Fail Friday - Heartbreak Bra
This was a heartbreaking fail. It doesn't look like it in the pictures at all! But believe me, when I put it on, it just looked bad. I had very high hopes for it and I was really looking forward to a basic beige bra I can wear with almost anything, but it wasn't meant to be, which was completely my bad.
I never realized how many bras I actually need until I started sewing lingerie myself. Even though a bra is more or less a fast make, after I've put all that effort into it I want to take really good care of it. So gone are the days when I wear my bras for weeks on end (yikes!) and throw them into my washing machine. Now I try to rotate my bras and wash them by hand after a couple wears, soaking them in water first. It's actually not as labor intensive as it sounds! Soaking does all the work for you. All of this extra care lead me to realize that I need more every day bras and I decided to quickly whip one up last week.
Instead of tried and true Orange Lingerie patterns I decided to use Pin Up Girls Classic Bra pattern, which is also good after the extra "pointiness" in the cup is taken care off! What ended up happening though is I got lazy. And cocky. I wanted to modify my Classic Bra pattern to a more of a demi-cup, so I lowered the bridge height and re-drew my upper cup. Easy, right? I decided I didn't need a muslin.
For the bra I used stretch beige lace on the upper cup and beige duoplex together with beige powermesh, all from Bra Makers Supplies. I wanted it to be as basic as I could without being frumpy. I finished the WHOLE bra! Everything, wires, closures and all. I was very happy with the quality of the construction. It turned out really nice. But then I tried it on....
Its a little bit hard to see it on Becky, but it looked pretty hideous on me. Even though the shape of the cups themselves is not that bad, it wasn't what I wanted it to be. I could have lived with the bra if it was the only issue. The strap positioning was all kinds of wrong. Once I changed the upper cup, the straps we really in the middle of my chest and made me look awkward and weird. To top it off, the bridge was too wide. This was strange because when I first made this pattern I thought I needed a wider bridge, but this time I was sure it was too wide... I am going to write it off on freshly gained experience and some knowledge sewing bras in the last little while.
In the end the bra looked so majorly off that I just couldn't wear it. I left it for a few days thinking that I should try it on again later and then make up my mind. Still, a few days later I couldn't bring myself to wearing it.
Note, that on Becky the cups pool at the bottom, but I didn't have that issue when I had the bra on. Hmmm...
After I gave up on this bra, I took my markers and drew all the corrections I thought I needed right on the pretty bra itself.
The black line on the lace is where I wanted my upper cup to end. The black line on the lower up is where I think the cup seaming should be for more pleasant look. The red dot on the top lace part of the bra is where the strap should be. It's almost a whole inch to the side! And finally the blue line on the bridge is where my bridge should end. Overall the things were minor, but they added up to a bra that I couldn't wear.
I took everything I could salvage off the bra - closures, rings and sliders, straps and wires. I transferred my markings to the pattern pattern and gently put the remainder of the bra into garbage bin. I couldn't just throw it in garbage, it was too sad.
The main lesson I learnt here is - muslin, muslin, muslin! Every time there is a change to a pattern or I try a new pattern I can't just assume it will fit. With a bra you can't try it on until it is all finished, and once it is done you can't make major changes and adjustments to it. So muslin is super important. Especially since it takes less than 30 min to quickly put one together! Lesson learnt. Thankfully I have enough supplies leftover to make another one.
Love,
Anya