Sewing Bras - Custom Drafting a Strapless Bra Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of my custom draft strapless bra!  [Check out Parts 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE]

IT IS DONE!

Feels sooo good to have finally finished it.  Well, mostly finished - I'm still waiting on some more black hook and eye tape but the white I put in temporarily will suffice for now.

The color combo didn't quite turn out as I had hoped but is fine for a serviceable strapless bra.

Check out that lace!  I wanted some continuity between the front purple section and the back black powernet.  Stretch lace placed on the diagonal did the trick!

This bra was definitely a labor of love.  There were challenges and quite a few firsts all around.  This bra features 4 bones in the band and 4 bones in the cups.  I added self made cookie inserts and sewed them to the cup in a free floating fashion.  The cups themselves had dual layers of foam - to ensure a smooth exterior despite all the boning.  I also had to shorten the U shaped or Strapless underwires a smidge (1/4") at center front to make it fit.  Band feels a bit loose to me and more secure on the tightest set of hooks.  Silicone elastic across the top of the back band would have helped immensely (I had 3/4" regular plush elastic or 1/2" silicon - I erred on the 3/4").



LESSONS LEARNED
- If adding cookie inserts, make them removable next time.   If for no other reason than to avoid sewing through 4-5 layers of bra foam.
- If adding inserts for more push up, lower the height of the upper cup (even more).  Possibly curving it a bit higher towards the arm pit. Current cups + 4 layers of foam (4 for the inserts and 2 for the cup) = slight quadding. Zero quadding without the inserts.
- Consider adding another set of boning in the back band over the powernet.  This will likely need to use channeling to allow the bones some movement.  Previous experience sewing boning on powenet was less than spectacular.
- Consider reinforcing the top edge of foam cup with tricot or similar non-stretch material - hopefully this will help resolve the rolled edge issue.
- Use higher quality plush elastic or just FIRM plush elastic as quite a bit of the support comes from the band.

POSSIBLE EXPERIMENTS FOR NEXT ROUND
- Shorten the u-shaped wires even more (evenly on both ends AND/OR shorter in center front). Maybe another 1/4" off each end?
- 1/2" Silicon backed plush elastic.  The concern with this one is the difference in elasticity.  I've found I need a fairly firm elastic for the upper band elastic to spring the wires correctly.
- Possibly shorten the back band 1/2" to account for the extra stretchy plush elastic (I bought 50 yards of this stuff that stretches almost 100%!!)



Overall, I'm very pleased with how this turned out!  Fit is pretty darn good if I do say so myself.  My issues at this point are all very minor.  Hooray!

Tutorial - How to Create and Insert a Bra Sling

Welcome to my first tutorial!  (pic heavy)

After hailing the wonders that is a bra sling, I received a number of requests to for a tutorial.  For those who are not familiar with a sling, it is a separate piece of fabric on the interior (or exterior) of the bra to aid in support. Sometimes called a side sling and look similar to powerbars.  Here is a VERY comprehensive series of posts on power bars, internal slings and external slings [link HERE] by Silver Lining Atelier.

(From L to R) Satami Lace Bra 2196 non-stretch sling sandwiched in cotton knit and Panache Andorra non-stretch sling.

In today's tutorial we will be adding internal slings to the very popular Watson wireless bra pattern by Cloth Habit.  I highly suggest this modification if 1.) you are of a larger bust and still want support in a wireless bra and/or 2.) your girls are a bit saggy and need some additional vertical assistance and/or 3.) your bust point tends to face east/west and you would like them more centered.

You will need the 2 cup pieces to begin.  Draw a line 1/4" away from the edge - this will indicate the seam or sewing line.  I've drawn short dotted lines in red.
***[Ignore the other lines - this is my modified version of the Watson where I've moved the cup seam more toward the Center Front and raised the height of the side wings.]

Now stack one piece on top of the other aligning the seam line.  You need to eliminate the seam line as we will be making our sling in one piece.

Tape them together.

Here's the fun part - deciding what you would like the sling to accomplish.  There is ONE main rule to keep in mind here - avoid the apex of the cup. Not only can it be uncomfortable having a free floating piece of fabric so close to a sensitive area, it is also more likely to be seen from the outside of the bra.

I'm using one of my corset bones to indicate where you would like the internal edge of the sling to end.

This version pushes the breast tissue toward center front and is the version used in the Panache Andorra.

This version pushes the breast tissue up and is sometimes used in wired sports bras.

This version pushes the breast tissue both up AND forward.



Once you've decided what shape (and function) your sling will take, draw your line (as indicated by the corset bone) and trace.

Add a line to indicate direction of greatest stretch (DOGS).  It should be perpendicular to your straight line.  You want there to be almost NO stretch along your straight line as that's what provides the support.

Last step would be to decide what material to use in your bra sling.  Both RTW examples in the title photo utilize non-stretch fabric, but I have personally also seen bra foam (regular 1/8" poly laminate foam covered in stretch knit placed on fold) and powerknit/powernet on the fold.

Today's example uses firm powernet (45% stretch doubled => 30% stretch). One of the reasons I used powernet this time instead of the Simplex (like I've done in the past) is due to proximity to the bust point (see photo above) and my desire to for the sling to be as invisible as possible.  The knit used in today's tutorial is VERY soft and such a drastic difference between stretch percentages would likely be obvious.

 Cut out your new internal sling and attach to your cups PRIOR to sewing into cradle. Complete the remainder of the steps as usual.

OPTIONAL: You can also use the same internal sling pattern for a lace external sling!  The straight edge works really well along the lowest point of scalloped lace.

And here's the finished piece!

A few pics of the finished interior.  The bra channeling is optional as this is wireless (although a short rocker wire also worked well for me!).  I added it for a cleaner look.

Sewing Bras - Custom Drafting a Strapless Bra Part 2

A quick update on my Strapless Bra drafting adventures.

Since my last post, my fitting problems were as follows:

#6 - cups are no longer pointy but tilt downward toward the armpit despite ensuring marks on the cup lined up with the marks on the cradle. Needs to be taken in a smidge at the cross seam near center front.

#7 - bra band is ridiculously huge.  It measured 30" unstretched - and that included a 12.5% negative ease for the elastic (which incidentally, I apparently pickup that percentage out of nowhere)

I had finished redrafting the bra band to better suit my tastes last round.  The fit is significantly better with 2 caveats.  1) The elastic I am using is much too stretchy despite being 3/4"!  It stretches 100% easily.  2) The single layer of powernet may not be enough for what I am looking for.  Will entertain doubling the powernet.

#8 -  tilting the cups within the frame too see if it would be enough to off set the odd angle.  

The cups pointing downward (like a sad puppy) was quite vexing.  After a good night's sleep, I tried on the bra again and noticed a few things I didn't previously. The bridge was too wide near the top and too narrow near the bottom.  AHA!  I had forgotten about the ONE alteration I always make to bra patterns as it is a necessity in order for the bridge to fit properly. Goodness I felt silly.

#9 - took in the center gore at the correct angle for my typical adjustment.

AAAAND.  Still sad puppy cups.  I had to step away for the rest of the day.  

During my break from sewing, I got to thinking about Natasha's Underwire Theory [link HERE] on her blog.  Specifically she talks about the importance of accounting for wire spring when drafting.  While she doesn't walk you through all the steps of how to draft the bra bridge, the focus on wire spring included a different way to account for it as well as thorough explanations that I found extremely helpful. The most important lines I found was this:

"... a wire should be sprung 15mm and while this seems to be commonly repeated I have found through further education and experience that 15mm is not necessarily a rule. In many cases, it is the minimum amount of wire spring that should be added and it is possible to add up to 55mm of wire spring." - www.bramakingblog.com

compared to:

"Test the amount of splay in the wire by holding the front arm of the wire and flexing the side outward. Make a note of how much it splays. Trace the wire and then pivot the wire back the amount of the splay toward the side seam, using the bottom of the curve as a pivot point. Trace the new curve and use it for your bra draft. " - Bra-Makers Manual Vol 2.

In essence, they are both stating the same thing.  Bras need a little extra space in the channeling to account for the wire spring.  Wire spring can differ depending on the size(length) of the wire.  It would have helped my case IMMENSELY if the BMM had stated a 15 mm (smaller cups) and 55 mm (larger cups) as examples.   I would have realized that my spring of 5 mm was much too small.

Here is the result of drafting with too small a spring vs the 15 mm.

The overall curve is flatter with the 15 mm vs the 5 mm as one would expect.  However, it also LOWERS the overall height.  In my case, a wire spring (using a U-Shaped wire)  of 5 mm results in a center gore that was TALLER than the underarm - causing the droopy sad puppy eye cups!!!  Hallelujah!

Green line is perpendicular to center bridge - note how one side is taller than the underarm side.

So, I think we're finally ready for some real lingerie fabrics and lace!  Many thanks to Natasha and the fabulous people on the Bra Making Forum!  This has definitely been my biggest bra making challenge yet!

Sewing Bras - Custom Drafting a Strapless Bra

I know its been quite a few weeks without any bras - I'm finally ready to give a peek on what I've been working on.

I want/need a long line strapless bra as I do not have any in my current size.  I use the term "long line" loosely as the name changes depending on the manufacturer, style, and even era.  To clarify, it is a bra that extends at least to the waist - I am prefer the type that ends at the hips. Like these.

Aren't they gorgeous?  [From L to R] What Katie Did Glamour Noueveu, Warner's Merry Widow from 1957 and Cabaret Torsolette 

That said, my first FEW attempts were pretty sad. Having made corsets before, I approached drafting the bra similar to corsets. Call it idiocy, call it over confidence, but it didn't occur to me to read over the section on Strapless bras in my favorite bra making book.  The results were as one would expect.

#1 - Waist too big.  Took a wild guess on % of reduction for the elastic. (I did 5%)
#2 - Fixed waist, cups sagged, wrinkles at the center gore, boobs had zero lift and
#3 - Inserted U-wires.  This helped the cups retain some shape better but also were too long for the band.

This lead me to try drafting my own - properly.

Using the Bra Maker's Manual Vol 2, I was able to follow instructions and draft the band and lower cup without a problem.  The upper cup directions was less so. At one point, I contemplated asking my husband to read the passage and see what he came up with.  Ultimately, I succeeded on my own by looking at the diagrams and ignoring the directions!  Then just needed to repeat all the steps for the other cup.  I wasn't sure if it was even necessary as the cross cup measurement were different by half inch.  Thinking I could probably use the practice anyway, I went ahead and drafted upper and lower cups for each breast.  Its interesting to note the differences in pattern shape and size based on a difference of 1/2 inch!  It took me 2 days but drafts are done!  Not too bad as I was attempting this with my littles running around high on life.

Not wanting to COMPLETELY start over and waste perfectly good materials, I decided to sew up the bridge of my new self draft and OVERLAY it onto my in-progress strapless bra.  On the same wavelength, I had hoped to reuse the bra cups, cut according the new pattern and re-insert.  As expected, more issues arised.

#4 - cups are comically huge and pointy, wires do not spring (I do think this may be due to the elastics not being completely sewn on?)

It seems my NEW problems stem from measuring!  Perhaps this is why they don't recommend working late into the night!  That and my particular body type doesn't yield a visible IMF near the arm.  No amount of poking or prodding could produce a semblance of a fold to measure the cross cup seam. In the end, I had to wear a bra and measure based on the indention the wire created when I took it off.  Or just measure over a bra (not an option for those with my body type AND no well fitting bra!)

So after remeasuring, re-drafting and pattern creating, I test out my custom bra cup pattern ver 2.

#5 - cups are MUCH closer to being a real fit, but still pointy
#6 - cups are no longer pointy but tilt downward toward the armpit despite ensuring marks on the cup lined up with the marks on the cradle.

In order to address the tilt issue, I decide I MIGHT need to actually make a full strapless bra based on the pattern I drafted.  Thus, I take the cups out of the strapless long line, sew up the band of my custom draft and throw it on.  Another COMICAL situation.

#7 - bra band is ridiculously huge.  It measured 30" unstretched - and that included a 12.5% negative ease for the elastic (which incidentally, I apparently pickup that percentage out of nowhere).

This maybe more of a personal preference than mistake.  My underbust measures 29" tight and 30" snug.  Evidently I am accustomed to wearing my bra bands pretty tight.  Perhaps it was from my years of wearing Victorian Corsets (off and on) for years. This was evident when I measured my underbust again - this time, while wearing a bra - and measured 29". [***Details Below ***]. Cue more drafting.

Aaaaand this is where I currently stand. Three days of proper bra drafting, testing, redrafting and more testing (not including the days where I worked on the Strapless Longline/merry widow/bustier even before cracking open my books!).  Currently on version 2 of the band, version 4 of the cups, and version 2 of the merry widow.  We will see what the next few days bring.  Thank goodness for water soluable thread!

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*****For those who may also run into this type of problem on their first foray into custom bra drafting, I took note of the finished (unstretched) band lengths of my RTW bras for comparison.  My best fitting bras all had a 32 band that physically measured approximately 26.5" unstretched.  With the 26.5" as a reference, I still had to decide the % of negative ease for the elastics.  This percentage is dependent on the stretch factor of the fabric used for the back band.  In my case, a single layer of powernet had 50% stretch (5" stretched to 7.5").  The Bra-Makers Manual says to reduce no more than 1/2 and ideally only 1/3 of the length (or anything within that range). So I do a few quick calculations to get some comparisons based on my 7.7" pattern piece.

25% reduction (1/2 of 50% stretch) = 1.81" x 2 (wings) = 3.6" => 25.4" total length
16.6% reduction (1/3 of 50% stretch) = 1.2" x 2 (wings) = 2.4" => 26.6" total length

And just out of morbid curiosity, how much I would have needed to stretch on Ver 1 of my pattern with 7.75" piece:

25% reduction (1/2 of 50% stretch) = 1.94" x 2 (wings) = 3.875" => 26.125" total length
16.6% reduction (1/3 of 50% stretch) = 1.29" x 2 (wings) = 2.6" => 27.4" total length

These numbers confirm what I have suspected for a while.  The smaller the band size, the less "squish" one has to tolerate a firm band.  This is due to the smaller bands having less fabric and thus less stretch.  You can easily test this theory by stretching a piece of 5" elastic (or powernet) to its max. Then repeat with a piece of the SAME elastic that is only 2.5".

Recipe - Organic Ointment AKA Petroleum Jelly Alternative (Vaseline)

How many of you grew up using Vaseline on your skin? My parents always kept a giant tub of it at home and used it for elbows, knees, heels and even hands and face if it was particularly dry or chapped.  When my oldest was born, I was gifted a tub by a well meaning couple.  Thinking nothing of it, I used it much the same way my parents did.  Come to find out a few months later that my pediatrician DOESN'T recommend using it on kids!  Hence my scramble to find an alternative!

I found a product that I really liked called Waxelene - its marketed as "The Petroleum Jelly Alternative" and Cloth Diaper Friendly.  There are only a handful of ingredients: Organic Soy Oil, Beeswax, Natural Vitamin E oil, and Organic Rosemary oil.  It was thick and malleable like petroleum jelly but slightly less potent.  After my second tub of this awesome stuff, I realized my reasons for liking this product (over some others I've tried) is the same reason I should try making it myself.  Short ingredient list, organic oils, and uses (mostly) stuff I already had at home.  After a quick Google search and a few trials of different recipes, I came across this one from Frugally Sustainable [Original recipe HERE].  Here is my version with a few alterations:

Organic Ointment AKA Petroleum Jelly Alternative

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil 
• 6 heaping tablespoons beeswax (these beeswax pastilles are so much easier to work with)
• 1/4 cup organic olive oil 
• 2 heaping tablespoon lanolin
• 1/8 cup organic vitamin E oil from Trader Joe's (its a mix of soybean oil and vitamin E hence the large jump in volume. If you have pure vitamin E, stick with the original 1 tsp vitamin E and 1/8 cup Soybean/caster oil)

Method

1. In a small sauce pan, over low to medium heat, warm coconut oil and beeswax until melted.
2. Remove from heat and add olive oil, lanolin, and vitamin E oil.
3. Using a hand mixer, whisk until all ingredients are well combined.
4. Continue to whisk as mixture cools, whisk until mixture is creamy.
5. Pour from pan into a 4 ounce glass jar (I keep these on hand at all times) or any other appropriate storage container of your choosing.
6. Optional - Feel free to add a few drops of your favorite aromatherapy oil or enjoy the natural scent of the beeswax.

This homemade product will keep fresh on the counter for up to a year.  You can skip the whisking if you don't have a hand mixer but it will be more like a salve.  If you would like the mixture to be more creamy and less thick, decrease the beeswax by 1 tbs.  

Recipe - Whole Wheat Blender Pancake [in a blender] UPDATED!

So I recently discovered the world of freshly ground whole wheat and the subsequent Pancake recipe in a blender.  This revised version addresses the issue of the pancake being "flat" with a few key changes.  Check out my previous attempts HERE.

Whole wheat pancake [in a blender] updated

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup wheat berries/kernels
• 1/2 cup milk + 
• 1/4 cup milk (a splash really)
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons plain unflavored yogurt
• 3/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the wheat berries/kernels and the buttermilk in a high powered blender [like Vitamix or Blendtec] and blend on high for 30 seconds (quickly moving from 1-10 speed then high), until the mixture is smooth and thick.
2. Add the 1/2 cup milk and the remaining ingredients and blend until the batter is smooth [about another 30 sec]. Scrape down the sides as needed and blend again for 10 sec. Batter should be smooth, slightly thick and slightly warm (not steaming) 
3. Cook the batter on a hot griddle for pancakes or in a waffle iron for, well, waffles!

HERE is the original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.



NOTES ABOUT THE RECIPE

This version of the recipe is especially tailored for high powered blenders like Vitamix or Blendtec.  You can definitely still make pancakes in a regular blender but your blend time would be 3 times as long.  Mel did state that there are no substitutions for the whole wheat berries for this recipe.  I assume that's because 1 cup of freshly blended wheat berries DOES NOT EQUAL 1 cup of store bought wheat flour.  Its the same concept of 1 cup of sugar vs 1 cup of packed sugar.

NOTES ABOUT THE FINAL PANCAKE

Final pancake is soft, fluffy and yummy.  I did increase the amount of sugar to better mimic the Japanese style pancakes (AKA hottokeki or hot cakes) our family likes so much.  I am fairly certain the addition of yogurt provided the extra moisture and fat without making everything too liquid-y.  The batter itself is on the thinner side - I was able to pour it out the blender (no spoon necessary!) - meaning less clean up!  This pancake is great topped with whipped cream and fruit! Syrup is optional.  

See how fluffy it is?