Ruby II

~ Michelle

I was pretty confident my second attempt with the Pin-up Girls Ruby pattern would work, and I was right. Is that as much of a relief to read as it is for me to write? What a feeling!

Ruby II

 My first Ruby was really close in the fit. The only reason it didn’t fit was because I hadn’t read all the instructions – when making Ruby in fabric you need to go up one size.

My first Ruby.This Ruby fit everywhere, but was a little small in the cups.

Here’s my newest Ruby hot off the sewing machine. Do you see how the upper cup is shorter? It’s a lovely modern-looking pattern, and I really like it. It gives great lift. After wearing it for a full day, I can tell you it’s comfortable.For this Ruby, I’ve used some gorgeous lace I bought from Merckwaerdigh, duoplex and power net from Bra-Makers Supply, and some amazing strap elastic I bought in a destash group.

Here’s the lace close up.It’s so pretty! I think I’m going to save the rest of this lace for another bra rather than use it up on panties. It’s just too pretty.

Here’s the bra from the side:One of the things I like about the Ruby pattern is the underarm is nice and short. I don’t have to take it in.

Here’s Ruby from the back:  Ooh, I love that strap elastic. It’s very firm, and I like the detail on it.

For my Ruby, I’ve used gold-toned rings and sliders. And I had a little fun using them for detail on the front of the bra.This is also a nice close-up of that lovely strap elastic.

I’m trying to decide how I want to embellish the finished bra. Do I want bows? Or a modern take on a bow? Or just one of the roses cut out.

Here are a few of those ideas just to see how they look.  Hmm. I’ll keep thinking.

Here’s Ruby one last time with embellishments. I wasn’t completely happy with any of the ones above, so went through my stash of bows. I found the perfect bows for my Ruby. A small black bow with a pearl for the center front, and two small black bows without pearls for the straps.

Ruby is a beautiful pattern, and I look forward to making another one soon.

Happy creating!

A Hallå Agnes for Em

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Em asked me if I would make her a dress. How could I say no?

It Starts with Materials

I got this gorgeous black and white Liverpool knit from Libelle Sewing.  It’s so lovely! I really love black and white. I love black and white photos, and pretty much any and all clothing that’s black and white. So when I saw this material, I loved it right away.

As soon as I got it, I knew what I wanted to make with it. It has a lovely drape. I knew the  Hallå Agnes would be perfect. I sent Em a photo and asked if she’d like that. Yes. She loved it.

Pattern Adjustments

I have Em’s measurements from ever so long ago when I made her first Watson bra. But Em’s lost some weight, so I got her new measurements and saw she doesn’t fit into just one size either. She does for her hips and waist, but to make the pattern fit her bust, I needed to do a Full Bust Adjustment.

Check out this video for the Craftsy Full Bust Adjustment for Any Pattern class. At 1:09 she shows just what I did for Em’s FBA.

                     Once I’d made this one small adjustment to the pattern for Em, I was ready to cut out the material and sew it up. The Agnes pattern is a quick sew too, which is another plus.

Em’s agnes

  Here’s Em’s Agnes on my dress form.Oh, this is lovely.

Here is the side view. You can see, even though I did a FBA on the pattern just under the arm, it hangs perfectly straight – and I added over an inch to the bust.And the back.You can see here I also did a lettuce edge for the hem instead of a regular hem. I really like this. When I’ve made the Agnes in the past, I was using cotton Lycra, so this was the perfect material for this hem.

     Have you tried the Hallå Agnes yet? It’s a wonderful pattern.

Em came over and tried on her dress. She loved it and it fit perfectly. She loved how light the material is, and the drape of it too.

Here’s Em in her agnes dress.Happy creating, and seeing as it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

House Morrighan Ivy Briefs

~ Michelle

I was asked to test the Ivy Brief pattern by House Morrighan. Ivy can be a full brief, but also comes with a few other style options. For options, this has different heights, a front panel or plain front, bands or elastics for the waist and leg openings, and even a maternity height so it will fit comfortably under a pregnant tummy.

Ivy

I made Ivy briefs using a partially-completed dress. The dress’ skirt fit, but the top was too small. It had been in a do-something-with-this pile for over a year, and I finally did something. I re-purposed it. The material is a nice soft cotton Lycra.

Here are my Ivy briefs.These are a very comfortable brief. They feature either bands or elastic at the waist and leg. I’ve never used bands before on any panties I’ve made. I’ve used fold-over-elastic, and lingerie elastic. I’ve also used lace trim (my favorite), but never bands. So, I tried the bands. They are really nice. And they are very comfortable.

The pattern comes with the band pieces too. If you’re not comfortable cutting out with ruler, you don’t have to with this pattern. I really like this feature.

Here they are from the side.  These are also my first serged briefs. I usually sew my panties on my sewing machine, but as the pattern instructions say to serge or zigzag, I thought I’d try the serger for them. They come together very quickly.

Another nice tip this pattern suggests is to sew down those bands with either a twin needle or a small zigzag. I really like that tip. I don’t like when serged seams are poking up inside a garment.

Here’s the back of the brief.    Bottoms are always a little droopy on this display, but I’m glad I can display bottoms now.

The back does have a center seam, but it’s not noticeable at all when they’re being worn. When you look at the pattern, you’ll see that back seam is curved as well, to fit even better.

Smaller Sizes

I tested Ivy for me and then, because it’s such a quick sew, I offered to test it in the smaller sizes. Again, Em was the smallest size they have, and she fit perfectly into the one size this time.

I had just enough cotton Lycra leftover from when I made an Agnes dress to make these.For Em’s briefs, I decided to try the elastic waist and leg option. Just to see how the pattern worked that way.

I think it worked quite well. And I know what size my display is now! These are fitting it perfectly.What was that I said about bottoms being droopy on this display? No, they are not! These look perfect. Yup. My display is a size 6.

So we know they fit my display, but how did they fit Em? They also fit Em perfectly. She agreed, they are very comfortable.

The Ivy Brief pattern was just released, and it’s on sale this week. You can find the pattern in House Morrighan’s Etsy shop.

Happy creating!

Comparing Kits

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

I shared with you the lovely laces and lingerie kits my husband brought me from Kantjeboord when he was in Amsterdam. That was such a treat! As I was looking at them, I thought I’d share how the kits differ from kits I’m used to buying.

Kit Differences

 For the most part, I order from Bra-makers Supply. Their kits are what I like and what I’m used to using. Let me share with you how the BMS kits differ from the Kantjeboord kits my hubby brought me.

1

Firstly, BMS has a few options for kits. There are Bra kits (this kit includes bra findings), Trios (this doesn’t include findings), Quartets (this includes a choice of findings), and they have panty kits too. Kantjeboord has a lingerie kit and it includes findings for a bra and panties.

I was looking at the BMS website, and here’s what they offer when you purchase a Quartet:You can choose the size of findings you want, and then there are four options for those findings depending on the pattern you’re making.

2

  As I just mentioned, BMS offers Small and Large findings kits. You pick which size of findings you need based on your bra size. The Kantjeboord kits have one size of findings in their kits. What I have come to know as ‘Small’. I don’t know whether they have Large findings at all.

Here is a  photo showing the larger elastic from a Large BMS findings kit and the smaller ones from the Kantjeboord kit. The elastics in the Kantjeboord kits are the same size as the upper band elastics in the Large BMS kits. The elastic is 1/2″or 13 mm; or this would be the size of bottom band elastics in a Small findings kit.

3

BMS kits have upper and lower band elastics of differing widths. The Kantjeboord has one size of elastic in their kits – and a lot of it. I’m thinking it must be used for the waist and leg openings of panties as well.

4

BMS has ‘firm’ and ‘soft’ elastics. Their findings kits usually contain ‘firm’ elastics, however, you can make up your own findings kit with ‘soft’ elastics by buying everything individually. The Kantjeboord elastics are all ‘soft’. The ‘soft’ and ‘firm’ refer to the amount of stretch from what I’ve been told.

5

Another difference with the findings is BMS has all one color for their findings kits. Kantjeboord has two colors in each of the three kits I have here. Purple and black were in the first, brown and purple in the second, and pink and silver in the third – all colors complimenting the lace in each kit. You could do this with supplies at BMS – make your own findings kit using different colors, but the pre-made kits are all one color.

6

 Both kits have strap elastic included. You can see below an example of the second color in the Kantjeboord kits. Above the elastic was dark pink, but here the strap elastic is silver. The Kantjeboord elastic would be the same size as what is found in the Small findings kit from BMS – 1/2″ strap elastic.

  7

BMS kits are for bras or bralettes primarily – they sell panty kits (and other kits) separately. The Kantjeboord kits are for bras and panties. The first thing I noticed when I opened the kits was there was a lot of lace. Two meters of lace in each Kantjeboord kit! That’s enough for a bra and panties. There is also a lot of elastic in the Kantjeboord kits, and cotton gusset material.

8

BMS kits have duoplex and power net in them. The Kantjeboord kit has some firm Lycra in the kit. Again, I’m thinking the Lycra must be for the bra cups, the bra back, and the panty too.

Below on the left is a Trio from BMS showing the duoplex and power net with the lace. On the right is the lace and Lycra from one of the kits from Kantjeboord. There’s more material in the Kantjeboord kit, again, I think to make a bra and panty.

9

BMS findings kits have either 2 x 2 hooks and eyes, or 3 x 3 hooks and eyes, depending the size of kit you order. They also have matching metal rings and sliders (again either Large or Small), a bow, and trim for the upper cup. The Kantjeboord kit has some sheer cup lining, cotton for the panty gusset, three bows, 2 x 2 hooks and eyes, smaller rings and sliders (some plastic ones) and some upper cup elastic.

Here’s the sheer cup lining and cotton for the gusset from the Kantjeboord kit.And here are the hooks & eyes, rings and sliders, and bows from both kits. You can see in the darker pink from Kantjeboord, the rings and sliders are plastic.You can also see the two colors used again in the Kantjeboord’s kits with the dark pink hooks and eyes, and the silver bows.

Lastly, here you can see the trim in the BMS kits, and that narrow upper cup elastic in the Kantjeboord’s kits.The bag-full of upper cup elastic my hubby brought me home is a little wider than this one pictured above, but not much wider.   Both suppliers are wonderful, and all of us bra-makers would be lost without suppliers like them! Neither kit is right or wrong – they are just different.

I’m used to the kits from Bra-Makers Supply – I love duoplex and power net! However, I do like some of the differences I’ve found in the Kantjeboord kits. I like all that lace! I like the upper cup elastic, and the matching sheer cup lining.

Happy creating!

Collage Quilting

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

Have you heard of Collage Quilting? I hadn’t. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not much of a quilter. I think I started a quilt many years ago. I have no idea what happened to it. I do have a bunch of squares cut out too. I’m slowly adding more squares to that little stash, but I’ve never made a quilt. I have made a number of very simple lap quilts and quillows, but I don’t consider that quilting.

There are a few things that have grabbed my attention from one look, and collage quilting is one of them.

Look at this! I took one look at this and I started searching. This is a Laura Heine collage quilt pattern, and it’s so adorable! I love how unique it is.

When I looked for her patterns, look what I found:Oh! I LOVE it!

The links to the patterns are in the photos in case you fall in love like I did. And I’m only showing you a few of her patterns.

I had to get the pincushion! In fact, I found a local one-day course and have been working on this pincushion quilt. I was cutting out flowers for it when I was in the mountains last month.

This one is adorable. But I can’t buy them all. So I’m working on the pincushion for now.Just gorgeous!

Even though I’m working on the pincushion, there’s one pattern I love even more. But I wanted to start smaller and get a little practice in first. Look at this!This is over-the-top gorgeous. I did buy the pattern for this one, and will slowly (not as slowly as I’m amassing quilt squares) buy fabrics to make this gorgeous quilt.

My Pincushion

  Again, never having quilted before, I was intimidated to even start this. There was some prep work that needed to be done ahead of the class. Cutting out flowers and other elements to add to our quilts. That wasn’t hard. Then there was making the background. That was daunting.

I finally gave myself a mental push and made a simple pieced background. It turns out I did more work for this background than I needed. The backgrounds can be collaged too.

Here’s how my Pincushion was taking shape before the class.

One of the neat things about these collage quilts is this pincushion isn’t stuck down yet. It has Steam-a-Seam 2 on the back which makes it tacky, and it sticks. But until I iron it down, it can be moved around! That was very helpful in the class.

Collage Class

Last weekend was the collage class. It was taught by Terry Rowland. She’s amazing. She brought a number of her quilts to show us, and was so helpful instructing us all individually, and as a class. One of the things she told me right away was no straight lines.

I had straight lines in my pincushion.I’ve learned my lesson, and to cover this up, I’ve collaged over those straight edges.No more straight lines. At least not visible ones.

A collage quilt is definitely not a project you can complete in a day. I had a simple background done, most of my pincushion, and all my collage elements fused with Steam-a-Seam 2 and cut out. After working on it all day in class, I was only to the point of ironing it all in place.

Here’s my collage quilt after the class. It will take a little longer to finish it up. I’m so very happy with it so far.There’s quite a difference in the quilt already. The before-class, and after-class photos are below.This still needs a backing, some basic quilting done to it, and the edges bound. I’m not quite sure when I’ll have this finished, but I’m loving it already  and look forward to working on it more.

Happy creating!

A Poppy Bralette for Em

~ Michelle

This post is short and sweet. After testing the Poppy bralette in larger sizes, I was asked to test it in the smaller size. Smaller sizes won’t work for me, but will work for my son’s girlfriend, Em.

Materials

I used some lovely materials from Libelle Sewing.

I used this lace.I really like this one.

And I used a printed mesh from Libelle as well.

Power net is a little too strong and snug for Em, but this mesh is perfect! And it’s pretty. I’d really like to find some printed power net. Ooh, polka dot or floral would be nice!

The band and strap elastics all came from Libelle.

 Em’s Poppy

I made the smallest testing size available for Em. A 6 C/D.

Here’s Em’s Poppy. She was right in-between two sizes for her cup size, so I measured between the C/D and DD/E and cut out a half size for the cups. The cups fit her perfectly. Unfortunately, the band on this is just a little bit too tight for Em. She could use one size larger for the band. She still took it home with her though. She thought it was so pretty.

It turns out she gave it to an even-more petite friend, and it fit her perfectly. She loved it so much, I got a marriage proposal!

Here’s the inside. The Poppy’s seams are almost completely enclosed, so it’s pretty inside too. And all those enclosed seams make it really comfortable too.I really love how neat it is on the inside.

Poppy is Available

The Poppy in smaller sizes is available today!

You can find it here.

If you want to see more Poppy Bralettes, check out the House Morrighan Makers’ Facebook group, or their Instagram page.

Happy creating!

Kantjeboord

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

A couple of years ago, my hubby went to Germany for his work, and I had some lovely items sent to his hotel from Sewy. That was a treat!

This past month my hubby went to Amsterdam. Do you know what lingerie shop is in Amsterdam? Kantjeboord! This time he went to the shop for me.

Planning His Shopping Trip

 We planned a way for him to show me what he was looking at, and for us shop together. We were thinking a video call on What’s App could work. And it did. He called me at a terrible hour of the morning, and I blearily shopped with him.

One of the things I haven’t been able to find is thin elastics used for the upper cup. Do you see the thin elastic behind the lace in this photo?  Below is a photo showing the inside of a bra. It’s showing the Gothic arch, but it also shows the elastics I use along my upper cup. I first used this elastic when making the Sewy Rebecca pattern. I really liked how the upper cup fit this way, so I do this for all my lace-cupped bras.

Here’s what the elastic looks like. It’s very narrow, and fine. I’ve checked everywhere for it. I have a little left from a grab bag I bought years ago from Merckwaerdigh’s now-closed Ebay store. Seeing as I use it all the time, I don’t want to run out. So I’ve been looking. All I have left in that grab bag are colors I’m not so thrilled about using.

I sent this photo to Kantjeboord, and they confirmed they carry it. They have lots of it. So my hubby helped me pick out some elastics.

What he brought me home is a little wider than what I’ve had, but it’s still nice and thin.I wonder how long all this will last?

 Beautiful Gifts

Other than the upper cup elastic, my hubby came home from Amsterdam with some beautiful gifts for me. Four meters of lace and three lingerie kits.

I had asked him to take lots of pictures when he was there, but he went by cab, and left the cab running while he ran into shop! He didn’t take a single photo, but he went to Kantjeboord for me!

Here are the laces he brought back for me.

This first one is a deeper pink in person. It’s gorgeous! It’s very sheer.   The second lace he brought me is this one:He also picked out three kits with me. He kept holding them up and asking me if I liked them. Well, silly. I liked them all. And he spoiled me even a little more than I asked. I asked for two kits, and he said he was there, so we should get three.

The first kit is this gorgeous lace with black Lycra.It’s so pretty.

The second kit is a gorgeous sheer multi-colored lace paired with purple Lycra. That’s purple sheer cup lining in the upper right side of the photo!And the third kit is a coral pink and grey lace with coral Lycra – with pink sheer cup lining. Oh my! They’re all so lovely! My hubby did really well.

Are you wondering how the kits differ from kits I’m used to buying here in Canada? I’ll share that in an up-coming post.

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!