Doctor T Designs

In the second of my series of re-reviews after having participated in the Bee on a Wire class earlier this year, I’m going to be taking a look at another of the early patterns I tried – the Pin-up Girls Freja!

Before we get too far into the review I did want to post a quick reminder that I’m going to be teaching a class on “Pattern Analysis – Projection” at the 2025 Bra Sewing Bee Main Conference, which is happening April 3-6, 2025. If you were interested in attending and haven’t signed up yet, I am happy to offer an affiliate discount code to interested blog readers. You can use the code 2025DOCTORT for $10 off of the main conference fee at signup.

If the Ruby was the easiest of the patterns to fit, the Freja (somewhat ironically) was the hardest. I think it’s mostly because of the style of this pattern; the large side piece of this pattern shows all the fit issues, and I struggled to find the correct wire size that would be long enough but feel narrow enough to make the bra comfortable. Ultimately I ended up making four mock-ups, which included taking out darts, shortening the neckline, raising the center front, and making asymmetrical pattern pieces for the right and left side cups (but leaving the other pattern pieces the same). I dug into my Bra Builders kits that I’ve been accumulating over the past few years, and I think that this is one of the most dramatic bras I’ve made. I just love how it turned out, and the fit is impeccable!

I think that the details on this bra are really pretty, so here are some bonus close-up shots:

Pattern Review

Pattern Description: The Freja Bra Pattern is a full banded bra with an offset vertically seamed two piece lower cup with upper cup variations.

Pattern Sizing: Band sizes 26-40 and cup depth 3.0 – 6.0. When I first made this bra several years ago I used a modified 36 band and 5.25 BCD. After going through the Bee on a Wire class I started instead with a 36 band and 5.75 BCD. In the class everyone who tried this pattern ran into an issue where the band sizes were all mislabeled one size up – so I should have really started with a 34 band to be at the correct 36 band starting point.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  The Pin-up Girls patterns have very good instructions, though I didn’t really use them for this pattern because I’ve sewn so many different kinds of bras before.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  Yes – it looks a lot like the drawing! I raised the neckline a bit to accommodate the wires I wanted to use and I added some extra lace details on the center front gore that might visually change the pattern a bit, but overall it looks like the drawing.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I really like the style lines of this pattern – it’s great for showcasing a beautiful lace. And since I made mine a bit more full coverage it has a lot of support and is very comfortable.

Fabric used: Microduoplex, lace, and power net for the back band, along with the usual bra finishings. Materials are from Bra Builders except for the wire, which is a 46 Omega from Emerald Erin.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  This pattern took several iterations to get right and I think I might not have been as successful had I not been in the Bee on a Wire class receiving fit instructions. I removed 7/8” from the back band but want to take out another 1/4”. This goes back to the band length being mislabeled and too large in the pattern, otherwise I don’t think it would have been so extreme. I took a 1/8” dart out of the upper band at the side seam as well. I also took about 1/2” dart from the upper cup to shorten the neckline, and raised the center front 1.25” to accommodate a longer wire (the regular vertical wires were way too short, so I decided to just add extra coverage and use a longer wire). I also added about 1/4” wedge to the bottom of the front gore, which helped the wires sit correctly because it was so full coverage. On this pattern because the side cup is such a large piece of fabric I had to do an asymmetry adjustment and have a separate piece for the left and right sides. On the left I did not make an adjustment, but on the right I took out a 1/4” curved dart under the arm. It took several iterations of fitting to get this pattern right, but it is almost perfect now. I just want to take a tiny bit more length off the back band and narrow the bridge under the cups just a tiny bit.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  Yes, I’m definitely sewing this pattern again! It was a lot of work to fit, but the final version is honestly pretty spectacular and possibly one of the best fitting bras I’ve ever owned. I may play around with variations to go back to a lower coverage on the neckline and of course I want to use this pattern to show off all of the pretty lace. I would recommend this pattern to others, but caution about the mislabeled back bands – this could result is a much too large fit the first time you make it if you aren’t aware. I also think that because of the shaping of the seams this pattern can be a bit harder to fit than patterns that have more seamlines and shaping. In the class there were also a lot of us that had difficulty finding a wire that was the right length for the pattern. I found that the super long wires fit, but I find wires with a narrower bowl more comfortable, so I adjusted the pattern to accept a very tall wire style (Omega wire from Emerald Erin). I think this may be proportional to the size, so just be prepared to play around with wire length options when fitting this pattern.

Conclusion:  I am so excited I was able to get this pattern to fit! It’s a great style and I’ve seen some really lovely version made from this pattern. I do think the style lines make it slightly more challenging to fit than some of the more traditional patterns, but overall it’s a great pattern and I’m so excited to have it as part of my fitted pattern collection now!