Littler Lanai

 

What would happen if you knew a pattern didn’t fit, but you made it up anyway? I chose to go down one size from the original one I picked, based on measurements, to see if it gave me better clues for how this pattern should be altered. 

The straps were a better distance on my shoulders, but still far out. 

In the pic are my 3 altered pieces. 

First, the side cradle: I added an extra half inch at just the bottom side seam. I probably need to reduce the back pattern piece down a full size and add another half inch to get a better fit around my ribs.

The other two pieces are changed together. I added a full one and an eighth inch in height on the center front. It was overkill, but barely. I probably only needed to add 7/8-inch. This is the part I was struggling with last time I made this pattern. I was still new to bra making, and didn’t realize that this needed altering the first time. After seeing a few posts on LilyPaDesigns’ site and reading all the instruction pages, I did start to increase the center front for better coverage and hope to get the center to tack.

This center does not tack because the cups are so wide on me. Even too small, the bra is too big. 🤭

Next time, I’ll play with the AA-DD range pattern again. There are currently less changes that I need to make to fit that one.

Back Tonight, Back to Sahaara-ing

 

So… I went through my notes. I have a Sahaara 32E that I wear; it’s a touch big, but fits well enough it’s in my rotation. My current thought is: Let’s make a 32D again, with only the straps brought in. Whilst printing, I want to compare the D back bands. Isn’t this something? The 34D and 32D back bands are spaced at 1” difference to make the 2” overall difference in band. But, the lace version is another inch smaller? I printed more. 

In size E, the back bands of Views A&B are the same size as View C.

In size D, the back bands of Views A&B are wider than View C. The 34D-view C that I printed is the same as the 32D-view A&B.

Because I had a better fit last time with the 32E, I’m going to use the View C back band of the 32D to hopefully start with a better fit. 

Not so great… The front cradles are only about 1/4-inch difference (half inch overall), but the back bands are still weird. Going to print out the 30D Back Bands next…

Again, the View A&B of 30D is the same size as the View C of 32D

I will be using the Back Band 30D for View C for this go at a 32D Sahaara Bra.

Bra Bee Weekend

 I have been immersed in the International Bra Bee. This is the final day of classes. I’ve made about 10 Sahaaras, my oldest girls each have one, but one of those needs more fitting. The Lusamine has been my challenge and I am SO close!

Band Blunder

 I moved down, as suggested, from 32E to 32D. Suddenly, the band does not fit. Is it the elastic? I need to check it against the other band still to verify, but I later made another version and had the same larger band issue. This may be why Liz Sews also preferred a smaller band in her videos. I picked out the stitches for the bottom band, but still need to shorten the back band. I did try it on as best as possible, and it doesn’t fit me quite right.

I did point out to Ruhee of Ruby’s patterns Sunday during a fitting call that I had noticed a 2-inch difference between the 34 and 32 back bands of the bra, was it E or F? There should be at most an inch per side (half of the two inch difference between sizes). I received an update July 31, 2023, so I’m pretty sure she fixed that. 

So, I remembered that LilypaDesigns has a projection increase blog post. The newest version that I mentioned has that increase in it. I moved the bottom of the center front seam of the 32D by 1/4 inch per side (half inch total), smoothing it to the notch. Instead of taking the same amount out of the cradle (bowls, Ruhee calls them), and figuring all that out, I switched out both band pieces for the 32C bra. As mentioned, the band was still oddly too loose, but the cups were a bit saggy? I still need to pinch out some excess fabric in the outer cup…