Mésange Bra

 Last night I sewed up the Hari Ito Mésange Bra in size 38C. I have a pack from B,Wear that was one of the first kits I had purchased there, and this just called for it. It does seem a little silly to sew a test bra out of a kit, but it’s been in stash for ages, and the findings were pilfered for some other make.

I had sewn a practice bra ages ago, but it did not fit, was just white powernet and maybe marquisette for the frame. For this one, I followed each instruction almost to the letter - I should have trimmed the dart seam, but I did want to know where it ends. But, the band was tight! I think the power net is firm instead of regular strength, and for me that requires a longer band. Are the cups too big? 

Take two! This morning, I sewed up the 40A using the same kit. But, now I’m half spilling. Let’s figure this out!

The most obvious issue here is the darts are just way out there causing east-westing to no end. Let’s look at their display model and see what’s going on. Mésange on Hari Ito

The bra is only displayed on a mannequin. It would be interesting to see what they expect it to look like on a human.

Their band looks differently shaped than mine at center front. The super rounded under wire area is practically smooth, center front is evenly joined… I have no reason to keep this shaping that’s been added on this size, so maybe I’ll fill in the gap. Others may need that shaping, so it’s a nice option.

Ah ha! The side view gives me a clue as to what is happening. The wires look tilted back and end somewhat low. It looks similar on the mannequin I made, but on my body, the wires follow the inframammary fold and sit more upright. Because of this, the bra cups are rotated further up, and I’m spilling more than the pattern is supposed to. 

And, they have a pattern for Extra Cups for this pattern. These are in stable fabric instead of stretch. In those pictures, the dart looks like it is set nearly vertical. I may try them next to see.

How should I progress? First, the band needs love to fit me. The bottom of the band has scrunchy fabric, so I need to raise that edge to remove the excess. Fill in the front some because I don’t have roundness on my torso right there. 

Then, those cups. I think the dart needs to be rotated. It seems to end at the right area, but the angle puts it in an area that doesn’t need the space (the dart is creating a shaped area). I want that shaping to be more under and less on the side. I think only an half to one inch shift of the dart should work. 

I’m looking forward to working on this some more. It’s a really cute pattern!

Jordy Bralette

 Last fall (beginning of the school year), the Hive had a class for the Jordy Bralette. I had tried it before and the size I was sized into seemed off. I decided to try the pattern again today. I haven’t finished it yet, but it looks pretty.

I looked around for a kit, but this one is missing its rings and sliders. I’ll use up the end of the green lace to test the Jordy!

My under bust (ribcage) measurement varies, today it was close to 34 inches. My bust measurement was between 41 to 42 inches, depending on how I took it. The pattern puts me into size 34F.

I did not stretch the elastics, and I feel this was a mistake. The elastic is on top of the fabric, the feed dogs of a sewing machine pull the fabric through, and the elastic is on top against the foot. Sometimes the top is pulled somewhat naturally, but this is not as useful with the thick plush elastic. I need to just barely stretch it for this pattern to help it snug up against my outer fullness. 

I’m also wondering about the band elastic. It will stretch around my torso, but the cups are stable. If the stable cup bottom is being pulled open, flat, then it will more likely smoosh the bust. I may need to gather the bottom of the cups a bit, then sew them in place.

The cups are very wide, and that’s okay, even though they have little shaping for my shape body. This is fine, it probably works well as is for other busts! For me, the outer cup side is just past my bust, so that the outer edge is a touch loose. I need to basically take a dart out. Instead of pinching out fabric, I raised the elastic to cover a full inch on the outside corner, instead of an half an inch.

For the center front, I started by overlapping the cups. This brings the cup seam closer to my fullest part. Next, I tucked the center front another 1/4 inch down into the band. 

I may tack on the straps and pin this together again soon. I’m happy with how much I was able to do today.

Bralette Drafting Woes

 I’ve been in the bra mentorship since the end of August. Thus far, we worked on underpants and bralettes. I’m looking forward to the next step, bra fitting bands. We will take the band from the bralette and fit cups into it. 

I really don’t know how to fit cups to me in a regular pattern. Perhaps the band was wrong? But, then I change the band and it affects the cup? So, then the band and cups have to be altered to get the cups back to the right orientation? And, if the underwire is different than the one the pattern maker calls for, then changes need made to support that!

So, I tried one last time to make the bralette fit, and I did not succeed again. Somehow, measuring on my body is not giving me measurement that fit me. Through the band seems to be improving, these two piece cups just won’t cooperate. Also, new machine for Christmas (thank you, my love!), and I’m wondering if the vertical cup seam is just stretched?

What’s right? I think the band is much improved.

What’s wrong? Those cups have wound up with too much space well above the apex. The first stretch cups were at 15% stretch reduction, and this time I chose 10%. It could be that. I tried going for a 4 inch BCD instead of 3.75 inch because measuring after holidays… I think the upper cup somehow wound up with excess shaping.

But, it was expressed that we need cups that actually fit in order to alter the seam lines to make other shapes that actually fit. Maybe I’ll give the cups another try, so I’ll just move on to the next assignment and come back to these later.

New Year, new Hurrah

 Revisiting the PUG Ruby Bra. I started watching the class recordings to pick up info I’ve forgotten. I picked up a poorly labeled bra from last spring and tried pinning out areas that weren’t fitting. Then I traced out a new pattern with the alterations and came up with this.

It doesn’t fit. My biggest issue with most bra patterns is that there is not room for my breast tissue where I need it. If I take a top down picture, it will show that the cups (and this mannequin) is made for someone without inner fullness.

This bra has bagginess at the outer cups, too. I’m going to shelf it again for a bit. I need to learn how to shift the shaping around more efficiently before I tackle this again.