Sewy Rebecca bra

 

Presenting my latest lingerie set. I’m so happy to have sewn two new complete sets recently. I’ve not been sewing lingerie in a long time and when I did, it seldom were sets. After trying other patterns I will stick to Sewy patterns (at least in the near future). Great fit for me and I’m done with disappointing patterns that don’t give me good results. I’m absolutely not saying that there is anything wrong with other patterns, but they are not for my shape. As in rtw bras, where there is only one brand that I like the fit of, this is my preferred pattern brand for bras.  

The panty/brief is also a Sewy pattern, with the same name: Rebecca.  

The second panty is a copy of a rtw one. As I’ve shown in my previous post, I used the last scraps of lace and sewn them to mesh fabric. I like the result with the trim from elastic. Not symmetrical at all this one, but glad it worked out like this. 

Most of the materials used are from Small Bobbins, with some additions from my stash. 

I did show you a photo from two kits I bought. Here’s the other set:

Willowdale bra and Isabelle

Sometimes it takes a while before I get to writing things down. These two bras have been finished a while ago and only now I'm taking the time to write a blog post about them. But... still trying to keep the blog alive. 

First: the Willowdale bra with the changes. A more narrow bridge/center part and increased height under the armpit. 

It looks worse on the dressform than on me but there are some wrinkles on me as well. The lycra on the cup has more stretch than the lining. I have adapted for it and made the lycra a bit smaller but apparently not enough. I'm happy with the bridge part now. Next time I will increase the height at the side even more. It's definitely wearable. 

A few photos from the inside. I didn't have the sheer lining in the right colour and opted for this beige instead. 

The other bra I made is the Isabell from Sewy, a German brand. (Sewy.de). I've been using patterns from this brand for a very, very long time now and I think they are still the best fitting bras for my figure.  I used the cup size I've used before which is also very true to RTW sizing in Europe. The only thing I changed was the width of the band. I made it smaller.

Must do that for all patterns and I get the feeling the designers forget that the hook/eye closure adds extra length to the band. Whatever the reason, it's not a difficult change when it's not the first bra you make. 

Next week is "Sewing week", my annual meet-up with my sewing friends where we sew together. One of the highlights of my year! I will be sewing one of the kits I bought and showed in the previous post. 

 

Continuing the quest

Time to take up the quest for a bra pattern that fits. Getting closer but not there yet. I made the Willowdale bra again with a larger cup. The fit of the cups was much better but there was still something not looking good and the cups are a little too low at the armpit. 

When trying it on I was fiddling around with the bridge part and realised it needed to be narrower. 

How is it that you forget these things? I have done such a change in the past and it makes a lot of difference for me! I didn’t want to unpick (would have been a lot) and have sewn a seam and will wear it to see how it feels during the day. 

 

In the next two photos the changes I made to the pattern for the next one. First the center front/bridge  

The second change is to make the bra a bit higher at the armpit. 

A photo of the two kits I bought. I want to be sure I use these with a pattern that fits, so they won’t be used for the next one.  I bought these at Small bobbins

Two bra patterns

 I am in need of a few new bras. My lingerie drawer is full of old and worn items, or items that don’t properly fit any more. Or even never fitted well, which made them unloved and unworn. Those items now have been removed. I ‘harvested’ some hardware and to the bin it was. 

As I love trying a new pattern and hadn’t tried a new bra pattern in ages I bought two new patterns. The Gunsan bra by Bwear and the Willowdale by Cashmerette.

The line drawings are from the respective websites. Very different styles with the Gunsan having one pattern piece for the cup and shaped through a dart and the Willowdale with 4 pattern pieces for the cup and thus more subtle shaping. 

With the Willowdale I was rather disappointed by the way you define your size. On the website they say ‘step by step instructions for choosing your ideal bra size’. What they do is what most pattern companies do: take full bust measurement and underbust measurement and the difference defines your size. Nothing special at all, and as so often (spoiler) not correct for me. A company like Lilipadesigns does include bottom cup depth and hemisphere for example. Much more step-by-step.

First I tried the Gunsan bra. Sort of knew it wouldn’t be quite right for me but had to try. I used all the materials I always do and as described. The fit is not too bad actually, but there is too much of and east-west pointing on me. Not posting full photos online of me wearing the bra so it’s not properly visible, but I think you can see it a bit  

With the Willowdale you get all sizes which I like when I want to use this pattern for my daughter or daughter in law.  I did use the size as defined by my measurements but ended up with a bra that is really too small.  The band is more or less okay, though I have to use the tightest setting on the hook and eye closure, which should not be the case actually. I can live with that and easily alter that in a second version. But the cups are too small. So much so that I am wondering whether to go up one cup size or two. 

Really irritated by this as I had high hopes from this pattern, the brand has a specialisation for patterns for curves and the shape looked promising. I will try again in a few weeks time. A few other priorities now. 

A bra

Another make for my daughter. About two years ago  I saw a bra online made in a lovely lace that I thought my daughter would really like. As it wasn’t a rtw bra I looked for the lace and found it. But it was sold by a shop outside my country and shipping costs were so high that I didn’t buy it. I forgot about it until I saw a very similar lace at Suzanne’s lingerie supplies. A shop in my country! So I bought it and made this bra. The lace is not mirrored so it was not possible to make it symmetrical, but it’s okay. 

This bra pattern is a copy from a rtw bra. The black one is my first iteration. The cups fit perfectly but the band was a bit too narrow to my daughters liking. Must have been the material. Probably the powernet I used didn’t have the same stretch as the original. So I made the band a bit wider on this new one. Hope it’s good, the bra has yet to be given to her.

It was nice to sew lingerie again, haven’t done that in a long time. My lingerie drawer should get a serious update though.  I bought a new bra pattern for myself months ago and have yet to make it. Perhaps I should get myself work on that.