Doctor T Designs

After sewing the Lusamine and Josey patterns during the Bra Sewing Bee, I decided that the Josey was the closest thing to a really good fit for me, even better than my previously self-drafted band pattern. After doing some comparisons I figured the improved fit might be related to the amount of wire spring drafted into the patterns. Although the fit from the Josey was really good, I was curious to see if I could get an even better fit by re-drafting my band using a bit more wire spring. I also figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some more basic beige bras in my wardrobe, so I figured I could get some wearable garments and test my theories in a battle of the bands.

After wearing my first Josey for a while, my only real complaint about the fit was that the center gore kept sliding down a bit, even though the pattern and underwire fit was really good everywhere else. I tried something a bit different and tried to trace out the center front gore area on my body so I could compare it to the pattern.

Overall it looked pretty similar to the shape of both my wire (44 Vertical) and the Josey pattern, aside from perhaps being a bit too narrow at the bottom of the gore, so I added about 1/8″ wedge to the center front to better match my body trace.

For the second part of my experiment, I went back to the Porcelynne Bare Essentials book and re-drafted a band pattern for myself, this time with 2.5cm of wire spring that I hadn’t included in the pattern previously. This new band pattern also matched up really well to my self-drafted gore.

Comparing the two band patterns (my self-draft vs. the Josey) they look pretty similar, though the Josey is a bit taller on the side seam, and not quite as long around the back. (Below left: Josey band on top of the self-draft; right: self-draft on top of the Josey.)

Normally I prefer to test patterns out before committing to the good materials, but since I was just making a small modification to the Josey and I had previously had a decent amount of success with the Porcelynne drafting technique, I decided to just go for it and sew up two bras. I used the Josey cups for each, and the same fabrics and elastics, so that the only real difference would be the band draft and the lace selection for the upper cup.

For the Josey band I chose a feathery embroidered tulle with gold accent threads:

And for the self-drafted band I used a more monochromatic beige embroidered tulle:

It was a pretty straightforward construction, though I did have a bit of fun embellishing the bra straps:

Of course, this experiment wasn’t really about trying new construction techniques, but about testing out fit and seeing if I can get an even better fitting band. When I first tested the fit of the patterns, I have to admit I thought the Josey was going to win out. However, after wearing both bras for full days of work, I actually think that the self-drafted band is more comfortable. Both bands tack at the center front, but the Josey band sits a bit lower and is still sliding down a bit. It’s possible this might have to do with the gothic arch front and the narrowness of the band under the wire line on the self-draft when compared to the Josey, but I’m going to test out the gothic arch front on an upcoming project. Regardless, after the course of a day I definitely felt better wearing the self-drafted band pattern. While the self drafted band isn’t perfect (it slid down slightly in the center front throughout the day), it was much closer to the IMF than the Josey. I’m making another Josey to test the impact of the gothic arch on the fit, but after that I think I will go back to the self-drafted band and seeing if my previous cup patterns will still work with the updated band draft. Despite really liking the fit, the self-drafted band needs a bit of adjustment before I use it again. Both band patterns need to come up about 1/8″ on the bottom edge along the side seam, and I needed to reduce the length of the back band about 1/4″ on the self-drafted pattern. I also want to add about 1/2″ to the side seam at the upper edge for more coverage and support, so it actually will match the shape of the Josey band a bit more. I’m happy to say that the cups fit really well in both versions, and I really like the lift, shape, and support of the Josey pattern in this regard.

Overall I’m really happy with both of my new bras, and I am very pleased with this experiment of testing wire spring. I think I will keep tweaking the self-drafted band pattern and go back to playing with different cup patterns since I am mostly happy with the fit now. I’ve got another project I hope to post about soon, then I’ll be planning what I’ll be working on next month!