It’s Elementary, My Dear

So no big deal, I just sewed a bra & stuff 😉

  

Yes, this is the oh-so famous Watson by Amy of Cloth Habit 🙂

Because of my love of corsetry, I have been tempted to try sewing lingerie for awhile but nothing has motivated me enough to actually DO it (I hate sewing knits lol) until I saw this pattern. They just don’t make soft cup bras for large cup sizes, so I was really intrigued to see how the fit & support worked; at least for lounge purposes.

According to pattern I’m a 36F, but there were no pattern pieces for that so since my RTW size is 36DD I cut a 36E.

It is still a little big: there are some vertical drag lines at the top of the cup (which you can see more on me than on Patience); a little gaping under the arm & the top of the cup sits a little too high: all indications I need to go down a size, according to the sewalong – so next time I’ll try a 36D.

Construction was pretty straightforward: the instructions are thorough, illustrations were spot on, and really clear & helpful. However (as a noob) I was still a bit confused on the strap construction. My straps ended up too long, for one thing: there is a guideline for length at the beginning but no provision for adjusting later if you’re like me & do something wrong lol: I inserted it through the slider wrong like a dope, so I just went back & fixed it after I smartened up 😉

Also, the outside gives a nice finish with the topstitching but there is no accommodation for inside seam finishing in the pattern so my insides look a bit messy; no biggie but I might serge my edges before construction next time.

As a side note, I later discovered quite a bit of extra info was all covered in excellent detail on the sewalong including fit adjustments & more details on construction. Very helpful & answered some of my lingering questions after I’d finished 🙂

I did find when attaching the cups to the cradle that I had 1 cm extra on the cups at the side seams; I ripped out & inserted the first cup twice, ensured the center notches were matched, and I still had this on both sides so not sure if the pattern has an error? I trimmed them off flush with the band & it worked fine 🙂

The nitty gritty: it’s comfortable – much more so than an underwire bra lol. Support for large cup size is not bad! – definitely less than what an underwire bra gives, but more than braless lol; it gives a more natural silhouette – kind of “support lite” – definitely nice for lounging & looks seamless under tshirts.

The back sits quite low and the front is a nice deep V, which i quite like; would be great option for a lower cut dress in front or back; something I’ve never even considered as a larger cup size since the only other option is braless and that’s not an option at all lol.

One last thing: my supplies 😉 I want to shout out to Caroline from Blackbird Fabrics – I purchased one of her kits to make this one & not only was it lovely & of great quality, she is just a peach to deal with 🙂 I love being able to support a local company and my credit card hasn’t cooled off since my first purchase there lol 😉

In conclusion: my first foray into bra making was pretty successful! I learned a lot and am looking forward to perfecting my fit (I’ve started critiquing my RTW bra fit now too lol) 🙂 I also really loved that it was so space friendly: tiny pieces mean less fabric consumption too, and there was still enough room for Lola to share my sewing table ^_^