What I Made In June 2021

I usually don’t write a recap of what I made, but it’s something I want to start doing more regularly. I have a video recap on my YouTube channel here. But sometimes it’s easier to write about details than to speak them. So, here are the details of what I made in June 2021.

SHORTS

Colette Patterns Iris shorts front

The first thing is (which I believe was actually done at the end of May) this pair of Colette Patterns Iris shorts. The pattern is actually shorter than this. I made these longer by about 3″. Otherwise, there were not changes made to the shorts. Also, here is the post I wrote about the first version of this top.

Colette Patterns Iris shorts back

BRAS

The next group of items I made were bras. Being able to make my own bras has really been an awesome experience. The ones I make fit me better than many that I have bought. So the three grouped together are all Pin Up Girls Amanda T-shirt pattern. The one brown satin is Orange Lingerie Marlborough bra.

Pin Up Girls Amanda T-shirt bras
Pin Up Girls Amanda T-shirt bra
Marlborough bra
Orange Lingerie Marlborough bra

I have fabrics and findings for bra making, but I don’t really have kits. So I use what I have and try to coordinate to make what I want. But these Pin Up Girls bras are my favorites. They are full coverage bras that are comfortable and fit well. You purchase the foam cups, then cover them with fabric. I like the Orange Lingerie Marlborough bra too. It did take a bit more work to get this style to fit me.

TOPS

One of the tops I made was using Simplicity patterns 8920.

S8920 top with Minerva fabric

I used fabric from Minerva fabrics for this. I am a Minerva Maker. The blog post I wrote for their site is here. This fabric is fantastic! It’s bright and summery; great for the pattern I used.

Here’s a link to the fabric if you’d like to check it out for yourself.

The next tops were the Ogden cami from True Bias patterns. I had to make some changes to this to get a look and fit I wanted. But I’m very happy with how this final one (yellow & white) turned out.

Ogden cami in white batiste
Ogden cami yellow and white cotton

This is a cool, comfortable top that can even be worn under a blazer when the weather transitions into fall. I can also see making this in different fabrics.

Ogden cami back

So that’s it for the month of June. I’m currently working on many things. Let me know in the comments what you’re up to.

Until next time…

Bra making hints and help

One of the things that I’ve done quite a bit of lately is making my own bras. It’s one of those things I wanted to do ever since I saw an article in Threads magazine on the subject several years ago. This particular post focuses on the two that I’ve had the most success with, and those are 1) Orange Lingerie Marlborough bra and 2) Pin Up Girls Linda and Classic bra.

 

 

 

For the most part, bra sewing is pretty easy. You’ll be using a 1/4″ seam allowance no matter what pattern you use, so it’s important to make sure that you do maintain that amount throughout your sewing. Stitching a little bit off can result in the bra not fitting properly.

Above: Marlborough bras (Orange Lingerie) floral is unlined; pink is padded

 

 

Above:Pin-up Girls bras both unlined, Green is the”Classic”; floral is the”Linda”

 

There are plenty of resources out there on how to measure yourself, so I won’t go into that here. I will say to follow the pattern instructions when it comes to how to measure for the best fit. And just like garment sewing, forget about your RTW size because it could be different. So, just be open to that.

I found that it’s best to have all of your supplies ready (underwires, channeling, bows, hook/eye, etc.) cut and in a bag so they’re easily available before you begin. Getting those supplies is the hardest part since you can’t go into a regular fabric store and buy everything you need, so pre-planning is important. I have bought bra kits and bra foam from different resources. I have also purchased fabric from fabric.com [insert link] that is great for this.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell right-side from wrong-side depending on the fabric being used. So, I use stickers on the right side consistently until I have enough sewn to make it clear what’s right from wrong.

Also, it’s very important to make sure you have a right and left side cut and sewn. I can’t tell you how many times when I first started doing this that I had sewn the cups together, only to discover that I had two right sides! The only way to fix that mistake is to remove all the stitches and do it over again. But don’t get discouraged. Just like anything else, it takes some practice to get your stitching even and to get both left and right sides even. But the great this is, once you find the pattern (or patterns) you like, you can add bra foam (adds better coverage/modesty to the bra depending on the fabric) or use a variety of different fabrics to really have your own customized bra collection.

 

 

 

 

Most important follow the directions and have some fun! Making your own lingerie doesn’t take much fabric (or too much time) so if you have all of your supplies, you can do this in a few hours.

Here are a few of the places I’ve used to purchase my fabric and supplies: (*I am a fabric.com affiliate)

Material:

https://www.fabric.com/buy/0342347/stretch-charmeuse-satin-dark-fuchsia

https://tailormadeshop.com/

Patterns:

https://www.orange-lingerie.com/

http://www.sweetcupsbrasupply.com/

I have bought channeling, underwires and foam from different sources.

Lastly, really think about the look and feel you want. I like more full coverage so these patterns have worked for me. I also like the support they provide. Bralettes don’t offer much support, but they are cute and quick to make so keep that in mind. I also like the coverage that foam provides so this is good for T-shirt bras. And just like garment sewing, make a muslin first. You could save yourself a lot of heartache!

I hope all this information is helpful. So many sewists say they want to make there own bras/lingerie and never get to it. I was that way for years. Now that I feel much more confident about it, I keep trying new materials in combination with foam, without foam, color combinations, etc.

Have fun and happy sewing!