I am both lucky and unfortunate to have a sister the same size as me. We can borrow each other’s clothes, but let’s face it, mostly she just borrows mine. One of the pros is that if I want to sew something for her, I just make it in my size!
Recently I asked my sister to buy me the Brigitte Triangle Bra pattern by Ohhh Lulu and I said I’d make some bras for her. I bought enough bra straps to make five bras, some hook and eye closures, and three types of elastic from Sew Sassy Fabrics. I highly recommend this website! They have tons of hard-to-find swimwear and bra-making supplies, some available wholesale. The site design is not the best, but I was really happy with the wide selection and my first order.
I LOVE this pattern! It’s super fun to sew up, and makes good use of leftover fabrics. It also saves a LOT of money compared to buying them at a department store (lingerie gets expensive). The best part though, is that it actually fits! It is hard to find RTW bras that fit me in the cup without being tight around my torso. By making my own, I can cut an xs cup and a medium band.
I’m sending the first three pictured to my sister. Here they are in opposite order sewn.
This is my favorite out of the five. Instead of using a knit fabric, I used plaid flannel cut on the bias. My fabric wasn’t very large, so I slashed the pattern and added a side seam to the band (with black topstitching). I tried to match the plaid at all the seams, but none of them line up exactly. I finished the top edges with foldover elastic (FOE) and the bottom by zig-zagging clear elastic to the WS then folding under and zig-zagging again. Since I was using 2 hooks and eyes for the back closure, I made the back band narrower so no edges would be hanging out.
A simple black knit, finished with FOE on all edges. Since the bottom is meant to be folded under, I had to trim excess fabric before attaching the FOE.
This is the stretchy linen fabric leftover from this circle skirt. I used FOE for all the edges. However, the FOE on the bottom is a wider one with more of a plush feel. I got it from JoAnn’s a long time ago and had enough left to do this.
For this one I experimented with picot edge elastic on the top, which is traditionally used in a lot of under wear. Since this is a woven fabric that frays, I zig-zagged the edges before applying the elastic. On the bottom, I folded the bottom under once, then attached non-slip elastic with two lines of zig-zags. As you can see in the photo, there’s a rubbery line that makes it non-slip that is surrounded by a plush texture. I prefer the more finished look of FOE, but this bra is still really cute when it’s not on a hanger.
This is the first bra I made with a similar but different knit fabric from the one above. The top edges are encased in FOE, and the bottom has been folded to the WS with unfolded FOE inside. I should have overlapped the bottom of the cups more, which I did in all the other versions.
Hopefully my sister likes her bras! I’ll probably send her a couple of my other recent makes as well, which I’ll be sharing here soon.
conniya 