I’m obsessed, if there is a lingerie-making bandwagon thing going on in sewing blogland  I’m totally riding that crazy horse, giving my 3step zigzag stitch the work-out of a lifetime. I’ve been wanting to make a bra for a couple of months now, after seeing Novita’s sets I was like, shit girl they’re wicked I totally want to do that. After Sew Weekly finished I was dreaming of my sewing year to come setting goals and making plans for 2013, on top of my list is to make the perfect fitting bra. Note the word fitting. Is there such a thing? apparently there is and I’m going to make it my mission. I have been stalking poor Novita’s blog reading all her tips tricks and pattern suggestions, reading the comments for reader tips and totally immersing myself into the world of bra making. Obsessed!  Thank god for the Secret Board option on Pinterest I’ve been pinning hot girls in lingerie for inspiration, how could I pin that stuff out loud without people wandering WTF! ha!

I wanted to get my head around the process before I head over to Amy’s (Cloth Habit) blog for the bra sewalong. I’m glad I did because I have discovered a few things which will help me hopefully get me one step closer to making that perfect fitting bra.

So, this is my first handmade wearable muslin bra—if I can call it that. Merckwaerdigh Pattern E-PBH30. This is a partial band bra- meaning, there is no support band that runs along the bottom of the cups, this is something I have never worn and although it fits it isn’t the most supportive bra for me and after making two partial banded bra’s I’ve discovered they are not for me. Of course I’ll wear these beauties they’re already a lot more comfortable than my current Target bra’s but I prefer to have that band underneath the cups, it seems that I don’t have enough boobage to weigh the underwires down they seem to hover a little really not supporting what I have. probably not the thing you want when you are wearing a tight fitting top you might see the underwires which is equivalent to seeing a visible panty line in my book. The band fits perfectly which brings me to size. Novita recommended using The Sophisticated Pair bra calculator. You measure your breast and underneath your breast and it calculates your correct size.  Of course I’ve been wearing the wrong size bra. It’s possible most of us are.

…and this is my second attempt at making a partial band bra, Kwiksew 3300. I had a metre of this thickish stretch satin and some pink stretch lace in my stash I wanted to keep the cost to a minimum especially whilst I’m on this learning curve leaving the tricot and powernet (which I think could affect the band fitting due to the amount of stretch) for when I attempt to make the Elan 645 and or Pin-up Girls #1200 (Classic Bra) they both have that supportive band across the front with wide sides which I’ve learned I like.  So for these makes all I needed to buy was the picot elastic hook & eyes, underwires and casing and yes it’s true what they say about the shoulder straps in bra kits not being long enough. This bra turned out so much better,  the instructions were a lot clearer and I particularly liked the wide side bands which I placed the remanding casing along and inserted boning for extra support. I needed to adjust the bridge it sat too wide for me and the top of the cup I lined in the satin because I know the lace will irritate me. The fit is pretty good. My next quest will be padding the cups. I need that extra boost, you know what I mean?

The bra needed to be completed into a set so I pulled out my Ohhh LuLu panties patterns and made two regular pair of knickers and a pair of the Betty high-waisted knickers.

I’m super happy with my first effort into the world of lingerie sewing. I’m looking forward to the Cloth Habit Sewalong and to making more bra’s when I have found my go-to pattern. One might think why would you even bother when you can buy a bra for $15? for me, it’s the thrill of finding the perfect fit and of course the making process and wearing handmade. Besides, if I ever get hit by a bus and they have to remove my clothes for some reason at least I’ll look halfway decent right?

So how about you, would bra-making be something you’d be interested in?

So with a new year of sewing ahead comes a new blog layout and header. Nice and clean just the the way I like it, shows off the content which is what you want.

Happy Sewing peeps.