Let’s make a bra: conclusion
Make fitting adjustments
Now you can finally try on the bra and evaluate the fit like you did with your toile:
- Are the straps the right length and adjusted properly? Are they falling too far out, or sitting too far in?
- Is the band sitting straight all the way around? Is it too tight or too loose in some places?
- Is the bridge (and wires) cutting into the breast tissue, or not filling the space?
- Are the cups too tight or too loose in some places?
You can make adjustments in the same way you did for your toile, transfering the changes over to the paper pattern pieces.
Make another bra
Once you’ve made your pattern adjustments, you’ll need to make another bra to check the fit again.
It’s worth persevering to get a good fit, because once you have achieved that then you can make as many as you like – making stylistic changes and combining different fabrics, elastics, necklines, seam lines, straps, details, etc. for a collection of well-fitting bras that all look different! You can try sewing with lace, sheer lining, foam, tulle, or whatever other combinations inspire you.
Below are the bras I made using this pattern, with small style and fit modifications each time:
1. Unlined Duoplex satin bra; 2. Lace bra with sheer cup lining; 3. Cut & sew foam with sheer cup lining; 4. Tulle bra with fold-over elastic; 5. Tulle/satin bra with fold-over elastic and crossed straps; 6. Duoplex satin bra with fabric straps
More resources
If you learn better by watching, Beverly Johnson’s online bra making classes are amazing: Construction and fit, Designer techniques, and Foam, lace and beyond. I loved and highly recommend them, and they’re are basically where I learned how to actually construct a bra and make fit and style modifications.
For a written reference I also bought the very affordable Bare Essentials: Bras ebook by Jennifer Lynne Matthews-Fairbanks, which also contains a very detailed section on drafting bra patterns to measure!
For some inspiration, Emerald Erin posts a lot of amazing things on her Instagram account.
And finally the Liz sews Youtube channel has some really nice sew-along videos for various bra patterns (including a foam version of the Maya bra).
I hope this short series was helpful, get in touch on Instagram if you have any feedback or corrections :)