It’s a Blog: SewColormusing Joins the Family!

The first of my sewing-related blogs was Changing Your Clothes, covering anything having to do with making the most of clothes you already have: alterations, dyeing, repairs, wardrobe planning (via color palettes, natch), refashioning. Next in line: the blog you’re looking at right now, My Bratelier, which is focused only on sewing lingerie, including bras. So when I wanted to write posts for sew-along projects started in one of my workshops, I didn’t have an existing blog that was the right fit. What’s a blogger to do?

Silly question. Start a new blog, of course! Help me welcome SewColormusing into the Colormusing family!

SewColormusing blog
It’s a bouncing baby blog! SewColormusing will include sew-along series, special technique tutorials, and general sewing fun!

ColormusingWant to know more about Colormusing? Don’t miss all my color-palette-related excitement at the  A Musing blog! (Click on the dots above to visit my mother ship, Colormusing.com.)

Guess Who’s Featured in Seamwork Magazine!

Big news: I’m one of three bra-making experts featured in a hot-off-the-digital-press article in Seamwork Magazine!

With insights from UK pattern designer Zoe Edwards, Amy Chapman (of Cloth Habit fame), and me, writer Jessica Yen focuses on making lingerie from scraps of fabric— something I love to do!* Included are tips on everything from choosing patterns strategically to make the most of irregularly-shaped scraps to my own ideas for working with color palettes.

The making of a bra
Wow, am I glad I obsessively save my scraps of beautiful silks and laces! They’re perfect for repurposing into custom lingerie. (Click the photo to go to my first post in the series on making this bra and a coordinating panty.)

I’d love it if you would visit Seamwork Magazine and read this article, along with the rest of February’s issue, which focuses entirely on intimates. And tell me what you think! Oh, and I’d be interested to hear about your own experiences with sewing lingerie from fabric scraps.

*See my posts on the second bra and panty I made (bra pictured above) for loads of details and tutorials.


The blatant self-promotional part: Want to see my own DIY lingerie sewing kits? I design and produce them for Colormusing, and many feature materials and trims I’ve dyed myself; all include links to blog posts I’ve written with details and tutorials specific to each kit.

And while you’re visiting Colormusing, be sure to sign up to receive Hue News, CM’s free monthly e-mail newsletter, including discount coupon codes you’ll only find in Hue News!

I Asked, You Answered: It’s in the Bag!

In a recent post, I asked the question uppermost in my mind at the time: Underwear… Or Not to Wear? In which I confessed my hesitations about actually wearing my beautiful new hand-made lingerie. And your responses (thank you!) were overwhelmingly in favor of a laundry compromise: Wash in the machine, but protect my delicate pieces in a mesh laundry bag.

Lingerie wash bag
Shown in my 14″ x 18″ bag: My Ombré-Dyed Bra and solid Panty. I’ve found, though, that I can comfortably fit at least 2 bras and several panties in this bag.

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FLASH: A Versatile New Bra Pattern from Orange Lingerie!

Hot off my e-mail inbox this morning: Orange Lingerie has released its second bra pattern!

Meet the Boylston Bra:

  • PDF sewing pattern for an underwire bra by Orange Lingerie - Boylston Bra

(Illustration/design courtesy of Orange Lingerie. Click on the image to go straight to this pattern listing in the Orange Lingerie Etsy shop!)

In case this illustration isn’t enough inspiration, in the Etsy listing for this new pattern, you’ll also find a photo of a beautiful bra made from this pattern, in a lovely floral print; this photo makes it clear that this is a balconette style. And the description says (in part) that the Boylston Bra can be lined with cut-and-sew foam, among several possibilities. It really does sound versatile!

As you know, I’ve already made my first and second bras with Orange Lingerie’s Marlborough Bra pattern, so I can say with confidence that the pattern and instructions are professionally designed and executed— not to mention that the style and cut are just beautiful, and I already know the sizing works for me (I’m usually a 36DD, but according to this pattern’s sizing, I used the 40DD pattern, which is virtually perfect). And I love the new balconette style of the Boylston, so I’ll be showing you what I make with this pattern very soon!

Flash! Orange Lingerie Introduces 2 Panty Patterns!

This just in: Orange Lingerie, the source of the beautiful pattern I’ve used for my first and second bras, has just released 2 sensational new panty patterns!

The first is called the Kingston Thong:

The Kingston Thong pattern
NEW: The Kingston Thong pattern from Orange Lingerie. Click the picture to see all the details in the Orange Lingerie shop. (Illustration is from Orange Lingerie’s pattern listing.)

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