Vertical wires.

Fitting the Omega Shape

~ Michelle ~ 17 Comments

Here’s a little history of my learning curve on the Omega shape.

Way back in 2012 I wrote a post called The Dawn of the Alteration Age. That was the beginning of my journey in understanding and learning about the Omega shape and the alterations needed to help fit it. In that blog I wrote:

After a few bras, I made a call to Bra-Makers Supply with a question. You see, every bra I wore, whether RTW or one I’d made, all left a line or imprint about an inch or so under the bust line. I was simply wondering what caused this.

Beverly, the owner of Bra-Makers Supply, and author of two manuals on bra-making gave me my answer: the underwires I was using were either too big or too small.

Hmm, too big or too small really wasn’t the answer I was wanting, but it did help me to realize one thing – my wires weren’t fitting. They were the same wires I’d worn in RTW bras.

So, what is the Omega shape? What is this mysterious breast shape all about? Well, I can’t say every woman with an Omega shape will be the same, but there is a common thread: the actual breast is larger than the root of the breast. If you’re wondering what that mean in terms of bra-making – it means the wire/cradle will not match the cup size. For me, I need a 36 wire/cradle, but a cup that would normally take a 42 wire/cradle.

These two sized parts don’t go together easily as they don’t match in size, so there have to be alterations to get that larger cup into that smaller cradle.

Here’s an older photo showing the different length between the two parts. The cup is on the bottom.

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In this photo, you can see the cup extending out past where the cradle and the wire will end.

There are a couple of alterations to help ‘ease’ that cup into the cradle. One method that I’ve used quite a bit is to run a gathering line of stitches along the lower edge of the cup where it will fit into the cradle, then gather. You’ll have to eye-ball it a bit – gather, pin it in and see if you need to adjust the gathers or not. I tend to over-gather, so usually have to let it out a bit.

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I find this method the fastest and easiest alteration. It does leave a few small puckers in the bottom of the cup, but seriously, who’s looking there?

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As well, I think the puckering is a bit exaggerated on Catherine, as she’s not the same size as me. When I’m wearing the bras, I really don’t notice any puckering.

Another method of removing that excess is one I used when I first started making the alterations – I was trimming the corners of all the cup pieces to take out that inch or so of excess along the bottom of the cup. Basically making little darts all along the seams. The Shelley pattern was good for taking that excess out. But I had to be very careful – although I didn’t need the fullness at the seam line, I did all the fullness in the cup. And to be honest, it was a lot of work.

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The benefit is it’s a much neater looking seam line. I’ve found it’s not worth all the fussing with the seams. I’ve found just using a little steam on the bra after I’ve sewn it really makes most of the little puckers disappear.

One last thing to consider when dealing with the Omega shape is the wires. Often a Vertical wire is recommended, and many women find that the perfect wire for them.

Here’s a great photo showing two wires that are the same size – one Vertical which is much narrower, and one is a regular long wire.

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That’s quite a difference. As helpful as that Vertical wire is for many women dealing with an Omega shape – I needed more help. There’s a big difference between 36 and 42 wires. I needed both the narrower shape, but also the length and I wasn’t getting that with the smaller Vertical wires. I found Flexible wires were perfect for me.

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In the above photo you can see how much narrower that Flexible wire can be. I found the Flexible wires to be perfect for me in dealing with the Omega shape. Along with the alterations I make to the cup (to help it fit into the smaller cradle), I’ve found using the Flexible wires really made a huge difference and made my bras (finally) fit me perfectly.

Happy creating!

The Flexible Wire Experiment

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I did a little bra-wearing experiment. I still wasn’t 100% happy with my fit. Do you get the idea I’m looking for perfection? I am!

At the end of the day, I could see when I undressed, the wires I was using weren’t fitting me perfectly. I also knew from experience that a size smaller felt like it pinched a bit. So, if the size I’m wearing is too big, and one size smaller is too small, where did that leave me?

I’d read something recently about the flexible wires available at Bravo Bella, Needle Nook Fabrics, and Sew Sassy. I decided to give them a try and see if they’d solve my wire problem. I ordered three sizes from Needle Nook Fabrics – 36, 38, and 40. Anne St. Clair was so very helpful. I must say, women like Anne and Beverly Johnson are a tremendous help to us non-professional bra-makers. Thank you!

I could tell with just a glance that the 40 wires were the same size I’d been using, so I ruled them out, initially. The 36s felt perfect but were too short for me to use. That left the 38s. I popped out the Vertical wires I’d been using from my most recent Black Butterfly bra and wore the flexible wires for a day. (Here’s a confession: I didn’t even sew the seams up!)

Here are the two 38 wires  – one regular and one flexible:

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And this second photo shows just how much these flexible wires can flex:

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That’s tremendous. There’s no way a regular wire is going to move like that! As well, the flexible wires don’t splay outward anymore than the regular wires I’d been using did – I checked. They flex inward.

Just before I popped those new wires in, I pressed them together to make the curve a little narrower. On the Bravo Bella web site, Monica Bravo has a couple of videos about the wires, and on one she explains how they can be shaped. That sounded perfect to me.

At the end of the experimental day, I could see these wires were a much better fit for me. Yay! I now have a nice little stash of flexible wires on their way to me.

Now to adjust my pattern to help with the wire fit. I’ve learned though, change one part of the bra pattern, and it means changing something else. Now I decided to look at the cradle those wires are fitting into. What I’ve been using is drawn from a 38 wire cradle that I lengthened to fit the 40 Vertical wire. I wanted to change that. Clearly, the channel that fit a 38 wire was too big.

In this photo, you can see the bridge and then the 36 and 38 cradle lines. There’s not a lot of difference between the cradle sizes, but I think one size will be just enough to make things a little more comfortable and fit better. The main problem with a cradle that’s too big is the weight of the breasts will push the bra frame down and you won’t get the support you need. The cradle really needs to fit.

I traced the 30E on this pattern (the smallest cradle size on it). I’d been using the 32E cradle for my last few bras. I’d even tried the 34E cradle, which would normally take  a 40 wire, so I would have fewer cup alterations, but I found it really didn’t help with my fitting issues – just my alteration ones.

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So, out came my pencil, eraser, and medical exam table paper. I traced of the 30E cradle and then laid my custom pattern pieces over that to add those aspects to the pattern – the narrower and lower bridge, adjusting for a flat spot, thinning out the elastic under the bust, and raising up the side 1/4″.

At this point all the alterations were good to go. In fact, you’ve seen them! I used them all on my last bra – the Sewyfied Shelley. That bra is my best-fitting bra! There are only a couple of cosmetic changes I want to make at this point. What a great feeling that is!

Happy creating!

A New Fantasie in the Works

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I get emails from a few online bra stores. They’re full of bras, so full of design ideas. Does anyone else do that?

One came from HerRoom recently with a video attached. The video is part of a fitting series, and was talking about how the ‘center panel’ should fit. The center panel is what I’m familiar with as the bridge. I watched to see what they’d say because I’ve had so many issues with bridge-fitting. You can watch the video here.  A wonderful little extra right under the video is a transcript of the video. Here’s the part that got my attention:

“The center panel should rest firmly against your sternum. If it doesn’t, your bra cups are not deep enough so you need to go up a cup size. If your center panel is significantly pulling away from your sternum, you probably need to go up several cup sizes and down a band size.”

I knew a lot of the information in the video, including the information in the above quote, but it did give me reason to re-think my bra-making bridge issues. I had followed the instructions in the Bra Makers Manuals and ‘Frankensteined’ my bras that didn’t go all the way back to the chest wall. I did this more than once, and one of those times was with the teacher here. And even doing that. I did not get the fit I was looking for. After what felt like too many attempts, I’d given up. It was suggested I just use a lower bridge and that does work. But I’m not really one to leave things alone or give up. I wanted to find a solution to this.

So, with that very persistent personality trait, and the video stirring up questions in my mind, I thought about the RTW bras I have that fit with the bridge going all the way back to the chest wall. The Prima Donna bras I have do not do that. Neither the Deauville bra, nor the Duchess bra achieve that aspect of fit, but the Deauville is somewhat better. However, because they didn’t fit to begin with, I didn’t even look at either of those to help me in drafting a new pattern.

The one RTW bra I have that does achieve this fit level is the Fantasie Vivienne.

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This picture is from the internet as, at the time of this writing, I had not made a Fantasie clone yet. The cups on this RTW fit perfectly AND the bridge does go all the way back. But the bridge does not fit properly – it’s too wide. The wire is not the correct size either. Although it’s the closest I’ve ever found in a RTW bra. It’s even got Vertical wires. Those wires are one size too big. And too big is still too big.

I was thinking, if the bridge not going all the way back is a cup-depth problem… and these cups fit perfectly… then I can use the cups. And I’ll fix the bridge and the wire size. I’d want to fix the bridge, even if the other bridge fit better because I have a custom bridge that also adjusts for a flat spot. I’d also want to use the cradle I made for the Vertical wires I use.

Out came the pattern drafting paper, and I started to re-draw my custom bridge and cradle, starting with my wires. This method is described in the Bra Makers Manual.

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Here’s the first steps of that new bridge. You can see how it is the same shape as the Vertical wire. I felt like I was off to a great start here. I know the cups fit, so at this point no changes to them (at least not yet). And with the cups fitting, the depth should be spot on.

I now have a cradle and bridge drawn, and the bridge had the custom aspects added, and I have cups that fit. I’m feeling pretty confident at this point.

Now to address how some of the changes I’m making affect the cloned pattern I already have. I’m using a different wire and it’s not the same height as the wires that came in the RTW Fantasie.

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You can see the difference in the wires here. I have to say, although the RTW wires are a bit sturdier, they are a LOT less pretty to use.

I measured the difference between my new custom bridge and the cloned one, and took that amount out of the upper cup as well. It was only a 1/4-inch, so not a huge amount, but that excess still has to go somewhere. The next adjustments to make will be to the lower cup to help it fit into a smaller cradle.

As this is getting quite long, I’m going to sign off here, and next week I’ll have the conclusion of alterations and hopefully a perfectly fitting bra, with a full bridge that goes all the way back to the chest wall!

Happy Creating!

Kwik Sew 3300

~ Michelle ~ 5 Comments

This is such a pretty style. Here is my Kwik Sew 3300:

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I think it looks so pretty with the black and white theme. The lace was a gift, and the floral stretch lace is from a local fabric store. All other material supplies are from Bra Makers Supply.

It’s pretty, but there were a couple of fitting issues. One really wasn’t a biggie. This bra  had the straps pinned up about 2 inches here in the picture – so I shortened those.

The bigger fitting issue is the upper part of the cup is loose. I could pinch a quarter-inch out of the upper cup. That shouldn’t be too hard to fix on the pattern, and thankfully it doesn’t show when I wear it. This style actually fits similarly to how a foam cup bra fits.

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You can see here where I pinned the cup.

The steps I took beforehand really helped me to get the cup to fit properly. Here’s what I did for this bra (and some of this is from  past posts, but I’m putting it all together here):

The first thing I did was sew up a muslin for the cups. I did this twice. After looking at the pattern pieces, and picking the one I thought was closest to my size, I sewed up my first muslin. I used some scrap cotton I had left over from a skirt muslin I’d made. On this first one I could see how much I would need to adjust the pattern along the wire line. Remember, I my wear one size bra for the cups, but my wire size does not match that – it’s quite a bit smaller. So that was my first adjustment.

After I altered the pattern I sewed up another cup muslin. Again, I used some left over cotton, but this time it was from one of my moulages. This second one I pinned over an existing well-fitting bra. It was a pretty good fit at this point. But still needed a bit of adjustment. On this second muslin I drew where the seam lines fell underneath it.  Again, dealing with an Omega shape means most patterns don’t fit the way they are.

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At this point I was pretty sure I had the right size and shape for me. And I was really close.

This bra has a vertical seam, so no upper and lower cup, but instead and inside and outside cup. I was using lace for both the inside and outside cups, so I lined them both with sheer cup lining. That made both cups completely non-stretch to give it the support it needed. I’ve done this before on all lace bras, and it works great. I usually don’t use Lycra because I don’t find it offers the support needed, but using this sheer cup lining would be a great option for under Lycra too.

At this point I was feeling quite confident that this bra was going to fit without any issues. You see, most of my issues have been the bridge and the adjustments I needed for the Omega shape. I haven’t run into this looseness before.

I didn’t use the band that came with the pattern. I used the one I know fits wells. I now have a custom bridge that is working great for me and I wasn’t going to mess with that. As well, I drafted the cradle on my band to fit a Vertical wire and a custom bridge. After all the work to get the band to fit so well, there was no way I was going to try another band! All I was really wanted was to insert the 3300 cups into my band for a different look.

Even though this bra pattern still needs some tweaking, the steps I took ahead of time really were worth all the effort. And if you have challenges with fitting, I really recommend this method of fitting the bra cups. A shout out to Sigrid for sharing this. And after much searching, I realized it was not in her blog, but on Pattern Review. She explained this when she reviewed Merckwaerdigh’s BHST2 pattern. Really a great tip!

Happy Creating!

I’m Copying Again

~ Michelle

I’ve come full circle in my blogging. I started off with a blog called I’m a Copy Cat. Well, it’s been over a year of bra-making and I’d promised myself that even if I was hugely successful at bra-making, once a year I buy a good quality bra and copy it. I don’t know that I’ve been hugely successful, but I certainly can  make a bra.

So I went back to the boutique and bought one of those bras I’d tried on and treated myself.

Vivienne Fantasie

Here’s the bra I bought – but that’s not me in the picture. This is a very pretty bra, and I do like how supportive it is. It’s a Fantasie Vivienne in berry.

Once I got it home, something was bothering me a little. You know, just one of those nagging things in the back of your mind. Then I realized what it was – the underwires weren’t as big as some of the Prima Donna’s I’ve had in the past. The Prima Donna’s are really too big on me, but this one is only about a size too big.

I couldn’t figure this out. From everything I looked at in size charts, the wire should have been the same size of wire as the Prima Donna’s.

To begin, I got my stash of wires out and laid them over the bra’s channeling. I wasn’t getting a match though. This was really bothering me, so out came the seam ripper and I opened the channeling under the arm. I know how to fix it again, so I thought why not? Although I will say it was the first time I’ve ever ripped out stitches on a new bra!

I took out the wire and to my great surprise, it’s a Vertical wire! I was SO very surprised by that. I had to be sure though, so I went to Bra-Makers Supply’s web page and printed out their forms for Vertical wires. Just look under Information to Download, and it’s in that list.

Interestingly, the wire in the bra wasn’t quite a 44VW, but not a 42VW either. Just slightly bigger than the 42VW wire. When I tried the Vertical wires, I was informed that a 40VW corresponds to a 38 wire. I found the 40VW a bit small, so 42VW would be the size for me. And I find this only a tiny bit big. That means very little alterations for me!

And I’ve mentioned this before, but Vertical wires are a much better fit for women like me, dealing with what Beverly Johnson refers to in her manuals as the Omega shape. I had no idea there were bras on the market that used Vertical wires!

I also thought I’d mention a great resource, just in case you’re wanting to clone a bra. For me, it originally came from my first Threads magazines purchase. Sadly, it’s an out of print issue from Feb/March 2002 (#99). Beverly Johnson wrote an article called “Clone a Favorite Bra”. There’s a review of this article  on Pattern Review. I recommend it as well.

But don’t be discouraged that you can’t get that magazine back issue; the same information as the article is in the Bra-Makers Manual; the only big difference is the article had photos with it; the information in the manual has illustrations.

Happy creating!