Tag: sewing bras

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What I Made, The 5 bra Experiment!

Today we are doing science! sewing science.

I’ve made 5 different bras from 5 different patterns and I’ll be showing their shapes and how they differ. Come join in the fun

Patterns used Chelsea Bra by Contour Atelier https://www.contouratelier.com/shop/p…

See more of my sewing and shop patterns at https://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au​

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What I’m wearing Dress Pattern: Self drafted dress in fabric from my stash was originally from The Fabric Store

Earrings: Harry and Herne https://www.harryandherne.com/

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What I Made, September Lingerie Society subscription box

Hi Everyone, normally you see me doing the unboxing of The Lingerie Society subscription boxes, this time I’m sharing what I made from the September 2021 box.

You can see the earlier cutting out and planning portion in another video.

You can watch that one here https://youtu.be/47URmlNmESE

Patterns used Harriet Bra by Cloth Habit https://shop.clothhabit.com/products/… Boylston Bra by Orange Lingerie https://orange-lingerie.com/collectio… Hanna Bralet by Studio Costura https://www.studiocostura.com/patrones Adrian Bra by Queen of Suburbia Knickers – my own pattern (not released) Box from The Lingerie Society by Pitt Trading https://www.pitttrading.com.au/the-li…

See more of my sewing and shop patterns at https://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au​

Follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_measuretwi...

Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/_MeasureTwice​

What I’m wearing Dress Pattern: Self drafted dress in fabric from my stash was originally from The Fabric Store

Earrings: Harry and Herne

Nail Polish: Octopus’s Garden by Hanami

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Sewing Adventures – more Mara Bralets

Any long term readers will know I’ve been on quite the bra sewing kick this year. Mostly because I needed new ones but also with lockdowns and COVID restrictions I just haven’t needed new dresses or other new clothes as much. I’ve been enjoying wearing what I have and filling the other holes in my wardrobe. However it has meant my blog and Instagram have been fairly Bra heavy on posts with lots of comments.

One person who sends me messages every time I post a new bra is my cousin Sarah who lives in Canberra. She keeps threatening to come steal my bras so I offered to make her some of her own. She sent me her measurements and I was shocked to find we were almost matching in our sizing. So I grabbed my patterns and got cutting.

I’ve started with the Mara bralet as it’s so comfortable and because I can’t get to Sarah to check the fit I thought it would be easier to start with a soft bra rather than dive into an underwire.

Rummaging through the stash I matched laces to printed meshes and came up with these combinations. Sarah said she didn’t mind if I stuck with my stash and made things in my non matching style.

Now to send them off and fingers crossed they fit!

Pattern: Mara bralet from Studio Costura

Fabric: Meshes, laces, trims all from the stash but most likely originally from Pitt Trading. Back closures from stash or Booby Traps

Alterations: let’s see how they fit?

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Sewing Adventures – Teal Lace Harriet Bra

By now I’ve made so many Harriet bras that I’m mostly including them here to help document all my makes as I don’t have any more insight into the pattern or construction. Each time I make one I challenge myself to be neater, to cover internal seams and generally just get better at sewing.

This teal and lilac one is super comfortable and I really like the fact I took the time to allow the lace to have a scalloped edge on the lower part of the cradle, it just adds another level to the bra and helps improve my skills.

Pattern: Harriet Bra from Cloth Habit

Fabric: lace and trims from Pitt Trading

Alterations: same as previous versions of this bra

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Sewing Adventures – mint and lilac Mara bralet

I love the finished version of my white Mara bralet so much that I dove right in and cut another one straight away, like straight away straight away…did I learn from my mistake of not sewing after receiving distressing news? no of course not. Stupid me.

Ironically I even made some of the exact same mistakes again. Like putting the cup elastic on upside down. So silly.

Despite the fact there are a few mistakes and some of the sewing is a little crooked it did make me feel better to have achieved something on what was a pretty crappy day. I also think that maybe we beat ourselves up a bit about everything being perfect all the time. I know I want to be better every single time I sew but that’s not always the case.

As it is, 2 beautiful bralets, some distraction in the form of sewing, its not all bad.

Pattern: Mara bralet by Studio Costura

Fabric: Lace and trims from Pitt Trading, hook and eye closure from Booby Traps

Alterations: none

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Sewing Adventures – Mara bralet in white

This bralet has been on my sewing list since I saw the beautiful versions that Birdy_sew_obsessed on Instagram has made of it. I had printed out the pattern and had it sitting by for ages before I finally grabbed some lace and made a toile. Sometimes I make a toile in something I don’t care about and other times I just jump right in, this is a case of jumping right in using some white lace and thinking I can always dye it to a colour later.

Side note: does anyone else struggle endlessly with keeping white clothing white without using a tonne of chemicals? as soon as I wash this I feel like it will go the same dirty grey colour all my whites go unless I soak in some heavily chemical laden product which makes me feel icky because I don’t want that many chemicals near my skin and I certainly don’t want to put it down the drain into the water supply.

Between sewing the panels together and adding the elastic I got some stressful news. In a bid to distract myself I thought I’ll keep sewing…not my best decision. The picot along the upper cups is actually sewn in upside down, I couldn’t find my white strapping so used khaki but forgot to change the thread colour and then when I went to unpick it left marks in the elastic so I left it white. Then for my final mistake I’ve sewn the back hook and eye on the incorrect sides…yep totally distracted and stressed. Thank goodness I had only basted in the back hook and eye to test the fit so at least it will be easy to unpick.

Stupid mistakes aside I really like the shape and the fit is really good. Like really good. I should stop being surprised that well fitting wireless bras give a good shape but each time it feels like a wonderment of surprise that the myth that wires are the only option is broken.

Due to some accidental pattern matching I got a perfect flower at centre front which was 100% not planned and quite a lovely surprise.

Pattern : Mara bralet by Studio Costura

Fabric: Lace and trims from Pitt Trading, back hook and eye from Booby Traps

Alterations: none

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Sewing Adventures – Queen of Suburbia Adrian bra in yellow lace

Ever make anything that you absolutely love not only in terms of fabrics, colours and look but also be so proud of the quality of your sewing? that’s me on this project. I love the lightness and colour of the lace, the electric pop of colours with the pink and the blue and I am super proud of the sewing. It’s all absolutely gorgeous.

The pattern is a new one from Queen of Suburbia or QofSpatterns, a Canadian based lingerie brand that is starting to make patterns for the home sewers. I’ve long loved their style so I was super excited at this pattern and snapped it up. It’s a half cup, not full coverage and I like that more styles of bras are being offered because while full coverage is lovely it’s a bit old fashioned feeling some times when you can’t get the patterns to match the styles you want to buy from the shops.

It went together super well, I was trialling some bra tulle from my stash for the cradle but discovered it was too stretchy. Using some white tricot I had on hand I cut another cradle and added it to the back of the existing one to help stabilise up the whole area. Apart from that slip up of my own the whole thing went together super easily and the instructions were good.

So all in all a complete WIN of a sewing project….except for one small thing. The cups don’t fit me.

The band is a great fit but the half cups are a little too low and on one side it cuts me in half a little (that side is bigger so I normally have that issue to deal with anyway). My idea is to make another one one or two cup sizes up and try again.

How did I get the wrong size? well I measured as per the instructions and then compared the pattern pieces to the Harriet bra I use a lot to check the sizing. Where I went wrong was I forgot it was a half cup and wouldn’t have the upper band along the top of the cup as the Harriet does…seriously don’t make pattern decisions when you are tired people because this is what happens. Now I’m the first to say when patterns don’t work but in the case it really was user error and no fault of the pattern.

So for now I’ll start again and maybe I’ll pin this one up near my sewing machine as an example of something I love and am proud of….even if it doesn’t fit

Pattern: QofSpatterns/ Queen of Suburbia Adrian bra.

Fabric: Lace and elastics from Pitt Trading, tricot from Greenfields

Alterations: get sizing right – I made the 34D (am including that here in case I forget and go to make the wrong size again)

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Sewing Adventures – Modified Euler Bra – Pink

It really has been all about the bras lately. I’ve had this Sophie Hines Euler bra cut out for some time and only now just had the time to get it out and finish it. This is a modified Euler using the modified pack you can buy as an extra to the Euler Pattern.

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.

To wear it’s very comfortable, shape is a little flattening though honestly I should do an FBA on this but I was being lazy / testing the fit straight out of the packet. My goal was a soft comfortable bra to wear during hot weather and in that respect I’ve succeeded as it is comfy and good for hot weather.

This textured strapping was used on my test Harriet Bra and it’s super cute but the drawback is it is quite stiff. Good for feeling firm and keeping things in place but a right pain when trying to thread it through O rings and Sliders. I almost gave up it was so difficult. I got there in the end and hope it softens up some more with washing and wear.

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.

Pattern: Sophie Hines Euler Bra with mod pack

Fabric: bamboo jersey, stretch mesh, printed stretch mesh and elastic/strapping all from Pitt Trading

Alterations: next time alter back to not be a single line of elastic and change straps to not be a cross over

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Sewing Adventures – Cloth Habit Harriet Bra – Blue

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 Pitt Trading and I was lucky enough to grab some before it was all sold out. Quite simply its gorgeous, based on some traditional Japanese style influences mixed together it’s exactly the kind of “lets put everything together and blend it” style print I’m drawn to.

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 this explanation from Emerald Erin I adjusted the upper panel and now I’ve got more lift and projection!

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.

Pattern: Cloth Habit Harriet Bra with modifications for fit

Fabric: printed mesh and trims from Pitt Trading Inner lining and back closure from Underwired.co

Alterations: I think I’m pretty close with what I’ve done already.

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New Sewing Classes announced, Sydney and Melbourne

Want to learn to sew? brush up on some skills, learn some new techniques? Then I’ll be teaching classes to suit you!

First up Swimwear at Bobbin and Ink here in Sydney. It starts this Friday so get in quick to book your place

You can bring any swimsuit pattern you like but may I suggest Henrietta

or Anne

If you are in Melbourne and looking to skill up on your lingerie I am coming down to teach in February.

Book via Shop Sew Squirrel (and check out their divine lingerie supplies while you are there). You can choose to do either knickers or bralet workshops on a single day or combine them both and come for 2 days. It’s going to be lots of fun.

And lastly if you are wanting to start sewing or returning to sewing after a long hiatus I’m teaching a beginners class at Bobbin and Ink. It will be a fantastic way to fall in love with making your own clothes and having a lifelong skill and passion.