Three new bras

I have been working on three new bras for my mom for the past two weeks, and finished them yesterday. I sewed a little bit most days, as I have been working quite hard. After a recent positive experience with cutting out five Jalie sweetheart t-shirts in one go and sewing them one after the other (fewer decisions to make - always a good thing for me), I decided to try production-line bra-sewing.

This is how it started...

... and very soon ended up looking like this!

Despite many many thread changes (I used three different fabrics), I enjoyed working on three bras at once. Instead of finishing one before starting the next, as I did with the t-shirts, I sewed all the cups, then all the bands, and so on. It gave me a chance to use slightly different techniques on each, but also the ease of repetition.




It is odd to realise that little over a year ago I still had to follow step-by-step instructions to make a bra! Now I need only a little post-it note up behind my sewing machine with the basic sequence I follow, just to keep me on track.



I used flesh/nude cotton lycra, taupe Tactel lycra and black cotton lycra. I used the Sewy Rebecca pattern I adjusted for her previously, in size 85B, and also shortened the back band by 1/4" on each side (1/2" in total). I made notes while making the previous "wearable muslins" to remind me of elastic lengths, stitches I used, and so on. (I keep these together in a ring binder - they are turning out to be very useful for repeat sewing of TNTs.) I am very happy with the results. (Click to see larger pics.)
Nude cotton-lycra bra with stretch lace at cup edge
Taupe matte Tactel-lycra bra with decorative straps
  

Black cotton-lycra bra with fold-over elastic edge

I have uploaded detail photographs to Flickr, here. (These are so I have a record of details I used on the different bras, for future versions.)

2 comments:

  1. CarlaF-in Atlanta said

    They look wonderful! I'm sewing my first bra and I MUST read each step of the directions and use a reference book and look at Sigrid's tutorial :) At least it's beginning to actually look like a bra. Do you still use spray adhesive for 2 layers of fabric?

    CarlaF-in Atlanta, Georgia


    Alethia said

    Hi Tina,
    I saw your post about boycotting RTW bras~ I am very interested in learning to make my own bras an panties, your bras look so professional and well made. Can you suggest any of the patterns, sites, and or tutorials that you mentioned.
    You can find me at www.sewmuchtalent.com~ I would eventually like to find and share a tutorial with my community on the subject, perhaps you would like to share your knowledge and wxpertise on the subject.
    I am looking forward to any and all information you are willing to share.
    Thanks


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