Adventures in Bra Making - Part 2

I have been wanting to make a bra for as long as I have known that it was a thing I could even make. So when Cashmerette launched their Willowdale Bra Pattern (and I got it for free through my membership) I decided to finally take the plunge (get it?!) and actually try to make a bra... *Spoiler alert, it did not go well...

The Pattern

So lets talk about the pattern and the instructions first.

Both are fine. The instructions are thorough if a little confusing as they are so chocked full of information but if you use the course available from Cashmerette, then you are absolutely set.

The Construction

The sewing also went super well for me, in fact I should have known that I was heading towards failure because the sewing went so well. Even things that I thought would be super hard like the wire chanelling was actually totally fine to sew. Sewing a bra seems intimidating but actually, technically, the sewing is just fine and I totally see why so many people become addicted to sewing just lingerie.

The Fit

This is where I came completly unstuck. I dont have even close to average proportions so I assumed that my final bra would be off, but WOW was it wrong!

Acccording to the size chart I needed to make a 42G, this is by far the largest cup size I have ever been told to try but, its a sewing pattern and often sewing pattern sizes are really different to ready to wear sizes so I thought I would just try, after all it might have something to do wiith sister sizing? (A concept which I still find incredibly difficult to wrap my head around) But no, the band was a pretty good fit but the cup volume was so far off I could pinch out at least 3 inches from each.

The Plan Forward

I have 2 options of what to do next, apart from months and months more research.

The first option is to remove the cups, pinch out and then redraft and see if I can get the bra to fit.

The other option is to abandon the Willowdale in favour of something that is a more balconette style.

The jury is still out, so watch this space to find out my decision.