Wire shapes

I’ve completed another bra, which I will share with you when I have my issues with Picasa webalbums solved. There were changes in the interface and now the “insert link” to photos is missing. I’m certainly not computer-illiterate, but this has cost me more than an hour this afternoon and I’ve given up for now.
You won’t see the difference with the above photo though, but I like to organize my photos in specific albums before publishing.
Back to sewing related information: I’ve shared this information in the lingerie sew-along I had in 2009 and thought it might be good to share here, with all the interest in bra sewing now.
What you see is the wire-size page from Beverly Johnson’s book  the bra making manual. These are the most common shapes in wires, not only from her shop. (I’m talking wires for a ‘normal’ bra, not push-up or strapless, they have a different type of wire).
The length I need is the same length as her size 38 wires. But for me this shape is no good at all. I do have a narrow frame and large cup size. When the length is what I need, most wires are too wide, as they will end up too much to my side instead of around my breast. The red line is my wire, the yellow follows the line of the 38 wire on the page. You see there is a considerable difference.
I’m NOT saying that the type of wire I’m using is better in general, it’s better for ME and my shape. If you’re sewing bra’s or interested in starting sewing bra’s the shape of wires is something to consider if you have fitting problems.

ETA: the brand I'm using is Galbline. Online available at Elingeria in Germany. Scroll down to see the information on length/cupsizes. Their price of 1 Euro is great, I pay 1.50 or 1.95 from Dutch stores, (but I don't have to pay for international postage).

New winner

Sarah hasn’t claimed her lace, so I did a new draw. The cream lace will go to Dilliander. Please send me your address and I will send the lace to you.

Just a note

Just a note for Sarah Leeming. Could you please send your address to me so that I can send you the lace that you "won" last week.

If I haven't heard from you by the beginning of next week, I'll do the draw for the cream lace again.

Thank you.

The winners are

What a lovely responses to the lace give away. I decided to do add a mystery lace to the drawing and did a draw in three groups: those who favored the cream lace, the black one and those who didn’t express a preference (most of you). And to those who didn’t ‘win’  this time: I will repeat this at the end of the month. Sort of celebrating (almost) six years of blogging and sharing sewing and sewing friendships.

The draw resulted in the following:

the cream lace is for Sarah Leeming

the black for Helene

the ?? for Knitmachinequeen

Ladies, please send an email to isedl at yahoo dot com with your address, I will send the lace to you this week.

And to answer a few questions: I don’t often have trouble with the lace seeing through my garments. That said I must say that I usually don’t wear my tops very tight fitting. Color is more often a problem showing through than the lace structure. It also depends on the “height”  of the embroidered lace.

And Knitmachinequeen: I have had my problems with fitting and still occassionally have with a new design. Basically I’m happy with the band pattern and if I try a new cup style (which I will do on one of my next bra’s again), I still use the band pattern and make sure the cup fits into that. A little trick/tip: lace with a bit of stretch are more forgiving than non-stretch lace. With my cup size I don’t use material with a lot of stretch or I interface them, but no stretch at all makes fitting more difficult.

Lingerie sewing month

I’ve finally found a way to make photos of the bra’s that show them a bit better, without showing them on me. In this post I share the last two I made. Sewing lingerie is really very popular on the blogs right now, with Amy’s recent bra sew along and Melissa’s lingerie week. Both Amy and Melissa have created patterns (Rosy lady’s shorts and a lacy thong) and share them as pdf file on their blog. How generous! I will try the lady’s short soon, a thong I find uncomfortable so I’ll pass on that one, but if you like them, you know where to find a pattern.
My lingerie sewing will last a bit longer than this week, I’m about to cut another set.
This bra is Merckwaerdigh BHS 10. I used a lace with a little bit of stretch, the side/back panel is has lycra underneath, the cups are unlined. What you see is a foam cup under the cups.
 
And here the bra from the lace that is in the give away. This is a first experiment for me with a more transparant finishing in the side panel. I’ve used a tule with stretch to make it stronger, both in the under/side cups as in the side/back panel. Also I used boning at the side. It has a bit less stretch than my usual way of working and I increased the length of the side panel a tiny bit.
 
 
With each bra I made 2 matching panties. It’s not that I find it tedious to sew them, in general I find them more boring to sew. The trick is to make it a bit different from time to time. For this one I took a basic pattern and drafted new lines for the lace and incorporated the side seam in the lace part. This made it fun to do again.

I’ve shown this before, but with the extra interest in bra making this might be of interest to some: my bridge part is very narrow. I overlap the wire chanelling at the front, which makes a more narrow bridge possible. The second row of topstitching stops at the point where the channels meet, there I turn and start topstitching the other cup. The wires have room to go to the top.

The inside, the seams are all hidden. For the cups I “sandwiched”  the upper cup in the under cup and the lining under cup. A technique I first saw in the instructions for the Rebecca bra. This pattern is the Rebecca bra btw, with some alterations for my personal fit.
 

And these I have to share: vanilla macarons, made by my daughter for my birthday tomorrow. The first time she tried to make them, think they’re lovely. Both my children were finishing and arranging them on a cake tray. I came in the kitchen a little too early and saw them working at it, sooo sweet (they’re 19 and 17 now).

Some lace to give away

Through several circumstances beyond my control I didn’t manage the deadline for the One pattern, Many looks contest. I had hoped to be just in time with the last blouse I had started and have shown the collar in my last post, but it didn’t work out (again). It’s still unfinished but I plan to finish it soon. In the meantime I used a few spare moments to sew a lingerie set. The colors of the photos I took were mostly horrible through the artificial light, so I will take new photos in daylight.
A sneak peak of the bra. A lovely off-white color with some lilac accents. After sewing this bra and two panties to match, I still have some lace left. I’ll be giving it away! It’s 2 x 40 cm lace (left and right side) with a bit of stretch, a piece of about 50x50 cm of the all over lace fabric, a piece of the shoulder strap embellishment and a bow. It would be enough for a bra and a bit for a panty to match, depending how you would use the lace.
And that’s not all, I have 2 meters of the black/gold(yellow) lace that has been in my stash for a very long time now. I don’t remember how it got there, just that the colors are not me. It’s 15 cm wide and has stretch.
Leave a comment if you would like to be in the draw for it and let me know which one you would like.
ETA: You can enter till Friday. I'll do the draw on Saturday morning (my European time).