Doctor T Designs

I really wanted to get one last sewing project in before the end of the year festivities kick into full swing, and I’ve been wanting to make a vertical seamed cup style for a while now – it’s what set me off on the adventure of testing out all of the B, Wear patterns I’ve been using this past month. But before the year fully draws to a close, I am happy to say that I’ve made my first version of the B, Wear Angie’s Twin.

Angie’s Twin is similar to the other B, Wear patterns in that it utilized vertical rather than horizontal seams, but in this case the cup is split into 4 pieces:

Like many of my recent project, this was made with a bunch of materials from different sources. The cup fabric was from B, Wear. It’s a really stiff fabric and was honestly kind of a pain to use on this pattern, which has some really intense curved seams and probably would have been a better on something with fewer seams like the Jessica’s Twin. Honestly, it would probably be fantastic in a corset or something where you could make the garment’s curvature through using longer and less severely curved seams, which is not at all how this pattern is designed. Oh well, you live and learn. I also used beige sheer cup lining from Porcelynne to help enclose the seams and to give a light background to help the fabric design really stand out, black powernet and the hook from Gigi’s Bra Supply, and elastics from Stitch Love Studio. Aesthetically, I really like how everything came together to create a dramatic and interesting look:

This isn’t my best sewing – the stiff cup fabric was really challenging to sew, especially on the intense curve of the inner cup pieces and even when attaching the cups to the band. I think the fabric print and topstitching hide a manner of sins, but there are a few puckers I couldn’t quite get smooth. I haven’t noticed the seams of any of my other bras under clothes, but I don’t think I’ll be wearing this bra under a knit t-shirt. If the fabric had been just a bit softer, I would have really enjoyed the details on this bra though; I think the gothic arch, sheer look, and fold over elastic on the upper edge and straps add a lot to the overall design:

The underwear to complete the set is pretty boring – just basic black with fold over elastic. But I did try the french cut leg option for this style, so that was a new feature for this set:

Yet again I made a planning sketch, and I think the plan did come together!

I’m having very mixed emotions about this project. On the one hand, I am really please with how it visually looks, and I am super happy with how this pattern fits. On the other hand, I am really disappointed with how my fabric choice has negatively impacted the final result. It’s definitely a case where I tried a thing and it didn’t quite work out the way I wanted. It was a good learning experience and I definitely want to use this pattern again soon, but I don’t know if this particular bra will be an favorite for me because of the fabric.

Official Pattern Review

Pattern Description: 4 piece vertical cup underwire bra pattern. From the brand: “Angie’s Twin is the sister pattern to our Jessica’s Twin, and is 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 Angie’s Twin bra has a well-formed rounded cup, with a narrow band to prevent the elastic from rolling. Angie’s Twin cups are designed with three vertical seam instead of the one.”

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. 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. It worked shockingly well! I never have such an easy start with cup pattern pieces, so I can definitely say this this is drafted very differently from most other cup shapes. 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 Angie’s Twin could be an excellent place to start!

Were the instructions easy to follow?  The instructions seemed pretty good. After having made a few of the B, Wear patterns there are a few steps in all the patterns have consistent typos, but mostly just grammatical errors and nothing that impacts the sewing. I do like that the instructions include helpful information about stitch types and sizes and show each step for the different pattern options, 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, but I think they would be good if you haven’t made a bra before.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  The line drawing on the cover of the envelope indicates seams in the center front and under the cup to split the bridge and cradle, but that was not how this pattern was drafted. It wasn’t a problem (these are easy changes to make if desired), but the frame of the bra is a single piece in the pattern as printed. Otherwise, yes! The pattern looks very much like the envelope. The back band pieces even have the wing drop that is indicated in the line drawing.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I have been making a lot of bra patterns lately and most of them have come as PDFs with single sizes per page, to make it “easier” for new people to cut out the pattern. However, the Angie’s Twin pattern has nested sizes for each band size. So, for example, if you print out the pages for the 90 band size, you have all of the A-E cup sizes together. This was fantastic for me because I need to blend sizes to get cups to fit my omega (small wire/large volume) shape. I love that about this pattern, and for that reason alone I went and ordered more of the B, Wear patterns (and actually ended up sewing those first!). I also love that this pattern is designed for projected bust shapes; I have not found that to be the case for a lot of other bands so this was definitely the least amount of alterations I have had to do to get a good starting fit from a bra pattern. I also really love the vertical seam style of this pattern. I think the vertical seams are really pretty, give a lot of support, and give a lot of options for fun designs. I also like that there is the option to include the strap tap in the cup or have it separate – this gives a lot of options for different styles. And I think the shape of the neckline with the strap attachment is really pretty as well. I also really like that the B, Wear patterns already incorporate a lot of the pattern alteration “tricks” that you can use to get a better fitting bra if you have a fuller bust like having a narrow under-cup band and a downward hike to the back band to help with lift. For this pattern I do wish there were a few more markings on the pattern pieces to help line up the curves on the cups, but I could always add these to the pattern myself for the future.

Fabric used: I found a really interesting “cup” fabric on the B, Wear website and ordered some of that. It was really stiff when I got it and I didn’t want it rubbing my skin, so I used a nude sheer cup lining from Porcelynne on the inside. I also decided to try a different finishing technique for the upper edge using fold over elastic to try and minimize roughness from the fabric but also to give this bra a more bold and graphic look. The elastics were from Stitch Love Studio, and the powernet, hook, and channeling were from Gigi’s bra supply. While I really like the design of the main fabric, unfortunately it really is too stiff for the amount of curve I need in my bra cups. I think this fabric would be fantastic to use in a corset, but I didn’t really love how it worked for this design because there are so many extreme curves.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  I blended the 90A and 90E cup sizes to get a starting pattern. After that I added about 3/4” of height to the top of the center cup piece and tapered down to the innermost point of the cup and to the strap attachment point. For the front band I blended my self-drafted band with some of the pattern style lines to get the same style. For style changes, I used fold over elastic to finish the top edges, and I used a gothic arch to finish the lower band. I also grabbed the curved strap pattern piece from my Sahaara bra pattern to cut the straps because I have found that I prefer mixing a stable strap with the elastic and not using an entirely elasticated strap as is shown on the pattern.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  Although I am disappointed with my fabric choice for this project, I love this pattern. I think with a few additional tweaks (I want to reduce the apex curve slightly and take in a dart at the underarm seam) this could rival the Willowdale for my favorite bra pattern. I love the style, it was super easy to fit, and it is honestly super comfortable (the stiff fabric provides a lot of support, it just doesn’t look great under knit shirts, which I wear a lot). I am already thinking about making several other versions and I know I will use this pattern again. I would highly recommend this pattern, especially if you have a similar bust shape as I do with a lot of projection. If your bust shape is wider and less projected you might want to try the AFI Atelier. When I started working on this pattern I made paper cups to compared the two patterns and while it was clear the Angie’s Twin was going to work best for me, I can definitely see how someone with a really opposite shape would prefer the AFI Exquisite pattern as a starting point.

Conclusion:  This is one of those projects that is both really gratifying and really disappointing. On the one hand, I have a fantastic new pattern that I really love. I think the style of this bra is very me, and were the fabric just a bit better behaved I think this would have easily been my new favorite bra. Of course, I am disappointed that the fabric is not as well behaved as I would have liked. None of the other bras I’ve made show the seams through clothing, but this one does under a knit top because the fabric is too stiff. I think I will still wear this bra because the fit is really comfortable, but I will need to be a bit more strategic when choosing what I wear over it and look for something woven or wear it on a day where I know I’m going to be wearing a coat or sweater. Hopefully I can sew something else and give this pattern a bit of a “redemption” arc soon.

Is this garment a “Triumph of Individual Style”? If the fabric was smoother it absolutely would have been. Stylistically I want to make more things like this, I just need to remember to consider both the form and the function next time.

And I think that’s probably my last sewing project for the year! A bit sad to leave it off on a mixed note, but I’m going to chalk this up as a learning experience and be happy that I have a great pattern that I can use more in the future. I’ll be doing my annual wrap-ups over the next few days, so still lots of blog posts to come. I have a lot going on in January, so I might be a bit absent from the blog, but I’ve got my BRAdvent box and some other kits that I want to get to, so hopefully I’ll get back to some sewing by the end of next month!