Doctor T Designs

The Make Bra patterns have been on my radar for a while, but I haven’t been prioritizing them because I haven’t seen that many reviews of these patterns, and especially not for people in larger cup sizes. Last year the Make Bra DL03 was one of the pattern options for the Bee on a Wire class, but the DL01, DL03, and DL04 only come in smaller size ranges, and so despite the positive reviews, I wasn’t sure how the patterns that do come in the larger sizes (the DL02, Ulla Sport, and Sew Comfy Bra) would actually fit, as often patterns that get rave reviews for smaller sizes don’t work well when they are sized up. However, when I decided to take the Bra Builders Fit Clinic this year, I was debating between re-fitting the Cashmerette Willowdale which was one of my favorite patterns for a while, or going on an adventure into the pattern unknowns with the Make Bra DL02. With a little encouragement, the DL02 won out, and I’m so glad it did!

The Make Bra DL02 is one of several bra patterns from the Make Bra brand, which is another European pattern brand. Although scouring the internet has pulled up some reviews from about 10 years ago, for whatever reason this brand doesn’t seem to have as much hype as many of the other bra pattern brands in recent years, which I think is really unfortunate because the patterns seem fantastic. Although I am also a bit sad that not every pattern comes in the full size range, I was very happy that there was one standard underwire bra, the DL02, that did come in larger sizes. The DL02 is also a bit of a unique style because it has a diagonal seamed cup with cut-on front straps and an entirely power-net band. It is designed to be made as a fabric-covered foam cup, but I like to fit in just fabric as sometimes I think foam can hide fit issues, so I decided to first try making it as a fabric-only cup before making it in foam. Although I did have some challenges with this project, in the end I think it was well worth the effort because this pattern is fantastic.

Although I’ve had curiosity about the Make Bra patterns for a while, the DL02 didn’t really rank super high on my priority list until I recorded my class for the Bra Bee last year. While comparing patterns, I discovered that the DL02 had a very promising cup shape and style, and so it jumped up into my high priority list of projects I wanted to make. Add that to the number of successful DL03’s I’d seen other people make up and I was definitely intrigued. So it really only took a small nudge to point me in the direction of sewing the DL02 for the Fit Clinic this year. And so I started making fit samples and test bras to figure out how the DL02 went together.

I won’t bore you with 500000 photos of the fit samples because they largely all look the same on the dressform, and my final version really doesn’t have that many pattern alterations to show either. However, although I do have some finished projects to share, this post might mostly be a cautionary tale about not trying to fit bra patterns during Mercury Retrograde. When I started the class I had decided that the 90F was a good starting point, but I wanted to double check my measurements because my current bras had started to feel a bit small. And my sizes were so out of whack – it seemed like I’d gone up at least a half inch in my BCD since last year! So I panicked and decided to go up to the 90H to hedge my bets. Well, long story short, that size was waaaaaay too big. So I sewed a size down, and that also seemed waaaay too big. So I opened the smaller size packet and went two sizes down from there, which was definitely waaaay too small. So, finally, at the end of all of this, I ended up back in the 90F I had planned to use at the beginning and the fit was almost perfect. Without changing anything! Of course. Because that’s just how it goes. So I wasted a whole bunch of time trying to find a good starting size when if I’d just gone with my initial gut instinct I would have had to do barely any work at all. But what’s the fun in that? Aside from the misguided panic sizing, I also decided I had been using the wrong wires during this class and needed to order wires in larger sizes (I only had one set of 50 vertical wires; everything else I had was smaller than that, so I couldn’t confirm which size of wire was the correct size of wire). But even this part of the fitting process had issues because one of my packages fell open in shipping and a lot of my wires got lost in the mail. While getting the issue resolved went very well and the customer service was great, I still had a significant delay in fitting because of that issue, all to find that the 50 vertical wire size I had been testing with was the correct wire all along. Now, I could say something about it being a journey and to appreciate the lessons we learned along the way, but honestly it’s more fun to blame all the issues on planetary alignment, so I’m going to go with that. Don’t fit during Mercury Retrograde – you have been warned.

Anyway, once I was able to finalize all of my starting sizes and make a few small adjustments, I decided to crack open one of my Bra Builder’s kits from last year and sew my final version of the DL02 in microduoplex and stretch lace along with matching Kisa Knickers:

I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this bra pattern, and especially in this kit, which has such fantastic colors. Here are some more close-ups of the bra on the dressform; although the lace pattern hides the style lines, I think there is a lot of opportunity to play with those in future versions.

I also took some detailed photos of the insides. From the outside it looks like there is a typical seamline where the stabilized portion and stretch portion of the band usually meet, but in this case I just used it as a decorative detail and applied the fold over elastic as a way to finish off the lace edges anywhere that I didn’t have an enclosed seam. From the inside you can see that the only stabilization on this pattern is on the bridge, and that the band is actually entirely powernet, but with a line of stitching where my decorative finish is attached.

This pattern is great and I was absolutely obsessed, and realized I didn’t even want to wear a bra that wasn’t made from this pattern. So of course I had to make another version right away, and since I really needed some neutral colors to wear under clothes, I decided to make something a bit less colorful for my second version. I also decided to try making the pattern with the foam cup as it had been designed. I found a really interesting printed mesh, and although I wasn’t sure how the project would turn out because the mesh felt kind of cheap and not super nice, I decided to just go for it and see what I ended up with. And I have to admit – I think it ended up pretty great! The pattern placement is exactly what I had envisioned, and even though it has a print, it’s subtle enough to not be visible under most clothing. Since the mesh wasn’t very stretchy, I also made a pair of Emerald Erin Friday French Cuts to go with the DL02.

Finally, I made a third version but adjusted the upper cup to better accept a lace edge. The fabrication of this was a bit serendipitous; I had ordered a lot of the bamboo jersey thinking the color was a bit more beige, but when it arrived it definitely had more of a mauve tone. However, it matched some lace I had in my stash almost perfectly, and I really couldn’t be happier with the final result. For this version I made matching bottoms from my self-drafted underwear pattern from Beverly Johnson’s Craftsy class.

I also thought I would try some new gadgets during the construction of these bras, so I tried my bi-level feet for topstitching and channeling, and honestly the results were fantastic. I am so happy with how the stitching looks on these projects that I think it might be my go-to technique for applying channeling moving forward, and even already applied it to my follow-up project to the DL02’s.

So I have three DL02s so far, but I already have plans for several more. Don’t be surprised to hear this pattern popping up a lot on the blog in future projects, but for now I will move on to the more formalized pattern review.

Official Pattern Review

Pattern Description: A three piece diagonal seam cup bra with attached strap designed for foam. From the designer: “Full-cup bra for larger sizes. Three part cup with fixed, soft fabric straps. The cup shapes the breast keeping the orientation at front. Also suitable as a bikini top.”

Pattern Sizing: Size Range A 70G-105C and Size Range B 75I-105DD. There are 3 cup sizes per size packet, and all of the band lengths available for each of the three cups. The middle cup size is an overlap between the Range A and Range B packets. I tested the 90G and 90 H before setting on 90F as a starting size from the Size Range B packet, which is the smallest cup size in the B and the largest cup size in the A. To put this in perspective with other brand sizing, I am usually in a 5.75-6” BCD with a 36 band that I often shorten a bit. So this pattern is only really drafted for medium to large cup sizes, but the other patterns from this brand are available in smaller size ranges.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  The written instructions included with the pattern are sufficient, though not as detailed as some other patterns. This pattern also does not have as much information on the actual pattern pieces in terms of cutting layout as many other bra patterns do. I think it is because the pattern says that grainline and stretch direction don’t matter because it assumes you are making a foam cup with a very stretchy cover. In my experience, DOGS (degree of greatest stretch) is critical in how a bra fits, so I was a bit dubious. I also decided to make my first version without the foam cups, so DOGS was actually important for my cutting layout. If you were making the version as intended with the foam cups, there is an online tutorial that may help a bit if the written instructions are too sparse. However, the drafting of this pattern is absolutely fantastic, so I think it is worth getting the pattern if you are a bit more experienced and don’t need as detailed of instructions. I would not recommend this as a first pattern for someone new to bra sewing because some key information (like the grainlines/stretch lines) aren’t super obvious and takes a bit of understanding to be able to reason out of the information that does come with the pattern (essentially, the middle cup pieces DOES have a DOGS line, and if you align the other cup pieces and draw a line across all of them parallel to the indicated DOGS on the center cup, it works pretty well), and the instructions may be a bit sparse for anyone without previous experience. In general the instructions that are provided are good, but not as in depth as might be desired for someone new to bra sewing.

Did it look like the photo/drawing when you were done with it?  Yes! My fabric version has some extra decorative elements, but otherwise it looks very similar. I’ve already made a second and third version, and both of those are very similar to the pattern images.

What did you particularly like/dislike about the pattern?  I love the style, the shaping, and the fit! I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the all power net band, but it is very comfortable and I really like how it feels. It is sort of like a partial band/full band hybrid and I think it helps with making a comfortable fit. I am not sure how I feel about the elastic break at the underarm where the cup is finished in Fold Over Elastic and the band is finished in picot, but it would be easy enough to adjust this so that the picot continues up the entire length of the underarm seam. I do find that the pattern is very full coverage at the underarm. I usually have the opposite problem where the cup is too open there, but if you are really sensitive in that area you may want to cut the strap to be a bit narrower at the underarm. The pattern is a bit confusing because there isn’t much information on sizing, DOGS, or other typical pattern markers, but once you figure that out the drafting is fantastic and was well worth any struggles I had in deciphering how to put it together. Without a doubt this is the best fitting and most comfortable bra I have ever worn and I’m going to be making a lot more of them.

Fabric used: For my first version I used microduoplex for the cups, with stretch lace on top as a decoration, and power net for the band. I stabilized with sheer cup lining, and used the typical bra finishing elastics for the rest. For my second version I used a foam cup and covered it with a printed mesh, and in my third version I again used foam cups and covered them with jersey and stretch lace.

Pattern alterations or design changes you made:  It took me a while to settle on my correct size (90F), but once I had that there were relatively few changes I needed to make. I shortened the top of the band by 3/8”, narrowed the top of the bridge by 1/8”, and added about 1/2” to the wire line (distributed between the center front and underarm edge) to give a bit more wire play for the size 50 vertical wires I used. Otherwise I made the pattern as drafted.

Would you sew this again?  Would you recommend it to others?  Yes, absolutely. I already have several versions planned and I think this may become my go-to TNT bra pattern. I would recommend it to experienced bra sewists but I would not recommend it as a first bra pattern due to the instructions being a bit sparse in what I consider to be a few key areas. However, I would definitely recommend it if you already know how to construct a bra and have a good sense of your size and how to fit a bra. If you are smaller than this size range I would recommend looking at the DL01 as an alternative because it has similar style but comes in a smaller size range, and I know the DL03 and DL04 patterns also have good reviews from people who fit in the smaller sizes, though they are a very different style than the DL02.

Conclusion:  I love this pattern! It is definitely the best fitting bra I’ve ever made and I expect I’ll be making quite a few of these moving forward. I really like the way the all powernet band feels, and the cup design is great. I know I tend to be really excited by new bra patterns when I make them, but this one really is the top of my list for favorite bra patterns I have tried so far.

I’m glad I’ve finally been able to post this! I started working on this pattern at the start of March, and I’ve been wearing the finalized versions for most of April and May, so I definitely have had enough chances to say that I think the fit is really good and I really like this pattern. I’ve already got several versions on my sewing project list, and I think I’ll get to those by the end of summer with any luck. Trying the DL02 has also definitely make me curious to try out the other Make Bra patterns that come in my size, so hopefully I’ll be able to try those patterns soon!