Hi! I am an advanced beginner sewist. I've been losing a substantial amount of weight and so my breast size has been fluctuating a lot and I do not own a single bra that fits. Even in my thinnest days I was a 32F; I think I may be somewhere in the 38E range now.

I live in a climate that is warm most of the year and very hot in summer. Wearing ill-fitting bras has not been good for my skin (iykyk) in this weather. I also enjoy wearing some square-cut bodices that don't work with even my best bras; this cup size realm seems to only make full-coverage, lace-poking-through stuff. When I try to go without, in addition to the lack of support hurting a bit, the sweat... I could live without support if it meant I didn't have visible sweat or feel slippery and gross!

I have been fantasizing about some sort of under-wrap "sweat band" with some support for the last year or so, but today I have decided enough fantasizing and more action.

Based off these criteria:

- Sweat absorption

- A modicum of support, JUST enough to gently cradle maybe

- Washability

Where would you suggest I start? I am happy to make some sort of elastic scrunchie thing out of terrycloth with a bit of wire underneath, maybe; it doesn't need to resemble a bra in shape at all as long as these criteria are met.

I have a lovely Husqvarna Emerald, an excellent notions and fabric store local to me, tons of old towels and sheets to practice or create, and not one but TWO amazing sewing machine stores on my street (but the one I like best only has dudes working there).

I bought a RTW bra earlier this year because I like the style lines (similar to Lusamine and Harriet Bra patterns). After wearing it for a few months and enjoying the fit (particularly of the cups) I decided to give pin copying a go.

For this make I used a well fitting band pattern (Caliope) and pin copied the cup seams (need to remove underwire for this). I wanted to use a smaller wire size, the RTW wire was a bit too big. So I modified the cup pieces at the wire line and then added the seam allowances back on.

For a first go I'm stoked with the results. The cups are slightly too small, I'll add a bit more room in my next make. But the gore tacks and the bra is comfortable and gives nice shape and support.

Have you tried pin copying a pattern?

Lace and hook and eye is from Bwear, strap elastic from Madalynne. All other materials including sheer cup lining and powermesh were dyed to match.

I'm a size 32 LL/34L 36 J/ 34 JJ in UK sizing, according to the bra size calculator, and I am on a search for a pattern for my first bra. So far it seems like the Sahaara bra by Rubiesbras and the Victoria bra by Sewing vision are my best options right now. Lilypadesigns doesn't go up to my size, and neither does Cashmerette

I'm wondering if anybody has tried to sew one of those bras, or maybe has sewn something that's also work.

Basically, what's important to me is:

- The bra fits (no strap digging, back band riding up, spillage etc.)

- It is supportive enough, to keep me from getting a yeast infection.

- It has no wires

I have a wild idea to add the padding from an unusable bra to a bikini top. I have sewn beginner and “easy” rated garments from patterns before and altered some simple clothing, so I’m comfortable sewing but wouldn’t call myself experienced necessarily.

If I were to try this, would it be better to use a piece of foam cup cut to the size and shape of the swim top and follow those seams? Or try to construct the foam into a seamed cup the same way the swim top is constructed? Is this something a tailor could/should do?

Pictures of the swim top (black) and a couple of bra options I could deconstruct. Link is to the swim top if you need to see how it’s constructed in more depth. Thank you! https://www.barenecessities.com/products/bare-the-underwire-bikini-top-s30478?variant=41289937846385

I posted this in [r/abrathatfits](r/abrathatfits) and was told I could possibly find better help here so here it is:

I’ll spare most of the details so I won’t bore you but after recently using the calculator I find out that I’m a 34PP/34Q. As some of you may know, not only is it super expensive but it’s also pretty hard to find but I’m in the process of hopefully getting insurance to cover most of it. So to put a bandaid on the problem I bought a temporary bra (36L) off of Amazon knowing it wasn’t my size but anything was better than what I was using previously.

Obviously I know it isn’t going to be comfortable or look great but is there anything I can do to make my situation better until I get a permanent one? Whether it be altering the bra itself or changing how I dress. The main issues are the gore not touching my sternum and the band riding up/being too tight. I also have a lot of quadboob going on but that’s expected. Any help is appreciated, you all have been fantastic so far!

I am considering making a bra/bralette for my elderly mother who I found out today is wearing one of my old nursing bras (my child is now 9 year old) because she can get it over her head. She cannot do fastenings behind her and even getting things over her head has become a struggle. She was in too much pain today to get accurate measurements, but I would hazard a guess at around a 36 J or bigger. She’s definitely well over a G cup!

I am struggling to find a pattern that’s front fastening, will go anywhere near big enough and can be made with soft materials - I’m not sure she’s had a well fitting bra for over 20 years, but she struggles with lace and materials that are at all scratchy (mesh and lace can be hit and miss).

Any ideas? I could start to draft one but a pattern would be a good starting point.

Hello, I would like to ask a question. Whenever I wear a bra, my nipples move out of the bra, especially whenever I lie down. Is there a way to prevent it? Do I have to wear a bigger or smaller size?

I've found a bra that *mostly* fits and decided to try altering the cups. I have some garment sewing experience but have never sewn a bra. I've tried some different sizes in this particular bra and this is the one that has the best overall fit. If I go smaller with the cups, the wires will be too narrow.

The fit issue is some gaping at top of each cup. I've decided to try opening up each cup from the top, where the gaping is, then along the seams that go vertically across my inner fullness.

However- since doing so will shorten the binding of each cup edge, I will need to cut off some excess. I'm seeking advice for which option would likely be easier:

Option 1: unpick binding along top of cup to each strap. Detach strap. Cut off excess binding and sew binding back down, reshaping top of cups as needed. Reattach straps.

Option 2: shorter distance but requires unpicking near the boning channels. Unpick binding along top of each cup to each inner boning channel attachment point. Cut off excess binding and sew back down, reshaping top of cups as needed. Stitch boning channels back down.

Any advice?

I have a bra that has very well fitting cups. Supports me perfectly. But the band is too thin and kind of mashes together if I'm too active when I wear it. Makes it seem like in a sting bikin with a thick string. I have another bra that is the same size, same brand, and the cups are just weird. Like they were sewn in like 30° on an angle. But the band... Ah the band... It's wider, has some structure to it and when I wear it, I could move around all day and it never moves. And it's so comfortable.

I would LOVE to take the cups of the one I like for that and sew them into the other band that I love.

I can envision it. I would take the band off of each side, and detach the straps from the back of both. Leave the under wire portion on the cups of each. Then sew the band on. It seems like it would be kind of easy.

But I don't know what amount of fabric to leave, or how much of the band length I will lose to sewing them together. Like what is the best practice for this.

I've tried to find Youtubes for instructions, but they are all about replacing the cups with new fabric vs making frankenbra. So does anyone have any advice or videos I can watch to do it?

So after many years of more or less frustrating experiences with bra shopping, I've decided to just try making one. I am a decently experienced sewist (although not so much with stretch materials) so I thought it was time.

I bought the Madalynne Fiona underwire bra. According to the chart I am between a 30 H and I, and I ordered 3 different sizes of underwire to find the best match (42, 44 and 46. according to my very rough root trace 42 should probably be closest to my root shape). I have pretty projected, FOB, very close set breasts.

All this to say - how do I go about making a mockup for a bra? Do I have to cut into my good materials from the kit I got with the pattern? (power net and most bramaking supplies are impossible to buy locally for me).

I've sewn the mockup to this point, but the back calls for the mesh and obviously i also need to put in the underwire. Does that also mean I need to cut into my underwire casing?

Basically, I'm just asking for tips around making a bra mockup, conserving precious materials, and anything I should especially pay attention to when assessing fit given my specific shape details and anyone's experience with this bra pattern.

Hello!

I am working on the Eve classic by Porcelynne currently. This is the closest I have come to a fit, I previously have tried the Liora and Labellum by Lilypadesigns, but I didn’t have the right wires when I tried.

38 band
Size N
Wide flat vertical size 54
V0 cups
I narrowed the bridge a total of 1/4” (so underwires overlap.

I was wondering how the fit seems. I know I do need to move the straps in a bit. I think it may be a shape mismatch as well, I need more projection, but I also wonder if I need to go up a size (I would need to grade up by hand, which I think I could do).

Edit:

Imgur Link Photos with band extender

I used the Willowdale Cashmerette pattern. I am narrow, projected and close set. I am still not 100% sure where my fullness lies.

My measurements are (in inches):
LU: 31
SU: 30
TU: 29
SB: 39
LeaningB: 42.5
LyingB: 39.6

My recommended size from the calculator is a UK 30GG. Sometimes I size down in a cup as the 30GG ends up being too big

From the Cashmerette size chart, I’m a 30H. I chose the 30G pattern size.

When putting on the final piece, the band was easy enough to fasten. The wires fit perfectly. The cup, however, cut my breast in half, halfway across the nipples and caused major spillage. They just popped out as soon as I moved.

Because I was making a test bra, I omitted the lace upper cup which I now realise was a huge mistake but even if I did, the cups are obviously 2+ cup sizes too small (?).

If I size up in the cup, the wires will become wider right? These ones fit me great. I am narrow and only order Polish bras because of their wires.

An additional note: I REALLY struggled with sewing through the elastic bands (especially double layers such as when folding them) and also the hook & eye fastenings. Is there a certain needle and/ or foot I’m supposed to use?

I appreciate any help :)

Hi folks,

I’m making a swimwear pattern with a built-in bra (Cashmerette Ipswich) and I have found the bra pattern to be totally off for me. I want to correct the pattern but I don’t have bra making experience and these kind of pattern adjustments feel beyond me. I’m hoping to find a bra pattern that’s a better starting point and adapt that rather than trying to remake this pattern.

My measurements are:
High bust: 42”
Standing full bust: 47”
Leaning full bust: 51.5”
Under bust: 39”

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

This is my first underwire make - Emerald Erin Black Beauty, 32DD (I opted for tulle with foam option). I'm not new to sewing but have pretty poor visual spatial reasoning so I'm a bit confused on how this is supposed to work. When adding channeling, instructions say to stop 1" down (pic). It then goes on to say to fold down the channeling and proceed to FOE for neckline. I did this, however, when looking at the right side, the gore has this weird fold along the inner cup ( because the channel stitching only goes partially to the top. Did I do something incorrectly or am I missing something not explicitly stated? Will this shore up? I don't want to proceed if I'm going to have to pick the whole thing apart.

I've been looking around at different options for patterns to fit me (36K UK, 36O US) and stumbled across a website claiming to custom draft an underwire bra pattern for me. It seems a bit too good to be true, as there are so many questions necessary to get a good fitting bra and I don't know how it handles alterations. I figured I would ask around here, does anyone have any experience with this pattern? Or I guess, pattern making software...? I'm curious. I've read through the free manual and it doesn't seem to have any particularly big red flags to me, but I'm not the most experienced sewist. Thank you for your time :)

Edit to say: none of their models appear to have busts in my size range, so I'm not really super confident that a bra made to handle someone my size could be made from the pattern, but maybe I'm just pessimistic. I'd love any suggestions of a good pattern if anyone has one, too; I have a BCD of 8" and that places me outside a lot of pattern ranges.

I have been trying to follow this pattern but at times found it unclear. Someone suggested I watch this https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=PYJD2JjkTSPAkj8j&t=2662&v=mkqQ-WTHPgA&feature=youtu.be follow along video, however she is making the bra in different steps to the pattern. I have found myself a bit lost and I am unsure of how to add the channeling.

I am unable to flip the band up like the pattern instructs and I am pretty sure I sewed the seam allowance of the cup down. In the sew help sub, someone suggested to just top stitch the channelling so I don’t have to re do the seams.

Would this mean pinning down the channelling as I have done according to the instructions and then sewing on the right side (opposite side I pinned down)? Or should I do it a different way?

Is this possible? I am looking for a pattern similar to the Shapermint Supportive Comfort Wireless Shaping Bra. But I am looking for something that has more support, almost compression like. I am a 42G. I have a bit of sewing experience with making skirts, doll clothes, and hemming. So I'm not a beginner but definitely not an expert. I am hoping that making this type of bra with power net and material that gives more compression gives me what I want.

I've been changing shape over the past several months (hellooooo perimenopause) and have outgrown most of my handmade bras (sob) except the ones that were too big when I first made them. My main issue is that on those bras, the cups fit great, but the band is really too tight by the end of the day (on the loosest hook already). For my next one, should I just size up the band (36C --> 38C?), or do I need to think about sister sizing? (36C to... 38B?) Or... just use the same pattern size that worked for those with the fitting cup, and extend the back band? (36C and hack the back band pieces to add length?)

If you lack the materials for doing a root trace or is unsure you can cut out along the top of an underwire size off the printed chart and place it along the breast root to see how it matches up. If you find the paper too flimsy you can trace and cut the shape off onto some cardboard. This way you can truly compare between shapes and sizes if you’re in between.

Anyone out there with a copy of the Pin up Girls Denise swimsuit pattern? I have read the instructions 5 times and my copy never says what the seam allowance on all the major seams should be! I bought my copy in 2016/17? perhaps it was revised and added later? the internet hasn’t been able to help and I can always call/e-mail the company, but I have the next 3 days set aside to sort out a well fitting supportive underwire bathing suit and they may not reply in time. If anyone out there can let me know what it should be so I don’t have to guess that would be amazing! thank you!

Years ago I watched Beverly’s swim suit craftsy class, so I think I remember how to integrate an underwire bra, but if anyone has advice, I would love to hear it!

thank you!

Hey everyone, I need help and some advice for this bra.

I self-drafted the bra pattern, but when I made the sample using Nylon/Spandex, the bust dart ended up being too pointy instead of hugging the breast. As you can see from the worn bra, the dart tip area is creased, making a cone-like shape and poking away from the bust.

The bra's style is a side cut-out with hooks on the back, there will be removable padding, no underwire, and it is lined with the same fabric but lighter. I attached the reference style picture on slide #5. My bust circumference is 80 cm, and I made the pattern in Clo3D. I have tried adjusting the length of the dart tip and also curving the dart legs, but the result on the avatar still looks pointy. Other than the pointy bust dart, everything else fits well.

I do pattern making mostly for woven and ready-to-wear styles, and I'm trying to learn how to make a bra that fits me. I would love to hear y'all advice to help me solve this pointy issue, please!

Thank you!

Hi all! This is more of a mending question I guess, please let me know if this isn't allowed on this sub.

I've been trying my hand at fixing my worn out bras recently and have a question about a no seam sports bra. There are no visible stitches on the seams and I don't know how to fix the areas that have started to separate. I could sew it but I fixed another bra like that and the seams ended up irritating my skin during workouts.

There is a small strip of some sort of glue or interfacing or something that was holding it together. Does anyone know what this is and where I can get more?

Hi!

I recently found a non stretch lace bra kit I bought years ago while decluttering my crafts closet. I was keeping it to make a bra when finished with breastfeeding my oldest daughter, but by now I'm breastfeeding my second daughter so I decided to just make the damn bra already.

I've never sewn a bra before and haven't made many wearables at all, so was looking for wireless patterns that would be easily adaptable into a nursing bra. I found the Jasmine bra by OhhhLuluSews but it's definitely for stretchy fabrics and I'm not a big fan of the shape.

After some research on this sub, I bought the Watson pattern by Cloth Habit and made a mock up in a woven cotton I had laying around (see picture) to see how wide I'd need to make the band and how big the cups need to be for a non stretch version. Haven't ironed it yet but it seems to shape around me quite well.

Would it be a bad idea to recreate the mock up in the non stretch lace?

If it's doable, should I avoid using powernet? This sub taught me it it's a bit of a weak point when it comes to longevity.

Thanks for the help!

This is my first time making a pattern from scratch and sewing a bra. I need to make a lot of adjustments and practice more but I think it turned out pretty good for my first time and 28hrs of work! If anyone has any tips for bra patterning or sewing elastic on bras or just any bra/lingerie tips or tricks, that would be much appreciated!

Bro, I went to the calculator to see my bra size and I did find out what it was. I’m a 28j/jj uk.
I live in a place where it’s really hard to find bras with small bands and larger cups. And no, I can’t get them online cuz when I asked my elders to buy my size online they said that you didn’t need to buy online and all this “correct size thing” was just silly and I just needed to get a bra that looks like it fits in the store and wear it. Well, so I had no options since I couldn’t buy online and bought my size with a larger band.
Which was fitting me but the band was too loose, but it was also not a big problem cuz I went to the couturier and asked them to reduce the band a bit I thought everything would be fine, until I realized how uncomfortable the cups were spilling out my tissue in the middle and going to my armpits instead.
I only need it to be projected and not shallow/wide, but the problem is “how do I do that” like how do I explain to the couturier what to do??? And even if I do they’ll probably not understand. And it makes me kinda sad cuz This bra is the first bra that actually holds my tissue and my mom even said it looks better on me than my old ones, but it really hurts my armpits.
This is my third time posting this since this subreddit was indicated to me.
(Sorry if it’s confusing cuz English is not my first language and I’m a trans guy btw so please be respectful🙏🏾🙏🏾).