September Sewing

 In September, the Bra Making Mentorship kicked off with fitting underwear. I struggled with this as there are few clear visuals of where things are supposed to line up on the lower human body. I know there are plenty of pictures of underwear clad individuals, yet I want a more clinical description, and drawings or pictures to collaborate the descriptions.

How do basic briefs fit you? I’ve always known they weren’t made with my body shape in mind. If they have enough coverage for a full seat, the back waist may be folds and the front waist slid down. The gusset  is not placed where it would be useful for what it looks like it’s supposed to do. Thankfully, there newer cuts in RTW that cover comfortably.

I took the Bravo Bottoms #1 pattern, and cut out and sewed the size it suggested. The elastics were stranglingly tight! The fabric may have partially fit, but the elastics threw me off. I know I have a bit of belly after having kids, so I went up a size. The elastics were still too tight! In both sizes, my butt cheeks were out like what the “cheeky” fit is supposed to be.

During a sewing meeting, some of the other students suggested applying the elastics in a more one to one ratio. Just pull a bit along the bum edge to help bring the fabric in place.

I had a zoom meeting with the teacher, and she told me to widen the gusset. She gestured at the general area, tried to point out and describe where the back gusset should sit. It wasn’t that clear to me (way too kinesthetic a learner for this distance learning!). I asked about concrete structures, does it belong at the tailbone level, she said butt fold. 

I sewed some more. I tried another pattern. I went to an online measurements based pattern. Something just wasn’t quite right. Back to the first pattern! The teacher had said she only used the bikini cut from her pattern when she was at a larger size. I went through the sizing process again in the bikini cut.

Finally, something clicked. I pulled on a pair and looked as best I could at the back side of myself in the mirror. I could see the gusset near my tailbone, as it usually is. I pulled the underwear down until the gusset was at the fold where my bottom and legs join. This! This is the spot! I removed about 2 inches of the long gusset to get it in place.

In the group meeting, someone described it as where the (yoga) sitz bones are. the ischial tuberosity is the bones lowest on the pelvic girdle that you basically sit on. They are about at the level of the fold where the thigh meets the bum.

I realized I was overzealous when fixing that first gusset, and added an half inch to the next gusset, as the front leg line was pulled low. I used a larger size for the front and a smaller size for the back (yes, Sue, my big butt needed a smaller size!). Next, a small wedge was added just to center front as the bikini cut skims the beginning of my fullness of belly. Now, the pattern is 3 sizes slightly changed to fit together with a wedge added in front. I have a pair that fits.

To fit a brief will still take time. And, I’ll need to change the height of the pattern to fit less stretchy fabrics -these are in rayon. But, this is a start.

Bra Nerds Unite!

 For the month of September, a group from the (Bra Bee) Hive has agreed to use the same pattern so we can compare the fit and changes needed to fit the pattern to ourselves. The pattern chosen this month is the Maya Bra by AFI Atelier. This pattern has been available, at no cost, for about nine years now!

Inputting my measurements in the AFI calculator spit  out a size of 85C/38C. I measured the pattern, had a laugh and immediately printed out the next size. The width of the cup would just not have enough space in that size.

I sewed up the 85D, straight from the pattern. I have Carmen wires, so I tried the size 40, as they look close to the right length for the wireline, and they seem more able to spring open. 

First version, Maya Bra 38D, Carmen 40 (similar size to BMS 42L) 

*Made to pattern* no adjustments at all 

Gore: Wide, sitting on breast tissue.

Band: Bottom band tight, upper band loose: need a rib flare adjustment to raise it a touch and give me breathing room.

Cups: feel too small, wire is sitting on outer breast tissue; which makes me unsure if the wire is too small.

Straps: set wide in front, but at a good angle in back, only wearing it a while will tell if they stay up or not.

Synopsis: if this was the first bra I had sewn, I would have thought it fit and been initially happy, but had no clue how to make it comfortable!

I decided to cut and sew right into this first version. First, the gore. I had sewn the last inch or so of the channeling in with a basting thread that I could remove to get the channeling out of the way.  I sewed 1/8-inch from the fold to remove 1/4-inch from the gore, this alleviated the wire sitting on my tissue. 

I plan to alter the band to give more room under the bust, but first I have to know how much. I cut into the side cradle, widened the bottom band by a thumb’s width, then sewed a patch of SCL (sheer cup lining, also called marquisette). I figured that would give me room to breathe, and if I added enough, make the looseness equal to the top band and then I could reduce the back band evenly. It didn’t quite work that way. I still need to take some out of the upper band, but now the bottom band feels better. This tells me to go up a band size on the next iteration (^/v goes together, up in band and down in cup size).

I made one other change in this first Maya attempt. I switched the underwires. I have some of each of the wires from Emerald Erin, and I switched the  Carmen for the Round 42 wires. The Carmen are rounder and the tops pinch in just slightly. The Round wires are straighter at the ends, but are long like strapless wires. The pressure on the sides of my breasts was mostly relieved. I think the larger side cup can still use a smidgeon of room through the cross cup. 

Last note, the underwire is too long for the wireline in this size. I thought it would be okay for a trial run, but it is sticking out almost a quarter inch! I’ll need to alter the pattern for that.