Bra Challenge: Week 3 and Week 4?

As much as I’ve been trying to, there just isn’t enough time in a day to get everything done. It’s been a bit difficult to make time for everything and everyone but mostly, writing. I finally decided to sit down and write and make everything and everyone wait until this is done. The one thing I’ve reserved time for is bra making. I really want to gain bra making skills so I’ve been pushing myself to make the time. Overall, I feel more confident in my ability of tackling the construction process every time I finish sewing a bra. I’m currently working on the Florence bra from Seamwork Magazine and as soon as it’s done I’ll share it. In the meantime, I would like to share two of my completed Watson Bras. I truly love this bra for it’s longline style and it’s comfort. It also provides some support but I wish it offered more. No matter though because I plan on making a collection of many colors.

For this Watson bra, I used shiny milliskin in cantaloupe from Spandex House. I really like the fabric as it’s a soft feel and it stretches firmly and softly at the same time, it’s hard to explain but really awesome. I used glittered bra straps from Etsy shop Porcelynne Fabric Boutique. The straps look cute but they are a bit itchy. The  rings, sliders, black glittered picot elastic I used on the band, cradle, neckline and side arm was also purchased from the Etsy shop Porcelynne Fabric Boutique and are all 3/8″ in width.

To line the cradle, I used 40 Denair Tricot (which I have a lot of) which I purchased from Fabric.com. I do think it works well to stabilize the cradle even though it is a bit hard to work with because it is so slippery. The Watson instructions suggests to baste it in place but I don’t because it hard to work with and it also saves me some time. For the bands, I lined used powernet as lining and milliskin. Overall, I really liked the finished bra but next time, I will try and match all around the elastics and probably try to use two layers of milliskin on the cradle and one side of the cups.

One other thing I would like to mention is that I will never again order from Spandex House because I feel like they ripped me off. They charged me $17 just on shipping without letting me know what the total cost of my purchase would be. I ordered two other one yard fabrics so my total purchase would be $30 so I thought I’d spend no more the $10 on shipping but I thought I would receive an email with an invoice but nothing. Not even a phone call. I called them myself to find out how much shipping would be and when they told me, I wanted to cancel but they told me it was too late because they had already shipped it out. I was furious but polite. I emailed them expressing how upset I was and no one even cared to acknowledge my email as I didn’t receive a reply. I would recommend trying Spandex World as I didn’t have this issue at all with them and they carry milliskin or even FabricDepotCo.com. It’s the same type of fabric and for about $1 more. It will save you in shipping costs so it’s worth to try them instead.

Now back to bras. For this next one, I used stretch lace for the cups, cradle and band which I already had in my stash. I purchased this lace from Fabric.com and used yellow picot elastic for the neckline, side arms and cradle. I lined the cups and cradle with 40 Denair tricot and lined the bands with powernet. All the notions, again, I purchased from Etsy shop, Porcelynne Fabric Boutique. This bra is very lightweight but very comfortable. The only thing is I wish I had at the time, yellow bra straps but I didn’t so I used black instead. It’s not very matching but I really love the comfort of this one, no itching at all.

These are my Week 3 and Week 4 shares of the Bra challenge and I’m more motivated than ever. As I mentioned before, I’m currently working on the Florence bra from Colette and I already love this bra even though I haven’t worn it yet. It’s a simple bra and I find it to be similar to the Watson except it doesn’t need hook and eyes. Also, you have the option of adding channeling and underwire for added support.  If you have time to, I recommend reading this months Seamwork magazine as it’s focus is lingerie. They mention a lot of helpful tips and even list some great supply resources to look into.

An update on the BurdaStyle challenge I’m participating in, I did sew a dress but it did not come out as I hoped because of my fabric choice. I have to take in a minimum of 2″ all around so I plan on finishing this simple dress sometime this coming week. I did do a January BurdaStyle pattern but I have go back and change the whole thing to fit, ugh! Oh well. As soon as I can, I will post on the blog the finished outfit. Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing Valentine’s Day!