Category: Sewing & Construction Tips

It’s a Blog: SewColormusing Joins the Family!

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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.)

But Wait, There’s More: The LBWB Project

Colormusing11 Comments

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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3 Things I’ve Learned from Sewing Bras

Colormusing1 Comment

I’ve been sewing since I was 5 years old, and have been making most of my own clothes since my pre-teen days. I remember making iconic items like tie-back flutter-sleeved tunic tops and satin newsboy caps for my school friends by the time I was in fifth grade. (Don’t judge me— it was the ’70s.)

But regardless of all my sewing experience, I’ve found that there is always something more to learn. And my recent venture into the previously unknown-to-me sewing territory of bra-making is proving to be no exception.

The making of a bra
I’ve learned a lot of new things about sewing since starting to make my own bras!

Here are 3 things I’ve learned from sewing bras.Read More »

The Making of The Little White Bra

Colormusing17 Comments

My last post was an introduction of sorts to my current project: The Little White Bra, a.k.a. The Bra Before Dyeing (or just “Before”). Now, since this was the first time I’ve used this bra pattern, I’ll show you how I made it, including a few changes I made.

My pattern is Kwik-Sew 3300— I’m being adventurous and trying my first partial-band bra! For those of you who might not know the difference (and I’m not sure I noticed it myself before I started making bras), partial-band just means that, rather than a continuous band running all the way around the bra, including under the cups, the band comes around from the back to attach to the sides of the cups only, with a small bridge piece connecting the cups in the middle, like so:

Kwik-Sew 3300 bra pattern
The Little White Bra I just made, using Kwik-Sew 3300, View A with the lace upper cups and bridge. (Click the photo to see this pattern on Kwik-Sew’s site; right now it says it’s temporarily out of stock. Boo.)

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Size Matters: When Thongs Go Wrong

Colormusing6 Comments

I should trust my instincts. Even while I was making my lace-trimmed thong, I was thinking that I’d cut my lace band too big. But being so new to lingerie-making, how could I have known? And how can I fix this? What’s a girl to do when her thong goes wrong?

Stretch lace for thong
Pretty lace… but how much will it stretch when I wear it? (Click the photo to go to ArteCrafts, where you can purchase this lace.)

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My Second Bra/Panty Project: Thoughts & Observations

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Now that my second bra is finished, along with its coordinating high-waisted panty, I thought this would be a good time to collect my thoughts about this whole lingerie-making experience, and share a few things that have occurred to me along the way.

2nd bra & panty set
Yes— Why did it even occur to me to try making my own bras? Good question.

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My Second Bra, Part 1: Choosing a Pattern

Colormusing5 Comments

I’m now in the planning phase for my second bra! And since I started this blog only after the first one was completed, this time I can show you my process, from beginning to end. I’m starting today with choosing my pattern.

For me, this part is easy. I’m going to use the same pattern as for my first bra: The Marlborough Bra pattern from Orange Lingerie. I’m choosing this because, although my first one really fits amazingly well, there’s a bit of fine-tuning I’d like to make to the pattern this time around.

 Tip: According to bra-fitting experts, if you’re smaller-busted, styles with rounder cups will help enhance your shape. Larger girls tend to benefit from the structure provided by cups with 2 to 3 pieces, rather than seamless cups. I generally wear a DD/E cup, so I’ve started with the Marlborough’s 3-part cup.

In this photo, you can see the some of the original pattern pieces (on regular printer paper), and a piece I traced from the original onto tissue paper. The red line is the cutting line, and the dashed green line is the seamline.

My pattern: The Marlborough Bra
The Marlborough Bra pattern is the one I used for my first bra. Now I’m going to tweak some of the pattern pieces for an even better fit. (The book, Demystifying Bra Fitting & Construction, is by Norma Loehr, the designer of this pattern and owner of Orange Lingerie. It’s incredibly thorough, and has given me a lot more confidence about making changes to my pattern, and bra-making in general.)

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