Success in Greyscale

I am not sure what's happening to this month.  It's flying by.  Loads of major projects are happening at work, I took a day to go skiing, I had some wonderful family events that I attended, I had to go to court for the possibility of jury duty, yada, yada, yada. It never rains, but pours, right?

I haven't had much in the way of sew-jo lately.  I mean, I have loads of things I'd love to make so I can wear them, but I haven't had much in the way of energy or time to actually create them.  I've got a few things still in progress for my Queen of Dots SWAP, but they're not calling to me right now.  Well...it's my prerogative to set them aside for the time being and start something else, right?  I mean, isn't this what a stash is for?? 

So...I pulled out another Merckwaerdigh kit and my current favourite patterns.  I'm sure you can all name them by now...shout them out with me people - the Boylston Bra and the Ohhh LuLu Giselle Ruched Panties.  In theory these should be easy to sew.  I've nearly perfected the fit, to the point of both feeling like I'm not wearing anything when I'm wearing them.  Also in theory, I shouldn't have to read the instructions because I've made them both so many times before.  In theory.

I decided to put the mesh lining on the outside, for interest.   Well, I flipped the "good" fabric around, so now the right side is on the inside.  Fortunately, you can't tell.  #notunpicking

I also decided for some reason that the soft plush side of the channelling deserved to go to the inside, rather than the outside, which would be the side that goes against your skin.  I have no idea how will affect the comfort level when wearing, but again #notunpicking.

I learned my lesson with the last bra I made about using an appropriate needle for topstitching on the outer layer.  I started my project with a size 9 ballpoint needle.  I've now learned that this works well for topstitching jersey, but not necessarily for topstitching channelling in place.  Especially over previously topstitched seams and band elastic.  Yup, broken needle.  And #holeinyourmesh  Well, my friends, this is a bra.  And in my current relationship status, I'll be the only one seeing it.  So...whatevs.  If you can see it, letmeknow because I think it's pretty much not visible.

The Giselle Ruched Panties turned out well enough.  Except for the hole I snipped into the stretch lace at the waist when I was trimming off the underlayer.  At least it was at the back.  Yup, zigzag stitch is now my favourite stitch.  Mended.

I also ventured out to another pantie pattern, this one the Evie la Luve Lyla Thong.  I love the way the previous Evie la Luve panties I have made have fit, so I figured this one shouldn't be any different.  And I was right! 

I used the mesh lining fabric for the centre front panel of the thong, to coordinate with the bra. 

I also used stretch lace in place of the waist elastic.  It just adds yet another layer of interest.

So...regardless of all of the detours I took to get there, I'm chalking this up to another successful TNT make.  On to the next one...

TNT Patterns - Boylston Bra

My lingerie drawers are busting at the seams (see what I did there?!), but I can't. stop. making.  I've been reaching for my foam lined cup Boylston Bras on a regular basis.  I like everything about them - they're so comfortable, I like the shape they give me, I like the way they look under my clothes (no obvious seam lines, etc.).  So what's a girl to do?  Make MOAR!!! This has definitely become a tried and true (TNT) pattern for me.  I think it takes me less time to make a bra now than it does to go shopping for one! 

I chose the outer fabric, lingerie mesh and elastics from a Merckwaerdigh kit that I had in my stash. The foam for the cut and sew foam cups came from Emerald Erin and the black power net came from Bramaker's Supply.  I made a minor adjustment to the pattern this time around from the last ones I've made. I've found that the band elastic has been rolling under the cups, so I trimmed 1/4" off the bottom of the frame pieces under the lowest part of the cups before attaching the band elastic.

Here's the finished bra:

Inside view, showing the foam cups, along with the apple green lingerie mesh I used as a stabilizer for the bridge and frames:

My topstitching on the cup seams wasn't the greatest, until I switched out the sewing machine needle to a smaller ballpoint size.

And of course, if one makes a bra, one needs matching panties.  I pilfered the leftover pieces from this bra kit and combined them with stretch laces from my stash to make two matching panties.  The first pair I used the Giselle Ruched Back Pantie pattern from OhhhLuluSews.  I didn't have enough of the main fabric to make the required height of the back pattern piece, so I added a piece of navy stretch lace before I did the ruching.  Here's the back:

 I also split the front pattern piece to add a separate crotch piece using the height of the crotch lining piece as a guide, so I could squeeze out the pieces from the remaining fabric I had.  The fabric print is so busy, it's hardly noticeable.  Here's the front:

For the second pair of matching panties, I used Evie la Luve's  Esme Panties pattern.  I used a coordinating stretch lace trim at the waist instead of fold over elastic.

And for the final pair, I made a coordinating stretch lace pair of Evie la Luve's Bella Lace panties out of a blue stretch lace - I'll be honest I cut these out a few months back and have no idea where the lace came from.  I'm just happy I didn't lose any of the pieces.  

As luck would have it, they coordinated with this bra!

I think I need to go through my lingerie drawer to make some more room, because you know these won't be the last ones I make!

FO - I Heart Me!

I hate the commercialization that holidays of any kind have turned into.  Valentine's Day was the one of the first holidays to turn into a marketing blitz.  And being single on Valentine's Day makes my "inadequacies" glaringly more apparent.  Instead of a pity party, I've decided to take Valentine's Day on, head on.  Combine that thinking with the fact that I've been binge-sewing lingerie lately, and I came up with  the idea of celebrating ME in all my oneness by making myself a cute new lingerie set.  Or two.  Actually, I made three.

My goals this year include making 12 bras (see my 2018 Goals post here), and that has got my lingerie designing thinking cap on!  The ideas are just swirling around in my brain.  Where can I put lace, where do I use lining, what elastic do I have, how can I incorporate that special piece of whatever.  I have a ton of beautiful kits from Merckwaerdigh that have taken up residence in one of my stash bins (I can buy faster than I can sew!!), and want to use them.  For the first set, I wanted something that would something fun and cute.  A quick search through my stash turned up this kit:

I used the Bolyston Bra pattern from Orange Lingerie for the bra, which I've used before.  Now that I've fine-tuned the fit, it sews up quickly.  The part that takes the longest when I'm making a new bra is now the designing phase, where I try to figure out where I"m going to put which fabric, lace and elastic!  I used some of the elastic from the kit, and some from my stash, and I used foam for the cups from Bramaker's Supply.

Here's the finished bra:

I also made a pair of panties from the "leftover" fabric in the kit.  I used the Gabriella Knickers pattern by Evie la Luve.  It doesn't seem to be available anymore, but the pattern cover looks like this:

Mine look like this:

For bra #2 in my Valentine's celebration making frenzy, I made another Bolyston bra from yet another kit from Merckwaerdigh.  I wanted this one to be more feminine than cute.  It turned out very pretty, I think.  I used the stretch lace in the kit directly over the foam cups, without any lining.  I finished the tops of the foam cups with fold over elastic.  I used the plain, but very stretchy, cream colour spandex that came in the kit for the frame and bridge, but I used the stretch mesh over top of the spandex (instead of as a lining). I decided to cut the stretch mesh with the direction of stretch going in the opposite direction from the spandex to add a bit more support.  I added some pieces of the stretch lace at the side of the frames for added interest.  The bands are cut from power mesh to provide more support. 

I made a pair of Esme panties from Evie la Luve with the stretch lace back to match this bra, but the photograph of them seems to have disappeared.  I'll have to edit this post to put in a pic when I've had a chance to gather all the photography gear again.

And one more Bolyston bra set, this one from another kit from...you guessed it...Merckwaerdigh.  This one is definitely Valentine's themed in RED.

 The stretch lace in the kit has some brown accents, which are echoed in the elastics, also from the kit.  I went with the self-fabric strap on this version, which is as the pattern.  The foam I used for this bra came from Bramaker's Supply.  It is a bit softer than the foam I've used previously (you can see that in the photograph below), but I don't know how it wears.  I bought it mostly because it is red.  I finished the top of the foam cups with fold over elastic as well.

The panties are the Giselle Ruched Panties from Ohhh Lulu.  You guys!!  I love these - I made the size large based on my measurements, and they fit amazingly well (which you'll just have to take my word of, because I'm not ready to display my bootie on the 'net in all it's glory).  The ruching is such a pretty feminine touch, and I love it!  I cut the front piece from the stretch lace that was included in the kit.  The elastics were also leftover from the kit, with the exception of the one I used for the back ruching - that came from stash.

As an aside - I'm struggling with photographs for the blog.  I know I can do better.  I've even started pulling out my fancy DSLR, taking photographs at lunch time to take advantage of natural light, as well as running the photos through a photo editing software, but when you start with crappy lighting, well, you end up with a not so great photograph.  I've done everything in my power (currently, that is, without investing in some new lights for the studio, or a course in digital editing) to get a better photograph.  As a result, this colour red isn't really true to life.  But, you get the idea.  I've been having fun sewing a lot of new lingerie for myself. 

I'm saving the red set for it's debut on the 14th.  So if I see you then, you'll know what I've got on underneath!! ;)

Tadaaaa!!! Boylston Bra

My first finished sewing object(s) of 2018 is the Boylston Bra by Orange Lingerie.  The pattern can be found Here.  I have sewn a number of Marlborough Bras (also by Orange Lingerie) previously and have tweaked that a little pattern each time I made it.  I decided to start off making those same tweaks to this pattern as it is by the same company, so I assumed they used the same block to draft this pattern.

Let's step back in time for a little history of my fitting process behind the Marlborough bra.  Somewhere I remember reading that you should start off by using your "normal" RTW bra size. I use the word normal kind of tongue in cheek because really how normal is normal from one manufacturer to another.  Anyway...I digress.  So I started with a 34DD, based on my standard RTW size and when I made my first Marlborough, I found the band size to be way too small.  I added about 3" to the band pattern piece (meaning I added a total of 6" around).  Some of the bras I've made since then using the altered band piece are still a bit too tight through the band size, and others are perfect, depending on the fabrics and elastic I use, I guess.  I also added 3/8" total to the fullness of the cup over the bust apex area by splitting the cup and pivoting each piece a bit to add some fullness but leaving the underwire seam length the same.

So...back to the Boylston bra.  For the first one, I used a zebra print lightweight georgette crepe-y fabric (yeah, technical term, that) for the cups, bridge, frame and fabric portion of the straps.  I was worried it would be too lightweight without any underlining, but it worked out fine.  I'm still worried it may not handle well over the long term, but as this was only to be wearable muslin which may or may not work out, I wasn't too concerned about the long term.  I used black powernet for the back.  The elastics were from my stash.

I also used cut and sew foam for the cups.  I've found with my Marlborough bras that don't have any padding, you can see if I'm cold, ifyaknowwhatimean.  This is okay if I'm wearing a heavy sweater, or giant scarf over my chest, but I'm not comfortable with the possibility of the "headlights" look generally (12-year-old-boy-from-the-1980s reference that!) Digressing again...In any event, I've decided for the most part, my bras will have cut and sew foam in them.  I followed Beverly Johnson's Craftsy class on sewing bras with foam (found here), Emerald Erin's videos on YouTube (found here)and Cloth Habit's tutorial to draft and construct the foam cups and covers (found here).

My first Boylston bra turned out quite well.  I'm wearing it today, and it's a tad tight through the cups and the band and the strap placement at the back feels a little too far off centre, but otherwise, it's a lovely bra, and way better in the fitting and comfort department than the RTW bra I was wearing yesterday!

I've already completed a second Boylston bra, adding another 1/2" to the band pattern piece (another total inch to the band - this would be 7" added in total).  I also moved the back strap placement about 3/8" towards the centre back, and added a little more to the cup seams at the apex on the inner and outer lower cups as well as the upper cup.

For this one, I used a leopard print georgette for the outer cup fabric, and a kit in brown from Bramaker's Supply (found here) that came complete with Duoplex for the bridge and frame, powernet for the band, elastics, rings, sliders and back closure.  Somehow, I managed to mangle the cup foam a little during the process and it rolls to the outside on the upper cups a bit.  I think I must have been a bit careless while cutting the foam, and I took another look at the pattern for both the cups and the foam pieces that I had redrafted.  I adjusted the pattern for the upper cup fabric piece, by adding another 1/4" to the seam allowance of the upper cup fabric pattern piece to allow for turn of cloth.  When I cut the next one out, I paid particular attention to cutting out the foam in order to see if it makes a difference.




















And the third time is a charm!  My latest adjustments worked , and the fit on this one is pretty darned near perfect.

The outer cup fabric, bridge, frame and straps are lightweight cotton seersucker (from my mom's stash), the bridge and frame are covered with stretch lace from my stash, the band is powernet, and the inner cups are from cut and sew foam.  The cut and sew foam, along with the powernet are either from Bramaker's Supply or Emerald Erin (so sorry ladies - I've purchased these items from both of you in the past and can't remember where these exact ones came from!).  The rings and sliders definitely came from Bramaker's Supply.  The elastics came from my stash.




















Next up on the sewing table, a summer "suit" for my grandson, and a dress for my daughter - they're going to a wedding in the Dominican Republic and need some fancy duds!