Lace Ideas

~ 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!

Josey Bra Take Two

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

My first attempt with the Josey Bra came up short. Well, a bit short across the cup anyway. But overall, I knew I was close.

I was thinking about doing a hack, but part way through drafting it, I decided I’d be better off to just do a quick test of the next cup size up.

So that’s what I did.I grabbed some scraps again, and did a quick tester cup. It’s looking good.

Next I measured the bottom of the cup against the cradle. I had to find 2 1/2-inches to remove from the bottom of the cup so the cup will fit into my cradle.

Once that was done, I had a working pattern. It was time to break out a bra kit and try this pattern. 

   If you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time, I’m sure you can imagine the self-talk that was going on while I was making this bra. After all the tries and trials I’ve had, I kept telling myself to not get excited. That is probably wasn’t going to fit. That this was just going to get me one step closer, and it was fine.

Well, it fits! It fits perfectly! No alterations. No fitting issues. No adjustments. This pattern fits as is, with only the Omega adjustments to fit it into my cradle.The bridge is the correct width for me, the cups fit, and the bridge also tacks all the way to the top of the bridge. I hated to take this off for photos.

I decided to make fabric straps to go with the bra, and I do like them. I may change that up for my next one so they don’t have the lace trim on the inside. Just for a different look.

As well, mine is made of duoplex, as I don’t have a lot of micro duoplex in my stash. I did order some so I can try it. 

I was also so excited I immediately dug into my stash looking for some panty fabric to make a set. Oh, these are adorable!

Here’s my whole set.

I’m a happy bra-maker today, and I’m already planning my next one. However, I also have a dress to make for a family wedding. I’ll have to fit in some time for me too and make a few more pretty Josey bras.

Happy creating!         

First attempt at the Josey Bra Pattern

~ Michelle

There are a few lovely bra patterns out there that I’ve yet to try. However, before I tried them, I had to figure out all the changes to my size over the last few years.

All the work on the fitting band, and getting the right wire, I was ready to try one of those pretty new-to-me patterns. I chose the Josey pattern for my first new pattern to try.Version 2 of the Josey pattern was released last week, so it was perfect timing for me to try the newer version too. It has quite a few adjustments done to the pattern.

The first thing I did was to sew up a test cup. I know my band and wires are good now. It was time to dig into my stash and find some bits that were left over from other projects and test the cup.

I found the perfect amount of duoplex, and some lace for my test cup.It’s very pretty, but it’s a tad too small across the cup.Just as the inside of the cup doesn’t cover all of the foam cup underneath it, it doesn’t reach all the way across to where it would meet my bridge.

If you remember how I was going to hack my frame from two different sizes, I’m thinking of doing the same thing with the Josey pattern.

Above is a frame that fits a 38 wire (pencil), and a  40 wire (pink pencil). The heavy dotted line is where the two sizes blend together.

Seeing as I need to make Omega adjustments, I don’t really want to go with a bigger bottom cup, so don’t want a bigger size for that. However, I do need more room about mid-way and at the top of the cup. A larger size there might just be perfect.

I’ll play with it a little this week and let you know.

Happy creating!

Root Cast

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Since my last post, I have to say that I have worn my new bra a few times, and it’s wearable. It’s not pinching all the time. I think the Flexi-wires are helping with that.

After my last post when I planned to work on my draft some more, things went in a different direction. I went to my sewing room planning to draft up a hybrid cradle. Then walked out again, It was time to do a root cast. No more getting close, or thinking I had the correct shape. Out came the masking tape. I was making a root cast.

I taped piece after piece after piece on myself. I wanted it at least four layers thick so when I removed it, it didn’t distort at all when pulled away from my skin. I got it. Now to test this against all the wires I have.

Here it is with the Orange 38 wire. This is the wire I thought was closest to my shape, and it’s not totally off. However, it’s not exactly the same either.This was so odd because when I traced my root with a wire and compared it to the different wire shapes, this was the closest in size and shape. Below is the photo I took of my root trace over the Orange wires.However, after wearing this wire, I can tell you it’s not the right wire for me.

Next up was the 38 XL wire from BMS. This is the wire I’ve been told more than once is the correct wire for me. However, like the Orange wire, I knew from wearing this wire that it wasn’t correct.   I didn’t have to see this wire-root comparison to know this wire wasn’t the right size or shape. I knew this wire pinched on the sides. Again, this is not the right wire for me.

A few months back when I was working on my wire trace, I bent a BMS 38 XL wire out to my correct size.So, of course I needed to see how this wire would compare to my root trace. This is about as good as it gets. My only hesitation with this is I’ve heard the wires aren’t always as stable (can break) with washing and wearing after they’ve been bent. I had to bend it a fair amount. So, although this is an option, I still had one other wire to try.

Here’s the Flexi-wire.Hmm. About the same as the bent wire above, but I don’t have to bend anything. It will flex and take my shape.

I did try the 38 Flexi-wire too, but it’s just a bit too short for me, but as you can see, the 40 Flexi-wire is the better fit.If you’re interested in reading more about bending wires, and what can happen, Jennifer (Porcelynne) mentions that in her recent blog post.  

Now to take that root trace, and draft a cradle for exactly my shape.

Happy creating!

Wire Woes Still

~ Michelle

I’m still having issues with my wires! Still. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating this is. As I’m sitting here thinking about it, I remember my mom telling me she couldn’t wear a bra with wires – they always hurt her. I guess I know what I inherited from mom.

I’ll never forget when I did my moulage (back in 2014), I took one look and thought that’s my mom’s body! Yes, I’m really understanding why my mom couldn’t wear underwired bras.

However, I’m not ready to give up yet. 

 My pretty new summery bra hurts. It doesn’t hurt all over. Just in one little place. You all know what an uncomfortable bra feels like – it only needs to hurt in one place.

It feels like the wires are pinching me at the top of the channeling.Right there where the pink arrow is pointing.

I took out the Orange 38 wires. I don’t think the are wide enough at the top. They’re close in shape, but not quite a match for me.

I didn’t close the channeling on this bra so I could test the wires. I tried the Orange wires for a day and knew they were not going to work. Now I’m wearing Flexi-wires, but my bra is still pinching there. Because Flexi-wires have so much flex, I’m thinking it’s the cradle now. I made this cradle to fit a 38 Orange wire.

Thinking about this, I think I need to alter my cradle. A cradle that fits a 38 wire is the right size for the bottom of my cradle, but I think I need a cradle that fits a 40 wire for the top.

When I was first looking at wires with my root trace, I could see the 40 wire fit the top of my trace. 

Here’s what I’m thinking. I’ll make a copy of two cradles – one that fits a 38 wire and one that fits a 40 wire. Then I’ll use the bottom of the 38-sized cradle and the top of the 40-sized one, smoothing out the line between the two pattern sizes.  Above is a cradle that fits a 38 wire drawn in pencil. Then the pink is the cradle that fits a 40 wire. The darker dotted line is the blending of the two.

I’m off to draft a new cradle.

Happy creating!

A Pretty Summery Bra

~ Michelle

Oh, some very good news. Draft number four fit so well I couldn’t resist making a new bra. For the most part, my cups were fine. I’d done a lot of work on those. The wires and the bottom of the bridge were what needed the most improvement. So, now I had a well-fitting band, with the correct wire shape, I had to make a new bra.

I looked in my stash, and this lovely delicate lace was calling my name.Oh, I love this lace. It’s so pretty.

My next decision was what to use to finish the bra? I decided to try the lingerie satin B,Wear sells. I had ordered some, but hadn’t tried it yet. I think I fell in love with it as soon as I touched it. It’s so soft!

This lingerie satin does have a bit of stretch, so I wasn’t sure how my bra was going to fit, but I am not disappointed.This is the BMS Ruby pattern, adjusted for an Omega shape.

This fits perfectly – except I forgot to adjust the top of the bridge to make it lower. This bridge is for using elastic along the upper edge, so the bridge and the wires aren’t the same length. However, that’s a very small complaint!You can see here where the wires aren’t coming to the top of the bridge. There’s maybe 2 cm, or better yet 1.5 cm and a touch of wiggle room for the wires. It’s a very small adjustment after some of the others I’ve had to make.

You can also see in the above photo, I had some wrinkling with my elastic under the cup there. I had this problem on my other tester band too. I’m wondering if I have too much of a curved shape there making it just too hard for the elastic to fit to those curves.

Here’s the side view of the bra.Oh, I’m so happy with this. I used a trick I learned in one of my classes with Jeannette to help my large cup fit into my smaller band – I stretched the frame on the outside, and ‘eased’ the cup in. It works so well.

Lastly the back view. I’m so thrilled to have finally found my correct sized wire, and figured out just how to fix my band as well. I have my next bra kit all picked out, and I’m going to sew some more bras!This is another lingerie satin kit from B,Wear.

I do like a power bar, so I’m thinking for my next bra I’ll make a BMS Shelley.

Happy creating!

Adjustments to Draft Number Four

~ Michelle

My Bare Essentials drafting journey continues. This past week was a bit busier for me, but I did get the changes to my pattern done.

The changes I made were to move the strap tab in, add 1/8″ along the upper cup, and move the apex over.

Here are my pattern pieces side by side. They don’t look that different.However, when they are layered one on top of the other, then you can see the changes more clearly.  It won’t take long to get this sewn up. I’ll share my progress next week.

Happy creating!

Ideas for a Bra Dress

~ Michelle

A couple of years ago, during one of our bra-making classes with Jeanette (Sew Uplifting), a class idea came up that sounded great! I was ready to sign up that day.

Not long afterwards, that class became an option and I did sign up. The Bra Dress. Unfortunately, that class was cancelled, and as yet, hasn’t been rescheduled.

A couple of my bra-sewing classmates and I have been talking about how do we do this? We can’t take the class. We’ve been waiting for two years for this now. We want this bra dress. So we’ve been brainstorming just how this would we do this.

     I even bought a bathing suit that was on sale last year – just to see how it was made.This is a swim dress from Land’s End.

Here’s the bra inside:   This isn’t exactly what I had in mind. But I kept it because I really like the swim dress.

Here’s the back band:  No, this was definitely not what I was thinking. This is a shelf bra that has wires. I’m thinking an actual bra.

So, I kept looking for ideas. I started looking at some vintage ideas.I saw this great vintage slip on Etsy. 

Here’s the back view of the slip.Again, this is like the Land’s End suit, the back is like a shelf bra. I’m still thinking of wanting the actual bra clasp at the back though.

I did fine two vintage sewing patterns on Etsy too. I think this is the idea I’m going for – a bra built into a slip, then attached to the dress at the shoulders.

Oh, I wish I could see the back of this one. However, this pattern design is very similar to the Elite bra.

I wish I could see the back of this one too. I want to know how these slips fasten.I’ll keep thinking about this. My draft cup alterations are done, so I’ll share that with you next week.

Happy creating!

Draft Number Four

~ Michelle

I’ve finished draft number four in the Bare Essentials method, and I think I’ve got it.There are still one of two little changes to make. I’ll want to move the apex in, and the strap attachment as well.

Other than that, I’m ready to start manipulating my sloper into a pretty bra pattern.

I checked and rechecked the bridge on this one to make sure it was fitting just right. I couldn’t find a gap anywhere. I even made the cups and frame in sheer cup lining so I could see everything under the bra. I know now that the bottom of the bridge is wide enough, and the top of the bridge is narrow enough now.

You can see in the above photo just how far over the strap attachment is. That’s way too close to the underarm area, so I’ll change my pattern on that next.

I don’t have any changes for the back, unless I decide to make the back strap attachment closer to the middle of the back.

The next part of the process is what I’ve really been wanting to learn – how to manipulate the sloper. This is completely different than anything I’ve learned so far, and I’m quite excited to get to this point. The next few weeks should be very exciting for me.

Happy creating!

Wires and Another Draft

~ Michelle

Have you ever put on a comfortable bra and then wondered why it’s suddenly hurting? It could be your wires. This just happened to me just a week ago.

I looked at the bra and could see one of the wires had bent, so thought I have lots of wires, I can change that out.When I saw the wire, I realized why it was hurting so much!

The other odd thing I noticed was these aren’t the same wires. One has an orange end, the other a white end – but no color on it at all. All my wires have a bit of color on the tip, so I have no idea where the wire might have come from.

I decided to try the Flexi wires from Needle Nook Fabrics. I know others carry them as well, but I got mine from there. That bra is so comfortable now!I may try these in my draft next.

Speaking of my draft, I’m on version III. There is still one more size adjustment to make. It seems the difference on me for the average depth and the deep depth needed to grade out more. I’ve made that adjustment and version IV is on the cutting table.The good news on version III is I have the bridge width for the bottom correct now. The top on this needs to narrow a bit though.

Once I have the draft fitting just as I want, I’ll have to adjust the apex. This is far too east-west for me. Then I can begin playing with the style.

Happy creating!