Marlborough, Harriet plus more

I had planned to sew 4 garments in August.  Quite realistic plans, or so I thought.  I got one made, and then the demands of life got in the way.  So back to sewing bras.  They are much easier to fit into small chunks of time.  

I always meant to re-visit the Marlborough bra by Orange Lingerie, after my first attempts were too small.  When I got the pattern out and started looking at the different sizes, I realised that my original print-out was not to scale.  Rookie mistake!  I remember that we were in temporary accommodation at the time, and I did not have a printer, so I must have got someone else to print the pattern out for me and then not checked.  Turns out my original size was the correct one, I just needed to print it properly.  I did make a few minor adjustments to the pattern after sewing a muslin.

I used a lingerie lycra for the cups and the band.  This lycra stretches horizontally, but not vertically.  The lace is cut from a pair of French knickers that I never wore.

I did make one modification to the pattern, and combined the side band and the back band pieces.  This makes the band a little stretchier than the original design, but I like my band a little looser, so this is okay.   I made this change because the side seams in bras often irritate me.  Removing the side seam has made this bra super comfy.

I didn't have great colour matching notions.  I dyed the underwire casing and hooks and eyes.  I used ivory straps, but I am annoyed that they don't match as well as I would like.

I used the same materials to make the Harriet bra by Cloth Habit, after ordering matching strapping.

The band sizing on this pattern was different to any other that I have seen, supposedly to match the British bra sizing.  This did not make sense to me, as I thought a UK 34B was also a US 34B.  I usually start with a 34B.  The Harriet sizing put me at a 30DD.

I have found a bra wire that I like and bought it in bulk.  It is an Australian 12B from an Australian manufacturer.  Apparently Australia sizing is a little different than other countries because they use different increments between sizes.  Anyway, this is the wire that I like.  However, when I use patterns for this wire, I have to remove a fair whack of volume from the cup.  I have tried just going down a cup size, but smaller wires dig into me.  Amy provided an image of the wire sizes used to draft her patterns, so I compared my wire to her chart and went with the pattern for her 36 wire.  36B = 34C = 32D = 30DD cup.  So I started with the 30DD.  After making a muslin, I had to make quite a few changes to the pattern, removing volume both vertically and horizontally.  I got there in the end though, and am happy with my final fit.

Again, I eliminated the side seam.

These two bras have quickly become my favourites, being both lightweight and comfy.  They are also the perfect nude colour for me - much better than beige.  This means I was able to wear this slightly sheer top, that I love, but has been hanging in the cupboard unworn because my other bras show through.   

When I ordered the champagne strapping for the above bra, I also ordered some champagne microfibre striped tricot, thinking it would be good for matching kickers.  I thought tricot was stretchy, but this stuff isn't.  I tried it out for bra cups instead.  This next bra is a surprising success.  I used the band from the Cloth Habit Watson bra, and than modified the cups from a self-drafted halter bikini pattern to fit into the Watson band.  In actual fact, the cups are a bit small, as I didn't change the pattern for non-stretchy fabric.  This is not a problem in a wireless bra.  It just means that the bridge does not sit flat against my chest.  The fit is more like wearing a bikini.  Next time I make this, I will increase the dart on the bra cup, which will make the cup a little bigger and probably provide a little more coverage as well.  In spite of the slightly small cups, I have worn this the last two weekends, and each time I forgot I was wearing it until I went to take it off at the end of the day, and really, that is what you want from a bra.  It is also more supportive and shapely than my stretch Watsons.  The powernet is not the same colour as the tricot, but it seems harmonious.  I dyed the frilly elastic used to edge the cups.