I lastly did it! I made myself some bras! For the very first time in my life, I have bras that really FIT! They provide great support as well as they are quite comfortable.
Ready-to-wear underwire bras are not an choice for me – the wires are as well narrow. I was professionally fitted years ago, as well as although the cup volume was correct on the bra I bought, the wires dug in at both the center as well as sides. I used that bra all of one day. I liked the support of an underwire bra, however ouch, I’m just not willing to experience that much. I’ve been using soft cup bras, however it’s difficult to discover a non-wired bra in my size, so I get them with cups that are as well small. My old bras are used out, I got tired of falling out of my bra when I bent over, they truly weren’t providing much support, as well as the bands cut into my sides, so I decided to provide bra-making one more try.
I’ve been trying on as well as off for over a decade to figure out exactly how to make an underwire bra to in shape me. I’d make a few bras, get frustrated as well as quit, then try once again in a year or two. I tried making soft cup bras, as well as that didn’t turn out well either. I made a couple of semi-wearable soft-cup bras, however they didn’t provide much support as well as weren’t comfortable.
I lastly had the time as well as motivation to make a successful underwire bra. It only took twelve muslins over two months to get the style as well as in shape right. every time I believed about quitting, I’d just think, what will I do if I stop now? It’s not like I can just go buy a bra, as well as I don’t want to go bra-less all of the time. I took breaks for a day or two when I needed to, however I made sure not to begin any type of other stitching projects. After about the fifth bra, I went into a kind of zen specify as well as I stopped being impatient with the process. There’s nothing like bra fitting to teach you patience.
I believed I’d “artfully” drape all of the bra muslins over my dressform as well as take a picture. When I had all of the bras on the dressform, I had to laugh. Yes, there is a dressform under there somewhere!
I discovered a great deal as well as I want to document what I learned, however I just want to be done with bras for a while, so I’m going to jumble a lot of stuff together into one long post. I’ve gotten some truly great tips from other bloggers, so perhaps something right here will assist you if you are making bras.
I looked at offered bra patterns, as well as I almost bought the Pin-Up women Shelley pattern, however then I kept in mind what a headache it was the last time I utilized a industrial pattern. Not only are my breasts atypical in shape, however I have a flared rib cage as well as narrow bridge, so I understood I would have to significantly change every single pattern piece. I decided it would be less frustrating to just make my own pattern. I briefly thought about drafting a pattern from measurements, however I’ve had poor results drafting anything from measurements, so I decided to essentially drape a bra pattern over my old bra.
The very first step, whether you are utilizing a pattern or making your own, is to select an underwire. I had a truly difficult time discovering the right size as well as type of underwire. It’s not as simple as just holding up a cable to your breast. The wires flex wider when they are in a bra, as well as the cable gauge; underwire diameter, length, as well as width; tightness of the bra band; bra style; etc., all determine exactly how much the cable flexes. The frame (and potentially cup) have to be changed to in shape the flexed cable shape, so it’s an iterative process. I started out presuming the cable sprung out the suggested 1.5 cm. After making a bra, I bent a versatile ruler around my cable line while using a bra, as well as found the cable was really flexing 2 cm, so I changed the pattern to match that shape.
The other reason I had a difficult time choosing a cable size is that I can’t tell where the sides of my breast tissue is visually. My breasts look like they slowly blend into my underarms. There is a definite edge to the tissue there somewhere; I just can’t see it. After using wires that are as well narrow for a couple of hours, they started to hurt on the sides, so I kept going up a size up until they didn’t hurt.
When I lastly got the right cable size, all kind of in shape as well as comfort issues went away. The wires stayed in the right location instead of getting pushed downward. I’d been having to constantly readjust my bra when I had the wires as well small, however now my bra “magically” stays put.
I started out with vertical (aka Bliss) underwires, since I believed they would in shape my narrow bridge. They did, however I requirement truly wide wires, which means they have to bend around the sides of my rib cage, so I ultimately changed to the versatile Flex-Lite wires, which ended up fitting my bridge fine, too.
Flex-Lite wires are thin gauge spring steel wires with a plastic coating. I was truly confused about them, since I couldn’t discover adequate descriptions of them online. The description on the BravoBella site suggests that they are not steel wires – they are steel, they just have a plastic finish so the edges aren’t so sharp. They will flex to bend around your body, since your rib cage most likely isn’t a completely flat plane. They are easier to bend than other underwires, however still provide decent support. You just have to treat them carefully so they don’t accidentally get bent in the laundry or something.
Flex-Lite wires are offered on BravoBella as well as sew Sassy, however the two sites label the exact same size wires with different numbers. add 6 to the sew Sassy Flex-Lite sizes to get the BravoBella size. For example, a BravoBella size 54 is the exact same cable as a sew Sassy size 48. BravoBella likewise offers some smaller sizes that sew Sassy doesn’t carry. I would trust the sew Sassy sizes more, however go by the cable measurements when selecting a wire, not the bra size listed (and buy a wide variety of sizes to try). The sizes listed on the BravoBella site presume you will bend the wires wider or narrower to fit. I don’t believe that’s a great idea, as well as it didn’t work for me. There’s no method I might get two wires to end up the exact same shape, as well as I bent them back as well as forth so many times trying to get the right shape that I was worried the wires were ruined. I never did get the shape rather right, either. I needed the cable to curve more near the ends, however the cable wouldn’t bend there. instead of bending the wires to shape, I’d suggest choosing the size with the right diameter, then shortening the wires as needed like you would any type of other wire.
Here’s exactly how I lastly discovered the right size wire. It wasn’t up until bra #10 that I figured this out. I put Flex-Lite wires into my present bra muslin, bent the wires up until they felt right when I was using it, then held up different sizes of wires to the bra up until I discovered the curve that matched the bent wires. I was surprised at exactly how big of wires I needed to prevent having wires dig into my breast tissue on the sides. I utilized different size underwires on my left as well as right sides, as well as I had to shorten both ends of the wires rather a bit. Short, wide wires don’t provide as great of support, so I made a full protection bra as well as kept the wires as long as I might at the center as well as underarm.
To make the bra pattern, I put larger wires into the bra I still had from getting fitted years ago. It has stretchy seamless, non-padded cups, so it worked well to provide me a relatively natural shape to work with. The band was as well large, so I sewed tucks in it up until it in shape right. I likewise sewed a tuck in the bridge to make it narrower. While using the bra, I covered the cups with a combination of glad Press’n seal as well as tape. The Press’n seal conforms to curves well, however extra tape, particularly where there will be seams, keeps the pattern from stretching out when it is removed. I drew seam lines on the tape, then peeled it off as well as cut apart the pieces. I likewise traced the bridge as well as band.
When converting rounded shapes to flat patterns, I kept ending up with cups that were as well small, so I should have just graded up the pattern pieces right away. It’s simple to pinch out additional to make the cups smaller during fitting, however not so simple to make them larger.
For my very first four bras, I tried making a partial band bra. lastly I realized that my wires were as well versatile to work in a partial band bra, as well as I needed to make a full band bra. At least in my size, neither vertical wires nor Flex-Lite wires are stiff sufficient to make a partial band bra work. I started totally over with a new full band pattern for the fifth bra.
The very first four bras
It appeared like it fit, however it wouldn’t stay in location as well as the wires dug in.
I made the second version (starting with bra #5) with non-stretch woven cotton for the lower cups as well as the powerbar side panel. The grainline on the side panel is vertical, as well as the two lower cup pieces are cut on the bias. I have a rounded upper cup, so I utilized two-way stretch knit material for the upper cup with the biggest stretch in the horizontal direction.
I started out with an angled seam between the upper cup as well as lower cup, however the non-stretch lower as well as side part of the cups pushed my boobs to the center as well as provided me a weird bulge on the lower part of the stretchy upper cup. I changed to a horizontal seam, as well as the shape was much improved. The upper cup to lower cup seam is just above the apex so the woven material covers my nipples for a bit more modesty – the knit material would outline every contour. I really put the seam there by accident, however it worked out so well I’m pretending I did it on purpose.
I’m extremely sensitive to pressure as well as I don’t have much fat over my ribs, so I started out with thickly padded underwire channeling. It kept me from feeling wires cutting into my bones, however then the channeling itself was so thick that it made an uncomfortable ridge. I tried putting the wires into channeling sewed onto the outside of the bra, as well as that made a significant difference in comfort. I put non-padded channeling (really just folded bias tape) made of muslin on the inside to cover the seam allowance as well as the trimmed band elastic, then I topstitched padded channeling onto the outside for the wires. It looks a bit weird, as well as it’s more work, however it is SO much more comfortable. I don’t believe I might tolerate using wires otherwise, however now I barely feel them.
Here’s the very first bra that truly in shape me (bra #12). The wrinkling on the upper cup in the photos below is not a in shape issue. I utilized nylon tricot for the upper cup lining as well as stretchier material on the outside, so the lining pulled tight before the outside did. I’ll have to keep in mind to make the outer cup a bit smaller if I utilize that combination again. right now I don’t care about the wrinkles, since THE BRA FITS. I can’t believe I can state that now.
Bra #12 – denim bra
Here’s the last bra I made (bra #13). now I have two wearable bras. The lower cups on this bra are made of a remnant I had left over from the very first gown I sewed as a teenager. There’s definitely a late 1980s look to that print. I believe I’m going to have to make some bras with larger cups to account for monthly size fluctuations. The one below is quite snug at the moment, however I can still wear it.
Here are some other random things I learned:
The only thing I discovered from my second bra is that nylon tricot shrinks! A lot! I couldn’t even assess the in shape of the bra, since I washed it to get glue out before using it as well as it shrunk at least a cup size. I drew a square on a piece of tricot, washed it on warm as well as dried it on low heat, then inspected the size of the square. It took two laundry as well as dry cycles to surface shrinking, as well as it shrunk 7% in each direction. even the polyester material I was utilizing to line the tricot shrunk 2%, so I’m going to pre-wash all of my material from now on, regardless of fiber content. Anything that shrinks a great deal I will pre-wash twice. even a small bit of shrinkage impacts the in shape of a bra. Lesson discovered the difficult way.
Nylon tricot stretches out significantly when wet. I utilized it for the upper cup on my final versions, however I wouldn’t want to depend on it for support on the lower cup. envision a miserable hot summertime day, you begin to perspire, as well as then your boobs sag.
Elmer’s washable institution glue works well to stabilize nylon tricot as well as stop it from curling when cut. I mixed a teaspoon of glue in a cup of water, then sprayed it on the fabric. I dried it with a hair dryer, then ironed it. It’s much cheaper than the spray stabilizer you can buy, as well as works great.
I made non-stretch bra straps, however didn’t interface them. They stretched out. Duh.
Non-stretch bra straps with a section of adjustable elastic at the back provide great support, reduce bounce, as well as hold the bra in location while still enabling you to raise your shoulders. I make my straps adjustable, since I notice even a small difference in tension, as well as I like them to feel just right.
My stitching machine tries to eat my material when I begin a seam on knit materials or lightweight wovens. To keep my material from getting chewed up, I begin stitching on a scrap of paper, then location the material over the paper so there is paper under the very first half-inch or so of the seam. The paper tears right off. It only works with directly stitched seams though, unless you want to spend an hour utilizing tweezers to pick bits as well as pieces of paper out of a zig-zagged seam (AMHIK).
I tried stretching unmeasured luxurious elastic by eye as I sew like some people recommend, however after practicing on 10 bras in a row, I still had different lengths of elastic on the left as well as right. now I pre-measure the underarm as well as neckline elastic, making it 90% of the length of the material edge (measured off the pattern). The band elastic length I determined by trial as well as error – it ended up just somewhat shorter than the back band fabric.
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