Ruby

A New Ruby

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I wanted to make another Ruby. I am really loving the new patterns that are available. I’m thinking after this, another Angie, or maybe I’ll try the Jessica, and then the Amethyst pattern. Well, maybe I’ll do some of these fun new patterns in-between Christmas gift sewing and the Bra Drafting course I’m taking. I’ll share more on that next week.

Lace

 I did have a Ruby all cut out, so was working on that first. For my lace, I’m using some from Kantje Boord again. In fact, I’m using the same lace I used on my last Angie. The first photo below shows the lace on black Lycra (from the Kantjeboord website). The second photo is my black cherry bra with the lace flowers cut out and appliqued. I thought it would be fun to see how the same lace can look very different used in different ways. I’ll be using black duoplex and power net for my newest bra.

Ruby

For this Ruby, I did make one small alteration to the pattern. The straps felt a little too widely set for me, so I’m moving them in just a bit. I’m using my TNT cradle for this Ruby too. Other than that, the only alterations I made were for my Omega shape.

Here’s my Ruby:I am loving this! I love the colors. I love the shape and fit. Oh, these new patterns are so nice.

When making this Ruby, I did make another change – this time to the style of this Ruby. I decided in order to show the lace off as much as I wanted, I wouldn’t use fold-over elastic along the neckline edge. I changed the neckline to allow the lace scallops to show, and did what I usually do to stabilize a lace upper cup – sheer cup lining and some of that wonderful upper cup elastic from Kantje Boord.

Here’s my Ruby from the side:

And my Ruby from the back:I really do love this bra. It’s kind of funny, but my hubby is taking all the credit for this bra because he brought the lace back from Amsterdam. We all know there’s a little more to the bra than just lace. But he’s having fun taking credit.

To add a pop of color, I used a black cherry bow and added a black crystal to the bow’s center.It’s a very pretty pop of color.

Lastly, here are the two bras together:Even though I used the same lace on both of these bras, they definitely look different. Do you have a preference? Let me know which one you like best.

Happy creating!

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!

Ruby for the Challenge

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

This is a long post. I’ll warn you right up front. But I had a lot to share on the new Pin-up Girls’ Ruby pattern.

I had no time for the June Bra-makers Challenge. I was testing two patterns – you’ve seen the Ingrid pattern. There’s another new pattern coming in just a few days. I’ll post about that in a couple of days.

As well, I had to make the Knotty Pants as soon as that pattern was released, and I’m loving them.

But, I am trying to fit the challenge in again this month. To do that, I’m combining two things for this post – I’m trying the new Ruby pattern, and I’m making Ruby for my Bra-makers Challenge submission.

The Challenge

  The July Challenge was Your Birthday Suit, and the challenge was to work with sheer fabrics.This pattern has quite a few options listed. Foam-lined or all fabric. Underwired or wire-free. The bras I’ve seen sewn up are lovely! Here’s one from the BMS website:This is so pretty!

Ruby for the Challenge

Here’s my Ruby/July Challenge. I think she’s she’s lovely!I’ve made this with sheer cup lining, and black elastics. I think it works very well together.

 Here’s the side view.Ruby has a lovely shape. It’s definitely a rounder shape to the cups.

The upper cup on this pattern is shorter. A shorter upper cup helps to give more lift.This pattern calls for 1/2-inch elastic for the bottom band, which is a bit of a change for me. I usually use 3/4-inch elastic. However, this is still supportive.

It also uses 3/8-inch elastic for the upper band. Another smaller elastic choice for me.

Here’s the back of the bra.Ruby doesn’t have fabric straps. For mine, because this is a tester to see how it will fit, I only used strap elastic. However, the pattern suggests sewing some ribbon over the elastic at the front for more support.How the straps attach on the Ruby is different too. The strap is attached to the ring at the front, giving it a lovely modern look.

Another feature Ruby has is the fold over elastic along the upper cup.It’s so sleek and modern-looking!

This photo shows just how sheer my Ruby really is.  She’s lovely.

Impressions of Ruby

My first impressions of Ruby are it’s a lovely pattern. It went together easily, with no problems at all. It does go together a little differently than Shelley, which I’m so used to making, but then it’s a different pattern. The two patterns have different neckline finishes, different straps, and a different cup shape.

I do think I’m going to enjoy Ruby and make another one soon. In fact, I already have a kit to make one.

Made for Omega?

I’d read somewhere that Ruby had sewing lines for Omega shapes. I quick email to Bra-makers Supply let me know this is not the case. There are seam lines marked on the pattern. However, those seam line could be used as a guide to adjust the pattern for Omega shapes.

This photo below shows a bit of the pattern with the seam lines pointed out. I’ve drawn in a curved red line where one could adjust the pattern if you’re an Omega shape.This adjustment I’m showing would shave off 1/4-inch from the wire line, but leave the fullness of the cup. You could shave off a 1/4-inch from other cup pieces too – as many as you needed.

PSA

Do you read all of the instructions before you start a project? I don’t always read them all, and I should!

I had read through the beginning of the pattern, and traced off the Fabric pattern pieces because I wasn’t using foam cups. Then I altered the front frame, and the cups to fit my shape.

After doing that, I was looking through the pattern for the instructions for sewing fabric only. I found them on page four – there are only four pages of instruction.

Imagine my surprise when I read this:Hello? What’s this? Remember? Remember what? I didn’t read this anywhere!

So I go back to the beginning, and I read all the beginning instructions again. Nothing.

I read it again. I’m still not seeing anything.

All I could think was I’ve spent all this time tracing the pattern, altering the pattern, and cutting it out only for it to be the wrong size?

Well, it is there. It’s in the first paragraph… which I didn’t read.I saw, ‘Thank you…’, and skipped right past that paragraph to get to work.

I’ve highlighted it now so I won’t be able to miss that again. I may mark on the Fabric pattern pieces too so there’s no way I can overlook this vital bit of information again.

As a result of my oversight, my Ruby is a little small for me. All the adjustments I made worked out perfectly though. And this being sheer cup lining, it does have a little more stretch than duoplex. It almost fits. However, I will need that next size up.

I’m off to alter the next cup size…

Happy creating!