Considerations for s9478

 

I have ordered a few kits for the s9478 pattern. It’s a bra that not only plunges, it dips into the band with the help of a V-shaped wire. Have I made it up yet? No. Because I have trouble with sizing. So, I thought I’d get into the kits out and find out what they contained. Two of the kits seem to have a lightweight powernet fabric with approximately 30% stretch.  The other two have a firm weight powernet with 20-25% stretch, along with the lighter powernet. Depending on what I use, the size of the bra will be vastly different.

The instructions for the s9478 show to measure braless. My bust measures 39 1/4” today, and my underbust is about 33”. My size should be 2XL E-F. Thanks, Madalynne. But, that might be too small. Why? Because I need support. Most of the Madalynne patterns are geared towards those whose shape is considered shallow, the cups don’t offer outward shape, rather spread,  like minimizers. My bosom has seen to many a baby well nourished through the first year of his or her life. Yet, they don’t spread around my sides. Plus, I need a bit of propping up.

For the band, to figure out my size, I copied out pieces 3, 4, and 5, then lined them up overlapping to make the half bra. Then, I measured about the width of the elastic up from the bottom edge. That gave me approximately 16 inches. If you double that, that is 32 inches, one inch less than my underbust, and that did not take the closure into account. No, 2XL is not my size. However, I want to use stable fabric across the whole front band (pieces 4&5), to give more support. So, the stretch reduction needs to be only across the back. 

Looking at the cradle pieces, she uses a very wide bowl shape. That tends to be how minimizers are, to squish in and spread the bust around the sides. I need to bring that shape in towards my breast root. I will probably add a rocker wire to add support to the edge of the IMF (InfraMammary Fold).

They still have a kit advertised on the website, but to make s9478 into a body suit. On that page, you can see that the cradle line is not against the model’s breast crease, but rather back and loose. I grabbed a France underwire (rocker style by Emerald Erin), and it looks like about 3 inches of wire spring is built into this bra. 

As much as I would like to make it, I’m going to hold off for a bit so that I can get a well-fitting full coverage style to fit me. From there, I can use this pattern to help me make this style.