A Black Cherry Angie

November 10, 2018November 9, 2018 ~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I really love the shape and lift some of these new patterns give, like the Angie, Ruby, Jessica, and the new Amethyst.This is the new Amethyst pattern.

These patterns are all lovely additions to our bra-sewing pattern collections. I had planned to make another Angie and Ruby as I know they both fit wonderfully. I also want to try the new Jessica and Amethyst patterns too. All the while, I’ve been testing patterns for House Morrighan. I am having such a fun time!

On top of all these great patterns to be excited about, there were the lovely new kits my husband brought home from Amsterdam. I had to break into a kit, and see what I could make with one.

Angie

Angie was the first bra I wanted to make again. Here’s my latest Angie. This is with black cherry duoplex, and some of the lovely lace from Kantjeboord.I thought of a few ways to use lace on the Angie. I’ve seen people use it laid horizontally across the lower part of the cups. I’ve seen people use lace on every other cup piece, and on every cup piece. None of those were what I wanted to do for this one. I didn’t think any of those options would showcase this lace the way I wanted. So I decided to cut out the floral part of the lace, and applique it onto the cups. A little Misty Fuse to hold things in place, a small zigzag, and they look lovely.

Here’s a close up of the cup.Yes, this lace goes beautifully with the black cherry duoplex. I really like this! You can also see I’ve added a strap tab to this Angie. I like the strap tab addition and will likely continue to use one.

My inspiration for this came from wanting to use this lace, use this pattern, and my desire to make this more supportive by using duoplex. In the back of my mind, I remembered a blog post from The Lingerie Addict showing the most beautiful Japanese bras. Here’s one from the internet:This is not my bra, and not my photo. It is beautiful though, and shows you can use lace in different ways than just on the upper cup. If you want to see the most stunning lingerie, go look at the post I linked above. The bras are amazing.

With that memory in the back of my mind, I thought I can do applique on my bra as well. I think mine is lovely too.

Here’s the bra from the side: You can see here, although the front is black cherry, I’ve used black for the back band and all the elastics.

And the back of the bra: The band has a downward hike to it.

I love how this came together.

As much fun as I’m having sewing bras and lingerie right now, I have to get busy sewing Christmas gifts. I won’t be showing any of those until after Christmas though.

Happy creating!

Comparing Kits

September 22, 2018September 21, 2018 ~ 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!

Kantjeboord

September 7, 2018September 6, 2018 ~ 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.