Navy & Silver Lace Watson Bra

When I told a few friends that I was going to sew a bra, they were amazed! Yes, I had not actually sewn it, but major street cred for intentions. For me, sewing a bra was intimidating since I usually sew wovens. However, as I painstakingly cut out the pattern, I became intimidated by the 14 fabric pieces, plus 10 additional bits and bobs that had to be somehow assembled together.

But now that I've sewn one, I do not want to stop! And let's make underpants too. That would be great! But to take a step back, it would not have been a very successful project were it not for some crowdsourcing (okay, blog surfing) to figure out what I should start out with lingerie-wise. I'd noticed that the Watson Bra pattern by Cloth Habit had quite a few fans. When I saw Lladybird's version, I had to make it. Her work is gorgeous, plus the lace was still available at Tailor Made Shop.

 

So between Cloth Habit, Lladybird and Tailor Made's tutuorials, I was able to put everything together in my mind first. Cloth Habit has wonderful instructions in the pattern booklet as well as online, but I really like Tailor Made's modification to enclose the seams, so I did that.

There was one other raw seam I wanted to enclose, but was not sure how to do. Between the armhole elastic and the hooks, I sewed a bit of picot elastic on top of a raw seam. It's a wee bit bulkier, but the plush on the elastic makes it still comfortable. I'll have to think of something else to do for next time. In the meantime, I am just examining the bras I've gotten from the store. (I would also like to pre-apologize to anyone who might notice me inadvertently examining their bra situation. I was already checking out your garment construction and know this may be going too far.)

Anywho, the bra was finished in a few enjoyable afternoons.

Front.

And back.














The materials are just so comfortable and luxurious. The pattern was also spot on as far as size (what, why?!). There is just one thing that I need to do before putting this into heavy rotation - undoing a little handsewing at the "v" where the cups meet. The edge of the lace was not quite right, so I tacked the lace edge of one cup to the other. This resulted in a bit of asymmetry when I tried it on. Not really what you want in the center front area...

So, thanks for all the help from my fellow sewists! I've got more lace and a lot more inspiration.