Tag: bra

Test Vest

Kwik Sew 3524

This is Kwik Sew 3524, a simple-looking strappy vest top. It’s made from two of Paul’s old t-shirts. It looks okay, but there are a couple of things I’d change. The join of the straps to the body is a bit bulky, I’m sure there’s a better way of putting that togther. And the neck is just a little bit wonky, which a line of top stitching would fix, no problem.

Kwik Sew 3524

This is the inside, which is lined with a shelf bra. Again, it’s okay, but I don’t like having that inch of nylon elastic directly against the skin, when it could be hidden between the two layers of nice soft cotton. And I need to join the two layers together at the side seam, otherwise it takes a certain amount of faffing about to make the two layers line up neatly. And who has time for faffing when they’re trying to put their vest on in the morning?

Anyway, thanks to our impending house move (have I mentioned that yet? I’m not really on top of what’s going on around here lately), Paul has pulled a big pile of surplus-to-requirements t-shirts out of his wardrobe. His clear-out is my gain, because I now have plenty of nice soft jersey to have a couple more test runs at this.

Hopefully the eventual result will be a nice soft, comfortable vest!

Skull & Rose Print Bra

Bra & Pants

While I was on a roll with this matching-everything outfit, I wanted to have another go at making a bra. This is Kwik Sew 2489 again, with a couple of modifications based on the fit of my first attempt.

I widened the centre front panel slightly at the top, and adjusted the shape of the cups to fit. I’ve also added underwires to this one, so I’ll see what difference that makes. (I haven’t tried it on since I added the wires.)

As you can see, I added the elastic on the outside, to match the pants. The front part of the straps is made from matching fabric, while the back part is made from ready-made bra straps. I bought those, and the red bra fastener, from Sewing Chest, along with the red elastic and a few other bits and pieces. I feel as though it was somehow cheating slightly to buy the bra straps ready-made, but I couldn’t find all the individual components in red. I could have bought black ones and made the straps myself, but I’d already bought red stretch fabric for the back strap panels and I wanted the findings to match.

I rather like the slightly long-line effect of this bra, caused by sewing the elastic onto the outside without trimming off the seam allowances first. (The pattern instructs you to turn the elastic to the inside.) I think I might make the next one even longer, and see how comfortable (or not) it is to wear.

Matching set

Kwik Sew 2489

Once I’d finished making my winter coat, I thought it would be fun to have a go at making a bra to go with the knickers I made at the weekend.

The pattern for this one is Kwik Sew 2489, and I have to say that I found it remarkably easy to put together. It is fiddly, but it’s certainly not difficult – you just need to pay attention to the instructions.

There are a few little alterations I’ll make to the next one:

  1. The straps are too narrow, both for my comfort and for where they join the top of the cups. Next time I’ll just make wider straps. I also didn’t bother with the slidy thing, because if I make them the right length I won’t need them to be adjustable.
  2. The little triangular panel in the centre of the bra needs to be slightly wider at the top. At the moment the band is fine, but the cups pull away from my chest at the centre. If I make the centre part wider and the cups narrower, that should pull the bra in a bit.
  3. I need to make a very slight alteration to the shape of the cups. I might make another bra, unlined and with the seams on the outside, so I can (carefully) pin the seam and make two different cups if I need to.
  4. I might leave out the powernet/lycra panel on the back of the band, and just make it the right length. It’s elasticated all the way round anyway, so it’ll stay put, and the powernet just annoys me by being a different colour from the rest of the bra.

That’s it!

Oh, and I left out the underwires.

So, there are changes to be made, but it already fits better than some of the bras in my wardrobe, so I think I’m going to call it a success!