Another testgarment, wearable

Working on the muslins is good as it will hopefully result in one or more patterns that I can make to well fitting jackets.This week I was game for sewing something that I could actually wear. Not another jacket muslin.

When I sewed the MakeBra DL01 last October (bra with foam cups covered with lace) I wondered whether the pattern would work too without the foam but with non-stretch lace. As I made sure the foam did not stretch any more, it was logical  that this might be a good possibility. Foam doesn’t take that much space in the cup. So here’s my wearable testgarment from a remnant piece of lace and firm lycra that was a gift from my sewing friend Hilde (thank you again!).

BTW, there is a lovely bra from this pattern on the MakeBra site now in white: here.

The lace I used was not symmetrical and I tried matching the center piece of the flowers. What I did not see until after construction of the cups is that I should have matched the scallops of the lace better. Now the left side has less scallop points because of the way the seam intersects. The center front has one side with point of the scallop, one side without. It’s the sort of things that bug me a little, it won’t keep me from wearing it. I’m the only one to notice it anyway.

If you have read my blog for a while you will know that I sew bra’s very regularly, and this time the wire chanelling was driving me nuts. I topstitched 4 times (!!!) and had to unpick because the wire couldn’t pass through. This happens sometimes, it will look perfect on the outside, but on the inside the chanelling has shifted and is too narrow. But as far as I can remember I have never done it four times. A little miracle I did not make a hole in the lycra using my seam ripper. My eyes did not like it, that’s for sure. Unpicking black in the evening :(

The result is very satisfactory and fits well. A very wearable muslin.

MakeBra DL01–finished

As mentioned in my previous post: a quite different style, no lace, no frills. I’m not sure about the fit. It is so different from the bra’s I’m used to wear that I must wear it for a day before I can have a final verdict on that. When I first put it on after finishing I was disappointed, the fit looked quite off, which surprised me too, as I made a muslin.

Then I realised that the shoulderstraps have almost no stretch (result of the extra tape (red in my version, I had no black) to stabilise it, as per the instructions. Worked like it should do, but the remaining stretch is only in the 4-5 centimeters at the back where the shoulderstrap is. That should have been a bit more. My fault probably, I didn’t even look at the instructions for length but used the same length as on my other bra’s. Which have a longer shoulderstrap with stretch. After giving the strap the longest length possible, the fit was a lot better.

What is very good about this pattern is the coverage at the under arm. Definitely a plus for me. The bra is not my best work, the fold over elastic at the sides gave me problems (I just don’t like the stuff) and working with the foam was also a bit of a learning curve.

I like the shape of the cups, and I’m already thinking about trying this with a non-stretch lace. But first I’ll wear it.

 

The instructions for construction are mainly on the site of the MakeBra company. I can’t completely judge them, as I did it my own way mostly (which you probably do after making bra’s for many years). I used extra interfacing for the side/back to get extra support there, but did not attach the boning in the side, which the instructions tell you to do. Simply because I never do that and don’t need it.

    

 

I used a smaller hook/eye closing and adapted the widt of center back.

 

 

 

The fold over elastic, difficult to work with

Testing a bra pattern

The 3rd item I wanted to finish will have to wait. My eagerness to try a new bra pattern wins. Some weeks ago I was alerted to the site MakeBra.com. A Finnish company that sells bra patterns and some fabric and notions for sewing lingerie. When I first browsed the site I was interested, but did not yet order a pattern. Then they announed a downloadable pattern. Though I don’t like downloadable patterns so much, a bra doesn’t have that many pieces so the amount of printing and taping together would be do-able.

After checking the measurement charts (the downloads are for one size patterns) I decided to buy the DD75, a measurement I expected. I was very happy with the buying process, the link for the download was received immediately and the printed pieces were easy to understand (I’m not affiliated, just a happy customer).

The bra’s are for foam cups you make yourself. On the MakeBra site is an instruction for making a test version, which I did as this is almost new to me. With some remnant pieces of shoulder straps and wire channelling this was easily done. The cotton for the back muslin was cut wider, as there is no elastic. It looks very promising, the fit of the cups is good. I compared the front and back pattern part with my tnt bra pattern and it’s quite similar and the length at the bottom is exactly the same. I know this to be important. Also on the site are instructions for making the bra’s, I’m looking forward to trying this pattern for real. Stay tuned.

Inside