Bra construction, rintaliivien rakentelua

After a long break I’ve had time to make some bras again. These dark purple ones are made with my favourite pattern, the Harriet bra by Cloth Habit. I’ve adjusted the cradle and cup a little for a better fit and there are slight differences in their construction which I’ll explain below for those who are interested. The bottom left one is the latest one I sewed and one which I dyed myself. The other two are made with materials I ordered from B,Wear in Sweden.

The Swedish online store has beautifully coordinated bra making kits. B,Wear also sells some patterns and quality materials by the meter. The powernet and duoplex of the bra making kit is enough to make more than one bra, so I ordered a couple of extra findings kits in the same colour. This is the “Black Cherry” Trio bra kit: non-stretch duoplex for the frame and the lower parts of the cup lining, powernet for the back band, sturdy medium thick stretch lace, four types of elastic, underwire channeling, hook and eye closure, and the rings and sliders – all in matching colours 🙂

This is the first bra I made from the kit materials. The vertical under cup seams of the lace and lining are sewn and topstitched separately with straight stitch. The upper cup is unlined. The horizontal seam is covered on the reverse with a strip of duoplex, and stitched down with a zigzag onto the top piece of the cup and with a straight stitch on the bottom. I originally made the band of this bra too tight so it has added little pieces next to the hook and eye to make the band longer. The extra fabric is camouflaged with a bit of lace.

The next bra is completely covered with slightly thinner violet stretch lace which I’ve bought separately. The frame is lined with non-stretch lingerie lining and the upper cup with some thinner and slightly stretchy mesh. For the vertical seam of the lower cup both lace and duoplex lining are sewn together into the same seam. The opened seam is covered with a strip of duoplex which is cleverly (even if I do say so myself) stitched down only through the lining with a narrow zigzag. The edge of the upper cup is stabilized with thin tape and the seam allowance of the horizontal seam is just turned down and topstitched. I prefer to have the rings and sliders at the back so I’ve moved them there. The attachment of the strap to the cup is a little clumsy without the ring so I sewed some lace over the straps at the front – quite a nice look. I have one bra where I covered the whole strap with stretchy lace, but the seam and bulk on the underside is a little uncomfortable at the top of the shoulder so here the lace only comes up to just under the collar bone.

I first dyed the white bra materials with iDye Poly (which I’ve used before with nice results as you can see in this old post). They turned out a chocolate brown, but some of the elastics looked a bit drab so I redyed the finished bras and added some pink dye that I had saved from last year in a little jar. The result was a nice aubergine colour which I think I prefer… The lace is a thick white stretch lace from Make Bra which absorbs the dye beautifully. Make Bra is a Finnish online shop that sells bra materials, mostly just in white and black, patterns and online courses. I have bought underwires and loads of white materials and notions for my dyeing projects from Make Bra. They also have some useful videos and written instructions for the construction of their bras on the patterns page 🙂

This self dyed aubergine coloured bra has a “gothic arch” i.e. a crossing band at the bottom edge of the bridge which is raised higher. Beverley Johnson – the Queen of Bramaking! – explains this technique on her wonderful netsite Bra-makers Supply 🙂 The cups and frame are lined with a stable sheer lingerie lining. The lining of the cup is topstitched with a straight stitch on both sides of the seam whereas the lace is topstitched with a narrow zigzag in the middle of the seam. A slightly annoying detail is the brown sewing thread that hasn’t taken the dye!

This is the favourite colour of my daughter so I made her a bralette with the same lace. The pattern is a free Barrett bralette by Madalynne, which I’ve used before and which has been approved and appreciated 😉

A nice flush of plum, purple and violet 😊 🍆💜🍇