Pretty Liberty Bra Set

I have been clearing my sewing room of all the sewing projects lying around the edges.  Ages ago, I dyed all these notions to go with a remnant of Liberty, but I never got around to sewing the bra because I wanted to sew a top with the Liberty first, and use the left-overs for the bra.  Only, I didn't have quite enough fabric for the chosen top pattern, and it has been sitting around for months waiting for me to get back to it.  This week, I decided I wanted the bra more than the top and that it was time to ditch the top plans and get on with it.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to sew bras. 

For this set, I dyed the elastics, channelling, 2 weights of power mesh, hook and eye closure, and the rings and sliders.    I am still new to dyeing, but I love it!  I have to remember to use tiny amounts of dye, as my first few attempts invariably end up way too dark.  I really need to buy elastics in bulk so that I can play around a bit more.

The bra pattern is my own.

This time, I changed the way I sewed the channelling, and sewed it such that it sits on top of the elastics.  I have seen this done in RTW.  My hand made bras are way more comfortable than any RTW bras, but they do not last as long because my wires end up poking out.  I think one of the reasons may be that I do not have enough "wire play" - room for the wire to move around a bit.  Sewing the channelling this way gives me a bit more room without having to adjust the pattern.  It will also make it easier to  open the channelling and re-insert the wire if it does come out.  I'll see how this goes.  

I remembered to attach the straps early enough that the end is caught in the bottom elastic.  Yay!  I always mean to do this but often remember too late. In this photo, you can also see that I have sewn the side seams so that the mesh is in between the two layers of the frame.  This means that there are no raw edges, which can itch a bit.

For the knickers, I used the Watson Bikini from Cloth Habit.

I hadn't dyed enough of the power mesh for the knickers.  I did the initial dye months ago, and it takes so little dye and I mess around with the colours a bit, so I had no way of dyeing more to match.  So, this morning, I dyed a small piece of stretch lace that pretty ballet shoe colour, to use in conjunction with the Liberty for the front.  The Liberty has no stretch, but it is okay to use in small amounts where stretch is not so critical.  The cotton gusset lining is a little brighter than the rest of the set, but that is not really visible when you are wearing the bikini.

I am really happy with this set.  I love the colour combination, and it was so fun to sew that I am off to see what else is in my lingerie sewing box.