I love the look of the VPL insertion bras, and have been wanting to create a pattern for something similar. I drafted my own pattern last year, but it didn't quite work out. I had literally pushed it to the side of my sewing bench whilst I got distracted with other sewing projects. Then, when I was looking for something else, I came across a bra pattern that I had never used, but I thought had good potential as a starting point. Ezi-Sew 104. This pattern has horizontal cup seaming, but when I get all the kinks worked out, it shouldn't be too difficult to change it to the vertical seaming used in the inspiration bra.
I changed the back band closure to a fold.
I trimmed off the strap portion of the upper cup, and after a muslin, changed the angle of the front neckline slightly.
The resulting bra fit pretty well, though I think it would fit me even better if I removed some of the cup depth for next time. Sadly, the bra pictured at the top of this post is too small for me. The power mesh I used on the back is much stronger than the lycra I used for my muslin. Which is a shame, because it would have been the perfect match for my last running capris. At least I don't have to worry about unpicking the twisted straps and resewing them.
This next one was made using power mesh on the back (I increased the back band pattern) and wicking cotton spandex for the front. I dyed the power mesh.
It is a bit tricky working out where to sew down the elastic that wraps from the front strap round the side.
Of course, the defining feature of this bra is the wide coloured elastic used for the strapping. Locally, I don't have a lot of elastic to choose from, and mostly it is polyester, and I have not bought dyes suitable for polyester. Then I found this "fine lines" nylon elastic in Lincraft, which I presume is an underwear manufacturer discard. It dyes well with acid dyes. I used this elastic in my first version (not pictured) and have been wearing it for a few months and the ealstic has held up well.
I was going to continue with my bra sewing, but in the meantime I have been distracted by the Sudoku Wardrobe challenge aver at pattern review. It sure is hard to maintain focus in the sewing room!
7 comments:
This is so cute and clever!!
i love this bras! too bad that the top one is too small, as it's gorgeous.. thanks for the inspo, i'll have to try making something similar
I can see why you are disappointed with the top one not fitting.. it is so nice. I love the elastic. I just saw that Simplicity has a sports bra pattern out that looks interesting ...8339. I'm impressed with your dyeing again. I love how the red elastic crosses around to the back.
You are on such a roll with your lingerie/athletic sewing. I really like reading of your trials and thought processes as you whip up these fabulous versions inspired by RTW. Best wishes for the next version.
Love the colour combos - and the structure of the lines going every which way. Very cool!
I hadn't seen those before but they are very cool. I always find the notions are the most time consuming and difficult thing to source.
This is a very cute style! Love all the colour mixing. I remember the Fine Lines brand from around the wonderbra era!
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