A Strapless Bra: Fitting
A few weeks ago I reunited with my Juki, the machine I busted sewing in belt loops five months ago! It turns out there is one person in the whole country that can fix the gear I broke and he’s a very busy guy. I have an older Bernina on which I can sew lingerie and all its requisite zig-zags but the Juki is still my love, probably because it is the machine with which I’ve had the most daily relationship. We talk shorthand with each other, ya know? I missed it so much that I brought it home instead of the studio and have been on an elastic sewing marathon ever since.
I’ve been finishing up some lingerie sets this week but in the midst had a chance to work on my strapless pattern. I’m taking my time with it because I want it to be right. Which meant sewing up a few tester bras…
Truthfully, I’ve grown quite fond of sewing up bra muslins. It’s kind of an excuse to relax a little bit, and even practice a few techniques without worrying about things going wrong. And as you can see, a bra muslin doesn’t have to be all that jazz. I use scraps, and make sure to use the same band fabric I plan to use in the bra. I used to leave out the elastic but these days I always put it in because it changes the fit. Here I stitched it in the spot I want it to be, but without folding it under, and that is all you need for a quick test:
Anyway, after three fittings I’m feeling very happy with how it all fits and stays up. I drafted this from the bottom up, since I have gone up a cup size and it was time to do some refitting. I’m also testing my own method for drafting and grading bras, so anything that gives me an excuse to practice is a good thing.
The 3-piece cups are a pretty typical pattern for strapless and bustier-type bras and very similar to the bra I made in my foam cup tutorial. They have a top piece and a split lower cup. At first my cup was quite tall, as I was playing around with a longer wire. In the end I felt much more comfortable with a wire that had a bit of a regular length in front. The band is a little bit longer than a typical bra band and this is what took a couple of fittings to get right. I might share more about band adjustments in another post; perhaps they’d be useful for others wanting to adapt a regular band to a strapless one!
So that’s all for today. I’m off to collect materials–the fun part! I’ve got boning and some great satin lycra and want to dye a few things so it will all pull together, including a little bit of this lovely lace.
Happy weekend!
