This is a very old finding kit I bought from Mrs Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables (now closed).

Here’s a closer look at those sliders.They have a bit of a more rounded shape. I love them.

I think my favorite part of this bra is how sheer it is. I really do love this bra. It was a very fun make just in time for the Bee this year.

Happy creating!

Willowdale Take One

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Have you seen the new Willowdale bra pattern? Cashmerette released it this past month.

 

I like Cashmerette patterns, but honestly when I first looked the pattern, I thought I already have a couple of patterns that are similar in style. I wasn’t thinking I’d buy it.

However, it wasn’t long before all I was hearing were great reviews of this pattern. What started to win me over was when another woman who is an Omega shape said she didn’t have to make any changes and it fit so well.

Then I saw this:

Oh! I love this! 

A dear sewing friend also raved about it. I was won over. I decided I wanted to try it.

Aa well, after hearing all those great reviews, I decided to cut into a ‘good’ kit to make it. 

This is some of the platinum duoplex and findings from a BMS kit, and some gorgeous lace from Kantje boord.

I did make a few alterations for my Omega shape, and was very impressed with how well everything still fit together. Unfortunately, even though I did alter the bridge, it was still a bit too wide. The cups fit perfectly though.

I’m actually thinking of cutting it down the middle of the bridge and putting a seam there. It would be perfectly wearable, and I can decide it’s a design feature. Are you ‘going’ to the International Bra Sewing Bee? Jennifer, from Porcelynne will be doing a sew-along of the Willowdale. I’m planning to take that in.

Happy creating!

Freja Take One

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I’m back! It feels so good to be sewing pretties and blogging again.

I have one of the new patterns BMS recently released. The Freja pattern.  It is a really nice pattern. It came together easily, and fits well for a first attempt. I’ve been wearing it, so it’s fitting well enough.This is made from a copper bra kit I had. Oh, I love this color, and I’m rather loving this bra too.

I made my usual alterations for Omega. I’m using a 4.25 cradle, with a 5.25 cup. I removed some of the excess along the wire line at each seam. Overall, I’m really happy with this.

I love the shape of the lace, and the look of the whole bra. This copper color is such a gorgeous color.

Not too much to see here at the back. It’s a tad too long. I’m wearing it on the middle hook and eye, and could probably wear it on the tighest one.

It’s also a tad small in the inner cup. I can adjust both of these easily.

It really showed that I haven’t been sewing for a while when I sat down and started to sew. I broke three needles right off the bat. It didn’t take too much longer for me to get my sewjo back though, and not break any more needles.

   Happy creating!

Drafting at the Stitches Conference

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Again, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve been doing.

I haven’t done any sewing, and I am missing it. My energy is coming back, so I’m thinking sewing will happen soon. I have a wonderful new BMS pattern, and a great kit from B,Wear to make my own Dreamcatcher knockoff.  However, before I started work on fitting a new pattern, there was the Stitches Conference.

I’ve linked the Haus of Stitches because so many people said they didn’t know about the conference, or Beverly teaching at this conference. Sign up for the newsletter and you’ll hear if she’ll be doing this again next year.

This year the Stitches Conference offered in-person classes, hybrid class that were both in-person and online, and there was one class that was online only: Bra Design and Draft with Beverly Johnson. As soon as I heard about that class, I said to my husband that I would have loved to take that class. He said, ‘Why don’t you take it?. Sign up.’ I jumped on that opportunity!

It was great! There were 16 of us in the class, and even though I’ve done drafting before, I still picked up so many tips. It inspired me to break out my pencils and paper and get some drafting done again.

 Another very exciting bra event is coming up soon. The International Bra Sewing Bee.

bra-bee-logo

The Bee may not be on right away, but it is available to purchase. Right now there is an Early Bird Special. I plan to attend this again too. I love these virtual conferences!

Hopefully, next time I write, I’ll have some sewing to show! Happy creating!

A Little Enabling

~ Michelle

Hello again! I had a friend contact me saying, ‘it’s been a while since I’ve seen a blog post of yours.’ Well, sadly, I got sick at the beginning of February, and was still sick when March rolled around. I’m mostly better now, but my energy hasn’t come back.

So, while I’m not sewing, how about I show you a few new patterns.

There’s this adorable Garter Belt Collection from BMS.  

Today I saw today two new patterns from BMS.

The Freya bra pattern, and the Frieda partial band pattern. I’m excited about the Freya pattern because there is a RTW bra I’ve long admired. The Freya Dreamcatcher bra. Oh, I like this. 

Well, it just so happens that B,Wear’s April kit of the month is this exact fabric!     I know one of the first bras I’m going to want to sew when I get some energy and sewjo back. Until then, I’ll happily buy another beautiful bra kit, and a new pattern that work towards my goal.

Happy creating!

Modified Sweet Sixteen Again

~ Michelle

I’m really happy with my modified Sweet Sixteen (Sw16). It’s very comfortable, and definitely supportive enough for around the house.The only thing I want to change on it is there isn’t enough depth at the center front to give any separation for me. I need to add to the pattern there.

So, I pulled out my modified pattern, and have added more depth to the center front.

Two more changes I’m going to make are to add channeling, and to gather and stabilize the center front.

I loved the powernet for the whole bralette, so will do that again.

Here’s my Twice Modified Sweet Sixteen.

I love the floral design. I think I’m going to start looking for patterned powernet.

You can see on the front where I gathered the center.

One thing I would do differently next time is to work on that tape sewn over the gathering to be centered. It’s slightly to one side because the seam folded over. I think next time after I sew the gathering stitches, I’d pin the center front open, then gather. Then I could sew the stabilizing tape right in the center.

Lastly, here’s the side view. Oh, I really love this power mesh.

I have lots more to show you, but we both have to wait. I’ve been testing some patterns, but can’t show anything until they’re released.

Happy creating!

A Modified Sweet Sixteen

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I’ve been thinking of making a modified Sweet Sixteen (Sw16) bralette since last summer. Monica Bravo had a class in the Great Bra Sewing Bee about how she modified this pattern to be ‘more supportive’. I wanted to try some of her suggestions.

The first thing I wanted to do was change the cradle of my Sw16 to match the wire size I use. I’d been thinking about this hack for a couple of days, and I kept thinking the Watson cradle in my size might work perfectly for this.However, after looking at the two patterns, the cradles are different enough that I decided not to try it. So I hacked my Sw16 cradle, and redrew it.The next thing I had to do was put back the amount of space I’d removed from the frame. I added that to the back band. It’s looking much more like a bra pattern now, rather than a bralette pattern.

My pattern was ready, so it was time to test this out. I wanted a soft stretchy bralette, but when I saw this powernet, I decided to make the whole bra in it.Isn’t this powernet lovely? I bought it from B,Wear.

How did my experiment work out? Well, I have to say, it worked out rather well.Are you wondering the same thing I was wondering the whole time I was making it? Does it fit? Well, yes it does. The band is a touch too big – I have to fasten it on the tightest hook and eye. That’s and easy fix.

The cups fit as well, but I will need to add to the inner cup to get some  separation.

  However, despite those small issues, when I put it on, I didn’t take it off. It’s incredibly comfortable.

Happy creating!

Starry Nights Collection

~ Michelle

In December, Beverly Johnson sent out a request for testers to test a new pattern of hers. I knew we’d be moving, but I also knew if all I did for the next month or more was pack and unpack, I’d be miserable. I knew I needed a creative outlet too. So, I volunteered, and I’m really glad I did.

The Starry Nights Collection is a great lougewear/nightwear collection. It has three-length options, as well as a capri option.I made the full-length Luna option. I used a beautiful turquoise cotton Lycra, with some coordinating lace on the inner cups.

The cup option I made isn’t show, but was easy to do. Just use lace for the inner cups only on the Luna.My Luna is a bit big for me, but I’d rather have loose for sleeping than tight. However, my mind is full of ideas for how to change this up.

Another change I made was to do two spaghetti straps per side instead of the adjustable bra strap option.  

One idea I have came from the Monica Bravo’s class in the Great Bra Sewing Bee (now the International Bra Sewing Bee). She adapted her Sweet Sixteen bralette. I took notes during the bee, and plan to try some of the changes she made – like narrowing the cradle for a more supportive bralette.

Another idea came from FB ads. Right around the same time Beverly sent out her tester call, I started seeing ads from Montelle Intimates. I was so surprised because the cups on this is the same style as the Starry Nights Collection’s.      There’s a link in the photo (from their web page) that will take you right to this lovely chemise.

Seeing this got me really excited for possibilities for the new Starry Nights Collection. In fact, the day after I finished my Luna, I dreamt all night about making changes, and I woke ready to forget unpacking some more and wanting to get back to my sewing room!

Happy creating!