Making Friends - Boylston Bra by Orange Lingerie

If you've been following me for a while you would know that before I seriously started sewing my own clothes, I started bra making.  Talk about doing things backwards.

My love for Orange Lingerie's Boylston Bra is well known. It is my favourite bra pattern, it just fits so well and I adore the shape, and the straps.  I'm a sucker for a good fabric strap.

Anyway, it's been quite a while since I've made any bras and I was well overdue to get some new ones in my wardrobe. I had some floral scuba fabric left over from some leggings and decided that it would be perfect for a new bra.  I'm pleased to day I wasn't wrong.

I initially intended to make this bra without a foam lining and using 50 denier lining. For some reason I found this pretty impossible and my fabric kept stretching which resulted in puckering and all kinds of bad things, I became very, very good friends with my seam ripper before deciding in the end to just cut new pieces and use cut and sew foam for the lining.

 

I used navy powermesh for the back.  Powermesh is such an important material in the bra making process because it has the recover and gives the support which is required in order to have a well fitting bra. I used back cut and sew foam and elastics as it was what I had on hand.  I contemplated ordering navy but I'm trying hard to sew through my stash this year and I actually really like the way the black works with it.  i also used rose gold rings and sliders and added a double ring detail which may prove annoying.  Time will tell I guess.

 

I'm a sucker for a good floral and I'm so glad I decided to use up the scraps I had to make this bra. That is the beauty of bra making, that even scraps which wouldn't be considered useable in other cases can often come together to from a fantastic bra.

Of course what is the point of making a new bra if you don't turn it into a matching set? I'm a massive fan of the Tuesday Boyshort from Emerald Erin.  My most regularly worn underwear uses this pattern.  I can't recommend it enough.  I hacked the pattern sightly to include some of the floral fabric in it.  It just ties it together a little bit in my opinion.  I also overlocked the elastics on and then enclosed them.  I should have changed my overlocker thread but I honestly just didn't feel like it.  I'm a bit of a rebel like that.

I'm sure this set will get tonnes of wear.  There's nothing quite like a new matching set of handmade underwear to make you smile every time you put it on.

The Joan Bra

I was super excited when Erin opened her store.  I've fallen in love with so many of her bras it just isn't funny.  Of course postage to Australia from Canada is rather prohibitive.  The wonderful Karin of Mrs Weaver's Finest Unmentionables just happened to be visiting and offered to bring some wonderful goodies over for me and save me a fortune in postage.  We had a wonderful lunch and it was so lovely to catch up with an online friend!

Today I'm pleased to share the first bra I made using the small red bra kit.  I purchases a few kits so you'll see some others coming up when I get around to making them :)

So I'm just a little in love with this bra.  I'm calling it my Joan Bra as I may have been watching too much Mad Men over the past few weeks and this just reminds me of Joan.

I used Orange Lingerie's Boylston Bra pattern for this bra.  For a number of reasons, I really love the balconette style, I wanted to try it without foam and I've nearly nailed the fit.  I'm pleased to report I think I love it more without foam than with.  It still gives a lovely shape under tshirts.

I fully lined the cups, bridge and frame with the stretch mesh included in the kit.  It probably wasn't really required but I'm pleased with the results overall.  It also allowed me to fully enclose all the seams which I think gives a really professional finish to the bra.

As far as general fit goes, now that I nearly have the cup fit sorted there aren't many fit issues there, especially none that I am worried about at this point in time given this was the first time I had worked with this fabric.  I did find that the band seemed a little tight however that seems to have eased now that I've worn it a few times.

I also used Erin's Bliss Wires for this bra.  I quite like them but I'm not convinced the fit is perfect for me, they are certainly wearable but not perfect.  Saying that I do love the way the sit flat at the bridge.  I'm sure I'll use them again.

The little details like the topstitching and the bows are what just make bra making so much fun in my books.  Something so practical and so pretty all at once and the best bit is its all handmade.  Seriously nothing can be better than that.

Overall I'm incredibly happy with it and can't wait to use the other kits I bought from Erin.  I'm trying to work out how to make this one into a matching set, I'm sure I'll come up with something but if you have any suggestions please let me know :)