Doctor T Designs

July is typically one of my busiest months in terms of travel and events outside of work, and this year was no exception. I had started a few basic beige bras last month but didn’t have time to finish work on them until after the trip I had been hoping to pack them for (but, it’s fine – it’s not like I won’t have plenty of occasion to wear them in the future). I had also hoped to work on The Hive sewing challenge for this month (sewing a bra with quilting, patchwork, or cotton), but of course I only just started it a few days ago and did a crazy bit of sewing to get it completed in time. Despite my busy schedule I did actually manage to get some sewing done this month, and to get caught up on things after my trip, so it does actually feel like it’s been a very productive month all around.

Sewing Progress

Last month I started working on a pair of beige Josey’s in the hopes that I could (1) test out adjustments to the band patterns and a new self-drafted band with more wire spring (in depth post coming soon) and (2) have some beige bras to wear over the summer. Unfortunately, I was so busy for much of July that they were languishing in this half-sewn but elastic-less state for most of the month:

Once I did get back in front of the machine I was able to push towards completion, including some fancy strap details that I stitched out with my machine’s decorative stitches. I really like using embroidery thread for these sorts of details – the shinier thread looks great, and the wide decorative stitches help keep the ribbon stabilizer attached to the back of the strapping elastic:

I also really wanted to participate in this month’s Hive Challenge, which was sewing a bra with cotton, patchwork, or quilting. I decided to reach into my stash of quilting cottons that I had acquired back when I was going through my pandemic mask making and maybe-I’ll be a quilter phase. I was able to pair a fun cotton print I’ve been holding on to with a lot of other materials I’ve gathered over the past year of bra sewing, and I’m pretty excited with how it came together.

Sewing Delays

I’ve been busy with travel this month, and had some major events the first three weekends of July. I haven’t been home to sew, so the small amount I did manage to eek out in the past week has actually been quite a bit more sewing than I would have expected based on my schedule at the start of the month. I do wish I’d started my cotton bra sooner so that I could have perhaps found a better strap elastic color, but otherwise I’ve been very happy with everything I’ve made this month, even if it was smashed into the past few days.

Finished Projects

I’m actually really happy with the three projects I managed to finish this month, based on how little time I’ve had at home and able to sew. All three of my bras are based on the Josey pattern, which is my current go-to favorite, though the cotton bra is quite visually different than the beige bras I made using more traditional materials. I think all three of these will be in heavy rotation during the rest of summer though!

WIPs & Upcoming Plans

I’ve generally been trying to sew underwear sets when I’ve been sewing bras, just to help balance out my underwear drawer, but this month I was really prioritizing bras. I would like to go back and make some matching bottoms for the bras I’ve just finished, so that will probably be high on the priority list. Beyond that, although I’m definitely still on my bra sewing kick, I am increasingly in need of other clothes to wear so I might be bouncing between sewing some bras and some other garments next month. I have my next project planned out, but I don’t have any definitive plans beyond that so next month’s sewing output might be a bit of a surprise, even for me! My sewing space is still total chaos after having housework done a few months ago, so I might be spending more time on clean up and organization than I do on actual sewing, but even if it’s only tangentially related to sewing, it’s a much needed project to work on next month. We’ll see what I have the time and energy to work on, but I’m excited to have a less busy and less travel-filled month coming up.