Category: My Bra Projects

Bras I’m making for myself, in progress as well as completed projects.

The Great Linen Experiment

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Today seems to be all about circling back to my early days of bra-making (okay, that was only three years ago). I’m wearing the very first bra I ever made, the hot summer weather has made me nostalgic for distant memories of wearing refreshingly cool linen, before it became adulterated with polyester and other mysterious substances that for some reason render it wrinkle-free, and nostalgia has also led me back down memory lane to the Marlborough bra pattern— the first one I ever used, and still one of my very favorites; my second-ever bra was also a Marlborough, made with silk scraps from other sewing projects, and I literally wore it until it was in shreds.

And therein, dear readers, lies the origin of The Great Linen Experiment. Read on.

Detail of my printed linen fabric
Detail of my printed linen fabric. I love the unexpectedly bright colors, most especially the almost-acid yellow and the deep fuchsia pink. The occasional streaks of white, as if it had been brushed with bleach, add to the intriguing, vintage-inspired effect.

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Read My New Article: Color in Your Closet

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This applies to your lingerie wardrobe too!

Just published in Colette Patterns‘ sewing magazine Seamwork: My latest article on using color palettes in real life! It’s called Color in Your Closet: Discover (and Use) the Palette Within.

Features:

  • How to coax a palette out of your existing wardrobe;
  • Identifying your primary colors;
  • Ideas for using your palette to create new outfits;
  • Tips for using accent colors in unexpected ways;
  • Using your palette when you shop!

Using color palettes while you shop Once you’ve created your palette based on the clothes already in your closet, carry it with you when you shop! (Click the photo to go straight to my article. Photo is my own, also used in the published article.)

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Want to see sewing stuff from Colormusing? Check out myBratelier (lingerie sewing, including bras!), and Changing Your Clothes, which covers everything from repairs & alterations to dyeing and remaking thrift-shop finds. And don’t miss all my newest projects…

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Hue News, Colormusing’s E-mail Newsletter, Launches Nov. 1!

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The Bratelier is now a part of Colormusing!

Hot off the press! (You know what I mean.) On November 1, 2015, Colormusing will send out its very first monthly (and free) e-mail newsletter!

Colormusing's Hue NewsHue News, Colormusing’s monthly e-mail newsletter, will launch on November 1! (Click the logo to go directly to the sign-up page at Colormusing.com. And stay and browse the beautiful colors while you’re there.)

Called Hue News (natch), your monthly newsletter will feature:

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Free Color Palettes: What’s the Catch?

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Wondering if/why to use Colormusing’s color palettes in your lingerie projects?

Yes, color-loving folks, I’m going to let you in on a secret: The color palettes you see in the new Colormusing shop are actually available to you for free. When I create them I usually start on one of my favorite websites, ColourLovers.com. (You’ll find me there as — what else? — Colormusing.)

At ColourLovers, you’re able to download palettes, individual colors, and more, for your own use. Free.

Carmel Blue Fuchsia palette at ColourLovers Carmel Blue Fuchsia palette (by colormusing), free at ColourLovers. (Click the palette to see it at ColourLovers.)

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The All-New Colormusing Shop is Live!

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Big, big news for myBratelier!

This is the biggest newsflash item I’ve had the pleasure to post about so far: I’m actually creating my dream of a color-centric business, by combining several different areas of interest under a single name:Colormusing logoYes! Knittique (yarns, knitwear patterns, samples, & jewelry), Photo/Graphic Design (art on canvas, tutorials, & graphic files), and The Bratelier (lingerie sewing kits) are now all part of the Colormusing family— a reunion of sorts, where all the various relatives play together nicely because they all have one thing in common: color palettes.

Simply put, my photographs and montages inspire color palettes, which I apply to a constantly-growing range of projects, from dye recipes for hand-painted yarns and lingerie materials to travel wardrobe planning and custom-printed fabrics.

And the color palettes themselves, in their graphic-file forms, can be used in so many different ways, whether you need a great color scheme for your blog…

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But Wait, There’s More: The LBWB Project

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Okay, okay, I know I said the Little White projects were all done. And technically, they are: this project is the Little Black & White Bra!

And it’s also my first front-closing bra; I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, mostly because I wanted to try making a bra with something beautiful on the back, a very popular lingerie look right now. So even though I’m starting with Elan’s B510 pattern, it won’t look much like that by the time I’m done! Or at least not in the back. Fair warning.

Here’s the back of my almost-finished LBWB:

LBWB back
This is the back of my LBWB, just prior to the final adjustment: shortening this white lace panel, because I feel it’s coming up too high on the back of the neck. (The chartreuse fabric is part of a bias slip I’m making; it was already on the dress form, and I thought it looked really cool with this bra.)

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The Little White Project: A Brief Follow-up

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I know, I know, I said the Little White Project was over. But here’s the thing: Even after all the lengthy tutorials, the sewing, the dyeing, and the finishing, there are still some notes about making the Little White Bras/Panties/Thongs that didn’t make it into the previous posts. I feel, therefore, duty-bound to offer these tidbits here.

The Sewing Part: Little White Bras

  1. The main difference between the first one and the second is the materials used for the cups. The first has lace on the upper/center cup pieces; for the second (the colorblocked one), I used the same Swiss dot/cup lining combination for all the cup parts. This meant that I’d have to finish the top (neckline) edge of the cups, though, so I used foldover elastic for this. (Click here for my post that includes a tutorial on applying FOE.)
  2. The other major difference is in the bridge. For the first LWB, I unintentionally shortened the bridge by sewing a seam at the top of it; this created a gap between the top of the bridge and the top of the underwires— in other words, the wires extended up the center on either side of the bridge, past the top of the bridge. (Click here to see what I did about that little issue.)
  3. I also decided to put the elastic trim at the bottom of the bridge; because I’d measured and cut my trim before dyeing it, I double-checked the length to make sure I would still have enough for the rest of the bra. (Notes to self: Good thing I always cut a little extra. This looks great! Must do again!) When I look at the bra as a whole, this really helps to make all the colors and trim work cohesively.

    Changes to LWB2
    The sewing differences in my second LWB. (For this, I dyed the separate bra pieces before sewing them together.)

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Dye-IY & the Little White Project: The Final Chapter

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Yes, it’s that time. It’s the last part of my Little White Project, in which I’ll show you yet another approach to dyeing a bra and panty (okay, thong), using the same bra pattern (Kwik-Sew 3300), (mostly) same materials as the original Little White Bra, and the same 3 dye colors. But this time, I’m going to do something completely different with the dyes!

Before I get to that, here’s a quick recap of the various dyeing processes already done in this series:

  1. Dyed a finished panty in a single dyebath (combining equal parts of all 3 dye colors);
  2. Ombré-dyed a finished thong with a single dye color;
  3. Ombré-dyed a finished bra with 3 separate colors.

    Little White Bra/Panty/Thong
    My first 3 Little White projects. Clockwise from lower left: Panty dyed in all 1 color (3 dye colors mixed together), bra ombré-dyed with 3 colors, and thong ombré-dyed in 1 color. But wait— there’s more!

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Underwear… Or Not to Wear?

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Hand-made lingerie is a hot topic, no doubt about it. All over the world, bras and panties are being sewn, patterns are being tested and reviewed, advice is sought and given, and the results are being photographed, talked about, and blogged about. And yet I’ve seen very little mention of the actual wearing of our hand-made lingerie. (Maybe they really are unmentionables?) Yes, there is plenty of discussion of fit issues, sewing techniques, and pattern pros and cons, but what I mean is, are we really wearing the underwear we’re making? Or just making it?

Bra with coordinating panty
My second bra and panty set deserves a better fate than languishing in my lingerie drawer.

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Dye-IY, Part 2: The Little White Bra that Was

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If you’ve been following my first Little White Bra project, you’re probably waiting in breathless anticipation for the dyed version I promised you— and now it’s here! I’ll show you my process for ombré-dyeing this bra, and I’ll even clue you in to how I dealt with that pesky non-dyeing white sewing thread!

But first, here’s the Before version, a.k.a. The Little White Bra:

The Little White Bra
Before: The Little White Bra. WARNING: Dramatic After shot coming up!

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