Before I get into the making of this bra I’m going to say “wow it’s hard to take a decent photo of a bra”. The cups look all wrinkly, the straps never sit straight. It’s just really hard. I have a dressmaking dummy but she is only a size 10, I am not a 10 so I can’t use it for photos so I have to do a flat lay and every time I’m less than happy with the results. Hints, tips and suggestions for better pics eagerly welcomed.
Now onto the bra. It’s an Orange Lingerie Lexington Bra. my last one can be found here, I like how it fits, the shape it gives and the fact I can wear it all day without being uncomfortable or looking like I’m not wearing a bra. However the front x doesn’t sit flat to chest. Which it should. I researched a bit, read some great debates on the Bra forum on facebook and experimented a little.
In the end I decided to try adding a small amount of volume to the lower cup. Hoping that this meant I sat into the cup more reducing the strain on the central x allowing it to sit flat to my body. This teal blue and patterned version is a working test of this pattern to see if my idea was correct.
As with my last version it has lined cups but regular stretch fabric over. This sports mesh has a greater stretch so I’m also keen to see how that reacts to being worn all day. The fabric is actually a moisture wicking performance fabric available at Pitt Trading which was gifted to me by my friend @lizardbookworm it feels perfectly smooth and lovely colours so it was fun to match with a bright teal elastic I had in the stash.
Am looking forward to seeing how it wears and what my next version will be like.
After wearing my verdict is the adjustment to the lower cup has worked well but the sports mesh while super comfortable isn’t quite as supportive as the mesh in my last version. Expect to see another version soon!
Pattern: Orange Lingerie Lexington Bra
Fabric: Pitt Trading for fabric, hardware and elastics. Back hook and eye from Booby Traps
Alterations: added volume to lower cup
After attaching the lower picot elastic I thought I should check the sizing and while the cups were ok, the band was way too big. Mostly because the fabrics I’m using are super stretchy, especially the floral it’s got lots of give to it. So I cut the panels back thinking I’d swap it to a pull on style as this is essentially a tester to see if I like the style and if it’s comfortable. Cut off what I thought was excess and finished it all off. Now it looks small and it’s a slight wriggle to get on. Have I made it too small now?
I’m going to wear it for awhile and see what I think. In the meantime it’s looking super cute and I’m hoping I have enough leftovers to make matching knickers!
It’s the Harriet Bra from Cloth Habit with the adjustments mentioned here and here. Essentially this is meant to be the same as the blue printed mesh version I made but here are just some of the mistakes I made
Apart from the issues it looks amazing and I really like the fit. With a limited amount of lace I feel like I managed to cut it so it looks like it was planned that way and not just a result of “making it work” I’ll definitely be using similar methods in the future.
Pattern: Cloth Habit Harriet Bra – with fitting modifications
Lower cups are lined in bamboo jersey with the upper fabrics being pink stretch mesh and printed stretch mesh. I basically used whatever trims I had in the stash that matched though I’m quite pleased at being able to use that little ruffle elastic for the neckline.
Keeping the straps long I turned them into a cross over back which seems to suit the high neckline. It’s good on really hot days but the single line of elastic along the base can be slightly irritating. Next time I want to try adding a different back to see if it helps alleviate the slight cutting in feeling I get along my sides.
Every so often I fall in love with a piece of fabric, colour and print and big motivating factors and well this fabric it was one of those swoon at first sight type moments. It came in during a shipment of designer fabrics when I was working at 
Then when making this bra I decided to take the multi hued elements of the print and step further and use non matching trims to make the bra. Bt rights, this many colours, types and print mixed together should be a dogs breakfast. But it’s not it all came together in one of my most favourite makes ever.
The pattern is another Cloth Habit Harriet Bra with a few extra modifications. On my original I added some extra to the lower cup so I sat down into the cup more and adjusted the seam allowance at the bridge to allow it to be fractionally wider so the wires didn’t sit on top of each other.
These changes I was happy with but I want a little bt more projection and lift. When I wear the pink one I totally want to pinch out a section at the top to bring everything up. So I did, well sort of. Using 
With these changes I think I’ve got the fit almost perfect for me, they are super comfortable to wear and I like the shape they give me, it’s not the high rounded shape of a full moulded foam cup but honestly am over that look anyway.
The Lexington is a non wired bra that uses bra strapping to give shaping and definition with its cute cross over style. I had purchased it pretty soon after it came out with the hope that I could get it made up in time to wear on the plane for our trip. Sadly I ran out of time for that to happen so I was pretty glad when I had some spare time a few weekends ago to cut one out.
Using a printed stretch mesh as the outer, a crystal lycra as lining and cream power mesh for the back (all from Pitt Trading). Initially when I cut the pieces they looked so big that I was a little worried. That feeling of them being too big lasted all the way till the first time I wore it and once it was on, it was so comfortable that I forgot about that entirely. It is very full coverage and I might slice the top down fractionally but it doesn’t look bad just kind of lots of fabric.
Constructionally it went together well and the instructions are nice and clear. I also followed the online sew along on the blog that explains how to get the central cut out. The way the cut out is done is a bit clumsy, sewing a section in and then cutting it out just felt weird. You can see the remaining fabric around the central cut out. It looks kind of cute from the outside but the size of the cut out is way bigger than I was expecting. I like it but I think I want to try a version without it as I hope I like that even more.
