Doctor T Designs

I posted my review of the AFI Elegance Bra a while back, but at the time I noted that I wasn’t entirely pleased with the fit of the bra because the upper cup was just a bit tight. I’ve gone back to remake the pattern and test my theory that a stretch upper cup would give a better profile under a tighter fitting top. I also wanted to use up some random bits and bobs that were hanging about in the stash, so it seemed like a good time to tackle both of those goals in one go with my second version of the AFI Elegance!

I really liked my first version of this pattern, but since the diagonal cross cup seam is a bit lower than in other patterns I’ve used, the fit with a non-stretch upper cup was a bit tight. This time I decided to used a fully stretch upper cup, while keeping the other materials essentially the same. I had leftover black microduoplex from the first Josey I ever made, and the lace was a random scrap sample that was sent with some other materials I ordered from Ali Express a while back (before the tariffs; if you want to see how expensive life is about to become just go to Ali Express now and throw some things in a cart and review the “additional fees” amount at checkout. It’s a lot.). I really like the black swirls with metallic silver thread accent, and I did buy this style in other color-ways, so you might be seeing similar styles in the future. Anyway, I didn’t have much of this lace (maybe 10-12 inches?), so it seemed like a good sacrifice for a somewhat experimental project. To finish off the bra I lined the upper cup with firm powernet from Bra Builders (leftover from the Ruby Bra project), and a package of black finding from Bra Builders.

Overall I am happy to report that this experiment of a stretch upper cup did what I was hoping it would do – it eliminated the too-tight bulging that was happening with the rigid lace and gave a smooth silhouette under my clothes. The Elegance is still one of the lowest cut patterns on me; it’s definitely more of a balconette than a full coverage style, and I don’t get as much lift as I do on other patterns. I will say that it is very comfortable though; I wore it all day and nothing stuck out as bring particularly bothersome, other than the band being slightly too wide under the cups.

Construction wise, after lining all my bra cups with sheer cup lining for the past few years, I think I’m firmly in the unlined camp now, at least when it comes to microduoplex. The cup is just so much smoother without the lining. Of course, other materials and other desired effects may require a lining for various reasons, but after the success of my past few projects, I don’t think I’ll be lining microduoplex moving forward. Overall the construction went really well and I’m very pleased with the result. The only thing I would change at this point would be to thin out the band under the bottom of the cups, because the elastic is flipping up a bit there when I wear this for extended periods of time.

I also made some matching bottoms, entirely from stash materials. I used my TNT Craftsy self-drafted pattern, so nothing new there, but I did add a small lace insert at the side seam to use up what was left of the lace scrap. Also, in my quest to try new materials, on the leg openings I used a new-to-me fancy picot elastic that I’ve had in the stash for a while. I think it echoes the scallops in the lace and looks really cute!

All in all this was a quick stash-buster of a project, but I’m very pleased with the results! I’m now very happy with the fit of the Elegance, and I’m happy to have another new set to add to my wardrobe. I definitely have a fairly full underwear drawer at this point, but I will also admit that as I work to improve the fit on newer patterns, I find that the older bras I’ve made are not as comfortable and I tend to wear them less and less. But I will also say that most of my favorite older makes have definitely had close to 30 wears, if not more, so I don’t feel too bad about continuing add to my collection and rotate new pieces in, especially since I’ve almost completely phased out RTW from that part of my wardrobe. I think I’m really going to enjoy having these new pieces as options, but I’m also ready to move on from the patterns I’ve been working on for the first part of this year. I’ve got several options for what I want to do next, but a recent pattern release may be swaying me in a new direction. More sewing soon!