Doctor T Designs

In an unexpected burst of energy I have completed my third bra! Over the holidays my sister and I did a pattern swap – we traced off and traded each other the sizes we needed so that we would both have a copy of the Ruby Bra and a copy of the Freja bra patterns. I’m sure the sewing community can debate the ethics of this, but we are family, so I don’t feel bad about it, especially since we each bought several patterns to begin with. Anyway, I’ve been re-watching some of the more advanced video tutorials on adding interesting design variations to the bra patterns, and I thought that many of these techniques would be easier using the Freja as a starting point, not least because the cup has many fewer pieces.

From the initial pattern my sister gave me, I preemptively made most of the same changes I had made to the Ruby Bra after my second version, at least to the band and bridge. I didn’t make any changes to the cups for this round because I wanted to see how the different cup styles impacted the fit. The fit changes I made were to add 1/4″ wedge to the front bridge, to narrow the back band by 1/2″ and to move the back strap placement inwards by 3/8″ to help the strap placement. I will say that this is the best fitting band yet! I think it really is close to perfect, and it is so comfortable. The wires sit in a much better way on the body now that the band fit is tweaked, and the back hooks are finally able to be worn on the loosest setting and tightened over time as the elastic stretches out.

The other changes I made to this version were to attempt new styles with lace. In the video tutorials, Beverly Johnson shows how to make a lace on the front band, or on a back or partial band, but she does not actually make a continuous lace band. So I sort of hybridized the techniques and came up with my own pattern to do a fully single piece lace band, with just a seam in the center front for mirroring purposes. I basically re-drafted the band with a straight lower edge to match the LoPoL (Low Point of Lace) and made it long enough to cover the front and back bands. Then, because the lace isn’t particularly sturdy, I also made pattern pieces to line it with duoplex in the front and mesh for the back bands. I think it turned out super well! I also shortened the strap attachment point on the front to accommodate the lace scallops, and added a lace wedge piece to continue the lace motif up to the strap line. The rest of the pattern is as drafted; the Freja actually comes with a pattern option to have a lace topped cup, so I didn’t have to repattern any of the cup pieces for this project.

Because I was testing lace placements for the first time, I decided to use a wild tie-dye lace print. I honestly couldn’t decide if I loved it or hated it when I got it, but the colors were so bright they just sort of called to me. Frankly, I still can’t decide if I love it or hate it, but I am very happy I used this to make a first lace bra variation because I was able to learn a lot without stressing too much about using up precious, expensive, or super beautiful lace. There has been a lot of talk on the internet about “dopamine dressing” lately, and if these colors don’t get the dopamine flowing I don’t know what does. I’m not sure if what I ended up with would be considered conventionally beautiful in lingerie land (honestly, it might end up on the sales rack if it were RTW), but I do think it is fun!

I am particularly happy with the mirroring of lace motifs at the center front, as well as the lace motif along the upper cups. The wild print does hide the style lines a bit, but I think that’s ok.

To finish off the lace edge at the top I used the stitch and flip method with sheer cup lining. The lower cups I lined with duoplex for added support and coverage. I think this turned out well and gave a nice finish to the top of the cup. I used a double folded sheer cup lining piece to add support to the strap extension, and I was lazy and just used bra strap elastic for the front and back straps. Should I probably have made matching fabrics straps? Probably, but here we are.

This is the firs bra I have made without foam. While I do have to admit that I am pleasantly surprised with how much I don’t hate not having the foam, I also have to be honest with myself and admit that if I want to make bras I’m actually going to want to wear, I should just make the foam cups because I just feel more comfortable having the added foam as part of the structural support. I like sewing the foam, so that’s fine, but it does add a significant cost to the overall price of the bra, relatively speaking when compared to the price to build without the foam. I still think that I’m able to sew a bra with foam for about 2/3 of the price of my current brand of RTW bras. If you want to factor in the time cost then I’m not really coming out ahead, but I do think I’m getting a better fitting end result and I actually enjoy the sewing process so I don’t think it’s really a fair argument either way. Since I am planning to use foam for most foreseeable future projects, I am actually super curious at this point to see if I can get a smooth looking foam cup from cut and sew foam and using a stretch cover to get a really seamless look. I know for a truly seamless bra I need to use pre-formed foam cups, but the sizing options seem to be limited and with supply chain issues as they are, well, it would be good to consider alternatives.

Anyway, a few interesting things to note as a comparison of the patterns. After making this bra, I definitely need to take a dart in the upper cup, the same as I did on the Ruby. I will say that the fit of the drafts between the different Pin-up Girls Bra styles is remarkably consistent, so if you’ve had to make alterations to one bra style and you get a second, plan on making the same alterations for fit. The bands themselves are similar but they aren’t totally interchangeable; in direct comparison the length of the wire line is slightly different to accommodate the different cup styles. So I wouldn’t just use bands interchangeably without looking at pattern differences first. My alterations were simple so I thought it worth the time to make them on both patterns, especially since I also needed to re-draft the Freja band to accommodate lace. Knowing the patterns are so similar is actually very helpful for the future though in case I decide there are any other pattern styles I want to add to the collection. Also of note: I actually ended up using different wire sizes between the Ruby and the Freja. I’ve been using a size 46WL in the Ruby, but I went up to a 48WL in the Freja (good thing I got a wire size tester kit!). Interestingly, I feel like from the illustration I would guess that the Freja had less coverage, but in actuality I think it has more. It is possible the 48 could fit in the Ruby as the 46 has a bit of extra space, but I feel like it was just too long to fit on my first bra, which is why I’ve been using the 46’s. It’s definitely something to test in my next bra though, in case I’ve been needing longer wires all along!

So, now that I have 2 different styles of pretty decently fitting bras, what’s next? Well, I have a lot of ideas and I also now have a lot of fun fabrics. I think I’m going to try my hand at drafting a partial band bra for the Ruby, and altering that pattern to work with lace on the cups and band. Basically, I’m going to be following the tutorials to turn the Ruby into a Sapphire…

I feel like it could be another debate in the sewing community if the time to re-draft is worth the money saved not buying a second pattern, but I actually sort of enjoy the drafting process, so I’d rather take the time to learn how to do the procedure, especially since I have the fit worked out for the most part already. If I like how that looks I’ll also take the time to turn the Freja into a Frida and make the partial band draft adjustment for that pattern. I’ve already made my own foam pattern for the Freja, but I still need to do some adjustment for the cup covers on that pattern. (Honestly, I think I might need to also do a bit of a re-draft for the Ruby. The cup covers fit, but if you are using a rigid cover fabric like duoplex it does lead a bit to cup crushing if you aren’t super careful, and I’d like to avoid that in the future if I could…). I feel like once I have full and partial band fits worked out for each pattern the sky’s the limit, really. So that’s my plan for the next few projects I think. I certainly have enough styles I want to make and enough fun fabrics I want to sew with that I should be able to keep myself entertained with the bra sewing adventures for some time. I’m looking forward to have something of a bra pattern library where I can just decide what I want the result to look like and pull out pieces and start making, but for right now I’m still very much enjoying the journey to get there.