Doctor T Designs

I have been obsessively working on fitting a bunch of the B, Wear patterns over the past month, and I felt like I had finally gotten a good enough fit to try making some full bras. While I was originally planning to make some “plain” bra sets to test out the patterns, when my Black Friday Bra Builders haul arrived, I felt like I wanted to sew up some of these kits right away because they are so festive! I was playing around with the different patterns I had been working on, and the Buffalo Gal kit seemed like a perfect match for the Jessica’s Twin bra pattern.

The Buffalo Gal kit from Bra Builders comes with a “lace” that is really more of an embroidered poplin. The kit also comes with microduoplex and the necessary findings, and I chose to add on a panty kit with microlycra and elastics. While I was laying out my pattern pieces, I realized that I could fit the full Jessica’s Twin cups onto the “lace” design, which I hadn’t been able to do with any of the other laces in my stash, so it seemed like a natural pairing. I backed the cups in a double layer of sheer cup lining (folded at the top for a clean finish), so I actually didn’t end up using any of the microduoplex. Don’t be surprised if the rest of this kit starts making its way into future projects!

I decided to go fully splurgy on my use of the design fabric, so I used it for the cups, band, and straps. The final result feels very holiday festive:

The design details are pretty standard, but the B, Wear patterns do have the downward hike to the back band pieces, and I really like this design feature. I also really like how the lace front band looks, and the contrast strapping. The front looked really plain when I was done and definitely needed something to zhuzh it up, so I added some rhinestone details from my stash. I think it adds the perfect touch:

The underwear is once again made using my self-drafted pattern from the Craftsy class; I think I’ve finally really got the fit dialed in at this point. This time I used some different elastics to finish it off though, which makes this pair a bit different. I have to say I love the quality of the Bra Builders waistband elastics which really are a step above a lot of the other materials I have tried. The leg elastics are not quite as tight as I’m used to; if I use this type of elastic again I’ll make it a bit shorter to compensate for how stretchy it is. I used my serger to do a lot of the construction on these, so I am also really happy with how tidy these look on the inside:

I’ve taken to planning out my bra sewing a bit more now that I’m getting a bit more complex with my designs. This was pretty straightforward, but I’m still happy how close the final project is to my initial sketch:

Overall I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. I think this was a good use of the kit materials and the final project is really cute. I love how well the underwear matches even though it doesn’t use any of the same fabric as the bra. I do have some considerations about this pattern before I use it again, but I am including that more nuanced discussion in my formal pattern review.

Official Pattern Review

Pattern Description: Two piece vertical cup underwire bra pattern. From the brand: “Jessica’s Twin is the sister pattern to our Angie’s Twin, and is also filled with fantasy, designed to give a lovely roundness and built to be a functional bra we are all looking for! And, just like our other Bra patterns, the Jessica’s Twin bra has a well-formed rounded cup, with a narrow band to prevent the elastic from rolling. Jessica’s Twin cups are designed with one vertical seam instead of the earlier three.”

Pattern Sizing: The pattern comes from B, Wear in four size pack options: 70-85 A-E, 70-85 F-I, 90-105 A-E, 90-105 F-I. The numerical sizing corresponds to the band size in centimeters, so the American sizing equivalent is 28-34 for the 70-85 range and 36-42 for the 90-105 range. I used my direct measurement and that worked well. However, the cup sizing does not follow the standard letter values. Typically, A corresponds to a 1” difference between band size and full bust, but in this pattern the instructions indicate that A is a 4” difference. I have a 9” difference, but also an omega shape, so I use a very small wire line relative to my cup volume. I used my self-drafted band to figure out what sort of cups sizes to trace from and it worked really well. For this pattern I started with the 90A for the wire line, blended to a 90E for the fullest part of the cup and the length of the cup piece, and back to the 90A for the top edge of the cup. This type of adjustment has been working really well for me with the B, Wear patterns; I find I can usually get a good fit in 2-3 mockups. If you find that you fit easily in other brands that tend to have wider, shallower cups (Pin-up Girls, AFI Atelier, etc.) then this may not be as easy a brand to work with; at the very least you may need to decrease the size of the pieces. Conversely, if you find that you have a lot of fitting issues with cups because they are too wide or not projected enough, then the Jessica’s Twin could be a good place to start. I have found that as a larger cup size, patterns with more seams than this one tend to give me a better overall shape because then there are more seams to create curvature, but for a simple two-piece cup I am pretty happy with how the Jessica’s Twin turned out.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Overall the instructions were pretty good. I have found a few random typos throughout the B, Wear pattern instructions, but nothing that makes the actual instructions confusing or unclear. I think the images are a bit small so it could be a bit hard to see if you print them out; it might be better to have a digital version on a tablet to pinch and zoom if you really need to see what’s going on. I do like that the instructions include helpful information about stitch types and sizes and show each step for the different cup options (with or without the strap extension), so it is easy to follow along. The instructions are also pretty condensed, so there isn’t too much printing if you want them on paper. At this point I’ve made enough bras I don’t really need to follow the instructions too closely for a basic pattern, but they are helpful to reference for things like seam allowance and recommendations for stitch types at various steps.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  Generally speaking, yes! I think that the B, Wear patterns do not have the most accurate cover images and line drawings though. The line drawing shows seams at the center front and under the cups, but the pattern is not really drafted this way. It uses a one-piece front band that is supposed to be cut on a fold. However, to better manage the fabric design I did use a center front seam. I used the cup without the strap extension, which is an option in the pattern, but not shown on the envelope. However, overall the finished garment is a two-piece vertical seamed bra, which is the major design element of this pattern, so I think it turned out well.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I really like how simple this pattern is; after making so many three or four piece cup styles of bras, it’s amazing how fast this came together. I also love the way B, Wear patterns are drafted for more projected shapes – it’s really nice to find a pattern that I only need to adjust a little bit to fit. I also like that the pattern include the downward hike in the back band – this pattern is definitely designed for lift, which I appreciate. Part of it may be the fabric choice, but this is one of the most supportive and best lifting bras I have. I also really like the pattern because it has stacked sizes and the relatively short instructions. In so many other patterns I’ve had to guess a bit while printing out sizes because they do one size per page, which makes it really hard to blend if you need to do that for an omega adjustment. One downside to this pattern is that is does only have the one vertical seam, which makes it a lot easier to get flat spots on the bra because there aren’t as many places to adjust the pattern or distribute the tension across different seams (Hugs for Your Jugs has a really good article on what causes flat spots). If you have extremely heavy breast tissue or a very rounded shape it might be better to try the Angie’s Twin which has more vertical seams, or the Margareta which also has more seams around the cup but have been drafted to the same type of shape. I like the way this bra fits, but it might not be my absolute favorite style in terms of silhouette.

Fabric used: For this project I used the Buffalo Gals kit from Bra Builders. It came with an embroidered poplin that was acting as a “lace” element, microduoplex, power net, and larger sizes findings. For this bra, I used nearly all of the embroidered poplin and the power net and findings from the kit. I decided to line with sheer cup lining and will be saving the microduoplex, remaining power net, and scraps of the embroidered fabric for use with another project. I’d never considered using this type of embroidered material as a lace before, but I really like it. It gives the “pretty” effect of a lace, but is much more comfortable agains the skin, even after wearing it for extended periods of time. 

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  I used my self-drafted front band and blended my back band with the pattern band to get a good size. I altered my front band to use with the scalloped edge of the fabric (straighten out the lower edge). After starting with the 90A/E blend of sizes on the cups, I did a 3/4” length and 1/4” width FBA at the apex, and was really happy with the fit after my second mock up. Because of using the scalloped fabric, I chose to not add the strap attachment directly on the pattern, and used straps from the Bra Makers Manual Volume 2 to attach to the bra behind the scalloped design. I realized after I had made the straps that I probably should have added a 3/8” elastic allowance to the edges, and also probably another 1” to the length. The straps are not quite over the apex and I think this is causing some weird tension at the side of the bra and they are a bit tight over the shoulders because of the length being shorter than I realized. I can still wear the bra as is, but it would be nice to have more adjustability on the straps if I make this pattern again. I think I may also take out a 1/2″ dart near where the outer cup attaches to the band because I’m getting a tiny bit of gaping there.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  I will probably sew this again, but I don’t know if this will be my TNT bra pattern. As of now I think the Cashmerette Willowdale is still my ultimate TNT, followed by the B, Wear Margareta. I am currently working on a version of Angie’s Twin, which is the sister pattern but has more seam lines, and I think that pattern could work out a bit better for me because of the added seaming. I’m also testing the B, Wear Olivia pattern, which is another vertical seamed cup, but has a slightly different shape, so it will be interesting to compare the patterns once I am done. Another reason I think the Jessica’s Twin may not end up as my favorite pattern is because the cup pieces are very large, which makes it challenging to find an embellished material that will fit the cup pieces, at least out of many of the conventional laces and embroidered tulles that are used for bra making. The Buffalo Gals kit was a great option, but it seems more like an anomaly than the rule. I know there are other creative ways I can use this pattern with lace, and I do think it is good to have a really basic two piece cup as an option, but as of now there are some other patterns I think I am enjoying more because they are easier to use with my current materials. I do like how supportive this pattern is and how well it fits – I wore it a whole day and it was very comfortable. So I would recommend this pattern, but with the caveat that there may be other patterns that could work better depending on your goals and fit preferences.

Conclusion:  Overall I am pretty happy with how this turned out. It was my first time using a Bra Builders kit and I am very please with the quality of the materials and how well the finished bra turned out. Aside from the strap attachment being a bit off, I am really pleased with the construction and overall fit of the pattern. I really like this pattern and how easy it was for me to put together and fit; I definitely think B, Wear is a great pattern brand if you need a rounder or more projected shape from a bra. I am finding I prefer more seams in the bra cup, so this may not be my go-to style moving forward, but I am very happy to have this pattern in my collection and be able to use it as an option when it suits the materials I’m working with.

Is this garment a “Triumph of Individual Style”? I think so! I really love how this feels very holiday festive without being too obvious, and I really love the matching bottoms. I am very happy with how this looks and I’m excited to use more of my Bra Builders kits soon!

While I was working on this kit I batch-cut a few other projects because they used the same thread colors – another bra review post is coming soon!