Merckwaerdigh – BHS10 – Construction, part 1

A post I haven’t done for a long time: showing how I make a bra. In this case, the pattern I’m using is the Merckwaerdigh BHS 10. It’s the one completely made of lace, as shown in the drawing at the bottom right. Another vairiation I made you can see in this post, there I combined lace and lycra. This time I want to make the all-lace variation.

Let me say that this is my interpretation of construction, I didn’t even look at the instructions provided with the pattern, just using my experience. I have no affiliation with the company, just like a few of their patterns.
This lace variation calls for a stretch lace, as the band will need stretch. I often use non-stretch lace for the cups and most stretch laces are not firm enough for me without an extra interfacing in the cups (obviously depending on your cup size). There are a few tule laces available though, that have some stretch and are firm enough for the cups to use without interfacing.
Only then: I like a bit firmness in the band, so I’m using an extra interfacing layer for the band. In the picture below you can see the inner structure for the band. The center front is a tule without any stretch, the bridge mustn’t stretch at all. The sides are a kind of powernet. Firm but with stretch. These two are sewn together.

The pattern has a center front seam, the band is straight at the bottom to be able to completely use the scallop of the lace. (I’ve made a straight center front this time, the pattern has – v-shape, nice but more complex to sew).

Attaching the inner layer sew at the center with the inner layer at the right side of the lace. Trim and turn. Edgestich the top of the bridge.

To hold everything together, I’ve used a zigzag stitch to the edges of the cup and top of the band.
Inside of the construction (center part is cut a bit small at the lower edge, but will be covered later).

The outside
 
Completed band. These two layers will now be treated as one.

Next post: the cups.