hallå knotty pants

I’m ready for Spring! How are you feeling? Weary of winter too? We had a few gorgeous very Spring-like days, and now we’re back into winter temps again. Oh, I’m very ready for Spring.

When I was looking at kits for Em for her March bra, I wanted bright and lively colors. Nothing dark. I’d add dreary, but I’ve yet to see a pretty bra kit that is dreary!

So I looked through my kits and actually couldn’t find one that was what I wanted. So I took the lace and elastics from one kit and the Lycra from another and ‘made’ this perfect kit for Em’s bra.

Here’s Em’s March Watson. Oh, I love these bright colors! And the flowers and butterflies too. I even love the little butterfly at the center instead of a bow. But I’m not sure about the flower on the front of the band. What do you think? Here’s the side view. I’ve actually used Lycra from B,Wear again for the whole bra. For the frame, band, and I also lined the cups with it again. The lace is a sheer lace with the floral pattern embroidered on it.

I’ve used green elastics as well, but not for the straps. Oh! Look at that color combo. That is so lovely. I couldn’t resist fuchsia straps with this green and the lace. The straps make everything in the lace just pop! Here’s a closer look at the butterfly and flower above, and with the flower removed below. I really can’t decide which I like better.

Here’s a sweet set pairing Em’s Spring bra with a cute pair of pink panties. And lastly as promised. A couple of photos of me in my new Halla Knotty pants.

I wanted them loose and flowy, and I got them just how I wanted them.

And just a head’s up, I have 2 courses over the next month, 22 fitting bras to sew, and a class to prepare. I’m not sure how much I’ll be blogging, but I’ll try to pop on with some of those fitting bras.

Happy creating!

When I started sewing my own bras, the Pin-up Girls Shelley pattern wasn’t even available yet. So many patterns have been released since then.

There are some new bra and bralette patterns available right now. And I’ve heard there are more patterns coming too. I know of three more soon-to-be-released patterns. What an exciting time to be making our own bras!

The Poppy Bralette was released today. You can find it here.

The Poppy Bralette

I heard of this new bralette pattern when the designer put out a call for testers, so I offered to test the pattern. Do you see the cup sizes? This pattern isn’t all smaller sizes. This one will actually fit me. The only other bralette pattern I know of that is in my size range is the Pin-up Girls Sweet Sixteen pattern. I was really excited to learn of another designer who’s designed for larger cup sizes.

Here’s the sizing for the Poppy Bralette.

If you need a smaller size, those are coming too. The designer simply decided to test and release the larger sizes first. When the smaller sizes are available, I’ll let you know.

Other than the larger cup sizes, another appealing feature of this pattern is it can be made in cotton Lycra. Ooh! I love cotton Lycra!

Materials

This bralette can be made in CL. It can also be made in Viscose Spandex, Stretch Lace, and Stretch Mesh. It’s fully lined. You can line it with cotton Lycra again, or something with a little more support like power net.

I’m going to use cotton Lycra for my main fabric and line it with power net. Here’s the fabric I’m using:Recognize this? I just used this gorgeous cotton Lycra to make my knotty pants. I think a pretty bralette to match will be very fun.

My Poppy Bralette

Here’s my Poppy Bralette.I think it’s adorable! However, it’s a smidge small in the cups.

After talking with the designer, we both thought it might have been the power net lining. Power mesh might have been a better idea, or simply cotton Lycra.

I did sew this together with wash-away thread, so I’m going to soak it and then try those changes.

Impressions

Making this bralette with power net as the lining makes it very supportive. It’s definitely not flimsy!

I like the shape of this bralette too. The cup shape is flattering, the wide back and sides are very comfortable and supportive.

Here’s the side: I need to gather the elastic under the arm more. I’m very shallow there, and have to make that adjustment on almost every bra I sew.

Here’s the back view:Look at this nice deep back.

One of the things that impressed me the most with this pattern is almost all the seams are enclosed. Talk about comfortable! Just look here at the side seam.This photo shows the side seam and the under-bust seam. Both are enclosed. It’s a very nice feature. The only seam not enclosed is the center front.

Here’s the center cup seam, which is enclosed too and you can see the center front. It’s not enclosed, but it’s sewn down flat. Do you see that nice wide elastic at the bottom edge? That’s 3/4″/19 mm elastic. Another supportive feature of this bralette.

My Second Poppy

Seeing as I used power net on my first Poppy, I decided to use all cotton Lycra for the second one.This looks the same on the outside, but the inside is lovely soft cotton Lycra. Soft, comfortable, and those lovely enclosed seams. It’s really nice.