Doctor T Designs

Hot off the sewing machine is my next bra pattern for review! I’m continuing my exploration of the B, Wear pattern line and my latest project has been the Olivia Bra-lette. When I go this pattern I wasn’t sure what I was going to use to make it because of the very large pattern pieces for the overlay, but I actually ended up using one of the first laces I bought when getting into bra sewing, so it felt good to be trying out this pattern using up some of my stash.

The Olivia is very similar to the Jessica’s Twin being a two-piece vertical seam cup, but this one comes with an interesting overlay that makes it look more unique:

This project was also made from a hodgepodge of materials from all over the internet. The lace is from Tailor Made Shop, which is down for website updates, but you can still find a bit of this lace on the Etsy store. The sheer cup lining was from Porcelynne, the powernet from Spandex World, the elastics were from B, Wear and Amazon, the hooks were pulled from a navy kit from Gigi’s Bra supply, and the rainbow hooks and sliders were a lucky internet find. I fell in love with the rainbow sliders I saw in some online shops, but most places don’t carry them in larger sizes, so sourcing them has been a bit tricky. I found a few places on Ebay and Ali Express that carry them, but even then finding anything larger than 15mm in stock was hard. Although not everything was perfectly matched, I think it came together well at the end:

The lace is really busy because it has a printed design on top of the actual lace, so it’s a bit difficult to seen, but I was pretty meticulous about mirroring the scallops on the band and the neckline of the overlay. The other design details are pretty standard, but I did choose to use black sheer cup lining for the under cups because I wanted the colors of the printed graphics to pop. The lace detail is more apparent on the overlay where there isn’t a colored backing, but the print fades a bit there. I also added a bit of lace to the back band as a design feature. I’m really happy with how tidy it all turned out:

I also have matching boyshorts to complete this set. I didn’t sew these at the same time though; back at the start of 2023 I was trying one of the techniques from the Beverly Johnson Craftsy class to make all-lace boyshorts and since this was one of the widest laces I found I decided to make them with this. I am happy to have a matching set, but I’m going to be honest that I don’t love the fit of my boyshorts pattern the same as the briefs pattern I have made. So perhaps I will use the scraps of lace I have left to make something additional in the future, but for now I’m will settle for having this as a set:

I will say it looks a lot like my initial sketch though!

Overall I’m very happy with my new bra and how well it came together. I think it was the perfect use of this lace. I do think I might like to add a charm to the bra, but I haven’t found the perfect one yet, and I don’t really like a bow with this lace. But I’m sure I’ll wear it a lot in the meantime while I look for the perfect finishing touch.

Official Pattern Review

Pattern Description: The Olivia Bra-lette is 2 piece vertical cup underwire bra pattern with lace overlay. From the brand: “Olivia Bra-lette by Angie is a bra-lette with a inner cup with one seam and a lace outer cup that are beatifully dressed over your shoulders. The sizes are just as B,Wears other patterns made after non standard measurements so make sure to take your measurement before [using] this pattern.” The pattern name calls it a “Bra-lette” but it is a full underwired bra pattern, designed to give a style that mimics the look of a bralette.

Pattern Sizing: The pattern comes from B, Wear in three size pack options: 70-85 A-I, 80-95 A-I, 90-105 A-I. The numerical sizing corresponds to the band size in centimeters, so the American sizing equivalent is 28-34 for the 70-85 range, 32-38 for the 80-95 range, and 36-42 for the 90-105 range. 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 I have 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 90F 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 inner cup. I based the outer overlay cup on the size of the inner pieces. This technique has been working really well for me with the B, Wear patterns to help fit the cups into my preferred self-drafted band. If you find that you fit easily in other pattern 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 B, Wear patterns could be an excellent place to start. One thing to note about the PDF pattern is that I had a weird scaling issue when I tried to print. I ended up using a 982.4% scale to get it to print at 100% on paper. I’m not sure why; I haven’t had this issue with any of the other B, Wear PDFs, but it took me a bit of math and a few test prints to get this pattern to scale correctly.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  The instructions were generally pretty good. Like the other B, Wear patterns I’ve tried, there are a few typos and some grammatical issues in the English translation, but nothing that impacts the actual sewing. I followed the instructions a bit more on this pattern to make sure I was incorporating the overlay correctly and stabilizing it at the correct points. I do think that the images for adding the elastic to the under cups are a bit misleading – this pattern has a bit of a dip where it connects to the under arm scoop, and I wasn’t sure if I should add the elastic there or not. The image indicated adding it there, but after constructing this I think it would be better to just add elastic to the neckline edge and not include the scoop area because it makes the second pass of elastic much smoother. I generally like how condensed the B, Wear pattern instructions are and I think they have enough information to make a good bra if you have some experience sewing but are new to bra making. However, I also found I deviated a bit in the order of construction because of both personal preference and because of some of the design choices I made.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  Yes – it looked a lot like the line drawing! I think the Olivia is probably the most accurate line drawing from B, Wear, and my finished project looked a lot like the image except for the style changes I made.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I really liked the style of this pattern, and that it gives you the look of a lightweight bralette with the full support of a regular bra. I also like how the B, Wear pattern include a downward hike in their back band pattern pieces because it helps provide lift. I also found that having the multiple layers of support from the inner cup and overlay was really comfortable. I also appreciate that the instructions try to give you options at different points, such as different finishing techniques if you used a lace overlay or just a sheer fabric overlay. I have found that I have a really easy time fitting the B, Wear patterns because they are designed for a more projected shape, so I also really appreciate that about this pattern brand. My only slight dislike is that the overlay straps are a bit wide for me. I can’t decide if it’s supposed to be a design feature where the overlay is supposed to gather a bit and my fabric too stiff to do that, or if it’s just too wide. I think I might narrow it a tiny bit in the future either way.

Fabric used: I used a bunch of materials from all over the internet to make this particular bra. The lace for the outer cups and band is from Tailor Made Shop, though I’ve seen it available in other bra supply retailers. The inner cups and lining are sheer cup lining from Porcelynne, the power mesh is from Spandex World, the picot elastics are from B, Wear, the fold over elastic is from Amazon, and the hardware and findings are pulled from a few different kits. I saw the rainbow rings and sliders a few different places and really loved the colors, but they are really hard to find in the larger sizes. I got a few and consider them in my stash as precious, but they were too perfect for this fabric not to use. If you want to find them there are a few places on Ebay and Ali Express that list them. I couldn’t find a true 3/4” (18mm) so I used a 20mm, which worked fine once the strap was properly double folded through the slider.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  I made a few changes for fit and a few for style. For the fit, I did a 3/4” FBA to increase the length of the cup, then added 1/2” to the upper edge of the inner cup, and I also redistributed the apex curve a bit to make it slightly less pointed, then adjusted the overlay pattern to match. For the band, I did a mashup of my self-drafted band pattern and the pattern from the PDF. For the style, I changed the bottom of the band to have a straight edge to use the scallops on the lace. Although the pattern expects you to cut the band from lace, it isn’t drafted for use with the lace scallops anywhere but the neckline edge. I also used a double layer of sheer cup lining to enclose the inner cup seams and finished the top edge with fold over elastic instead of a picot elastic. Because of the design changes I had to do some slightly different construction techniques, but generally speaking I followed most of the pattern instructions otherwise.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  Yes, I am definitely making this again! I want to make a few modifications before the next version: I want to take a tiny dart out from the underarm edge (I seem to need this on all the B, Wear patterns I’ve made), narrow the overlay a bit at the shoulder, narrow my front bridge on this seamed front pattern (it ended up a tiny bit wider than when I cut it on the fold), and possibly raise the height of my back band for a bit more coverage. Overall though it’s a great pattern and I would definitely recommend it to others, especially if you want the look of a lace bralette but also want the support of a full bra.

Conclusion:  I really like this pattern. Although the two-piece vertical cup is similar to the Jessica’s Twin, the fit is slightly different between the two. I think the Jessica’s Twin give a slight bit more lift but the Olivia is a bit more rounded. I also like the overlay option in the Olivia – it is a unique style to my pattern collection. A lot of tutorials I have seen gather a flat piece of fabric into the wire line to create this effect, but the Olivia is actually a shaped 2-piece overlay, which I think might be better if you want a slimmer profile under clothes or feel like you don’t want to add any additional volume to the bust area. One thing I did see while scrolling Instagram for inspiration was someone who liked the overlay on this pattern but didn’t like the shape of the under cups, so they added the overlay to a different pattern’s cup and it worked out well for them. I was happy with the 2-piece cup fit, but I also agree there is a lot more options for shaping when the cup has more pattern pieces. I think this pattern is really versatile and I can see a lot of potential for doing different overlays with foam cups or layering laces for cool effects. Overall I am excited to have this pattern as an option for future projects, and I am very pleased with how this project turned out. I haven’t been able to give it a proper multi-day wear test yet, but I’ve worn it for a bit and it was very comfortable when I put it on. It also looks great under a t-shirt, so I think this will be a surprisingly wearable style for me and I’m excited to be able to wear it more soon!

Is this garment a “Triumph of Individual Style”? Surprisingly, I think so! I’ve had a bit of back and forth on this lace – it’s a lace with printed designs on top, and it pops in images, but is a bit duller in real life. It has a lot of colors I like (teal, navy, and purple-pink), but it also is a bit hard to match for findings and power net because of this. I hadn’t really been sure what to make with it, so when I was playing around with supplies and laying them out with the different patterns I was testing, I was really excited to see how much I liked the idea of using this lace with the Olivia. I think the final product is really pretty and really comfortable and I’m excited to have it in my under-wardrobe!

Next up should be a review of the Angie’s Twin! Ironically it was the pattern that kicked off my interest in the B, Wear pattern line, yet it ends up being the last one that gets sewn. I think it will probably be my last project of 2023, but I’d love to get it sewn and blogged before I dive into my annual year-end posts and what’s shaping up to be a very busy start to 2024!