Merckwaerdigh – BHS10 – Construction part 2

After constructing the band as in previous post, the next thing to do is making the cups. The cup-pattern consist of 3 parts. I’ve made 2-part cups in the past with good results, but the bra’s with 3 part cups have my preference. This one is different from the Rebecca Sewy bra that I’ve often made.

The parts cut in lace. This time I will not interface the lace. It’s stable enough to use on its own. This really depends on the amount of stretch the lace has. For me most stretch lace is not strong/stable enough for the cups.
If you look closely you can see that my pattern piece on the right is not as long as the paper pattern. I’m a bit short on lace and wanted to keep a bit for a panty, so I’ll make the lace part of the strap shorter.

With this pattern, carefully mark the notches, I made mistakes there in my red version. Cut the parts on the scallop with the lowest part of the scallop at the actual stitching line for the side cup and at the edge of the upper cup.
At the top of the upper cup narrow elastic is sewn with a small zigzag stitch. While stitching the elastic is stretched a little bit. This will ensure the cup will  lay smoothly to your skin. 

Then the upper and under cup are sewn together, followed by topstitching. For this I use the edge stitch foot. Very accurate for this kind of topstitching.
 
Upper and under cup sewn together. I haven’t cut the seam allowance very narrow. With this kind of embroidery the embroidery will come loose if there’s a very narrow seam allowance only.

Next step is sewing the side cup to the upper and under cup. The side cup is on top, stitched with a zigzag stitch.

On the side cup I’ve used the narrow elastic again on the part for the shoulder strap. It might not be very necessary for this bra, as the strap part of the cup is shorter. When you use the length of the pattern this is more important.

Next post: sewing the cups in the band / wire channelling / elastic