I was re-reading some older blog posts from Michelle’s Creations because I feel like there is a lot of similarity in our fitting journeys. In one of these older posts she discusses how helpful Demystifying Bra Fit and Construction is in terms of getting a good bridge fit. I did experiments on fitting the bridge earlier this year, but I think that after having worn my bras for more than just the try-on period, I was still experiencing a bit of slippage at the center front. I started poking around (as one does) and have made a few edits to my band pattern, but also decided to pick up this book because it’s often recommended and I wanted to see how it stacks up to the other books I have on this topic.
Demystifying Bra Fit and Construction
Demystifying Bra Fit and Construction is a book about, well, demystifying bra fit and construction. It reviews the tools needed to make a bra, the steps to construct a bra, and discusses various types of fit issues and how to resolve them by adjusting the pattern.
In general I think this could be a good bra sewing book for a beginner. It provides a nice set of steps or guidelines for construction as well as a lot of helpful tips about how to correct fitting issues, as well as helpful tips on how to successfully construct a bra. However, I think that if you have other references in your bra sewing library, there isn’t too much new or extra in this book that can’t be found elsewhere. I do think the section about how to fit the bridge is helpful and rightfully gets a lot of emphasis in the book, as it’s one of the foundational parts of fitting the bra. But other than the techniques used in that section, most of the other alterations can be found in other resources, possibly with more or better illustrations. I think this book somewhat suffers from being in that weird middle ground – it assumes the reader knows how to sew, though may not have sewn a bra before, so most of the instructions are written based on that assumption. This leads to the book feeling a bit too simple for someone who is a bit more advanced in bra sewing, but probably could feel a bit complex for something who is truly new to bra sewing. Overall I think this could be a good book if you have experience sewing but are looking for something to help fit bras. I do think there are better resources (The Bra Makers Manuals come to mind) if you really want to dive into bra sewing, but if price is a factor and some of the more extensive resources aren’t in the budge then I think that Demystifying Bra Fit and Construction could be a good option if you fit the profile of the intended reader. In general I think the book was fine and if I continue to have fitting challenges I may refer to it in the future, but I think I’ll probably reach for some of my other books first. I’m glad I read it in terms of just knowing what resources are out there, but I don’t know that it really expanded my personal knowledge about bra fitting beyond what I already knew. I think I was a bit too advanced of an audience for this book, which happens, but does mean my overall feelings are a bit “meh” in terms of my final review.
Doctor T Designs 
Thanks. Thatt is really helpful. Before Christmas, I was asking on a seeing forum, how to solve the problem of wires that come out of the fabric and come out and I got a reply from a lady who had just retired from teaching people to make bras. She gave me invaluable advice and then put together my best Christmas present ever — a big package full of everything you need to make a bra and notes on what all the different fabrics are. I am in bra making heaven. I haven’t got as far as making one yet but I am going to get started in February when I will more time. I am still following all your trials and makes. Thank you so much. Your blog is brilliant. Happy New year darling. A xx
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How fun! Good luck with your bra sewing!
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Two thoughts: one, you probably already know as much as anyone about fitting and constructing a bra. Two, maybe there’s a limit to how comfortable you can expect a bra to be? Even an excellent fitting bra is a somewhat unnatural thing that squeezes soft bits into positions they don’t go on their own. I know that even with nice, well-fitting bras around, I would still rather bum around with my chickens running free, so to speak, when I have nowhere to be…
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Thank you! I think there are definitely more experty experts out there, but for sure the resources that would be useful to me at this point would be really theoretical texts about cup shape. And I agree… I kind of go back to something Monica said in a Bra Bee class that “a well fitting bra is one you don’t need to rip off as soon as you get home” and I definitely have some of those at this point. My most recent bra (which I’ll post about soon) fixes the very minor issues I had with some of the best fitting bras I made last year so I feel like I’m kind of “there” in terms of getting a really good fit and I probably won’t find a lot of new information in some of the more introductory resources that are available. And for sure there are times I want to be a free range chicken as well… 🙂
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Eh, I don’t know–what’s the goal of getting more theoretical expertise? People who design bras for the industry probably need that, and maybe you’d need to know a fair amount if you are a fitter in a lingerie store. But I doubt even they go beyond a certain base level. If you’re just fitting yourself, you can get to a point where most of your bras are pretty good, and the only source of variation you get comes from the materials you’re using. Or even something like the specific time of year and month when you wore the bra the most. And I am sure you’re already at that point.
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Very true! I’m having the most fun with design styles and materials choices right now so that makes sense. I’m enjoying playing with different patterns but for sure the “pretty good” goal has been achieved and now I can focus on making pretty things or stylistic changes.
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