One last hoo-bra!

Ah the summer holidays are almost over and so too is my lingerie madness! It has been a wonderful summer project to learn as much as I can in this time about lingerie construction, design and drafting, but I am ready for a change. It was important for me to take a break from designing garments and sewing in general because it can be all time and space consuming. My son is about to start primary school and I wanted to remain completely undistracted from the business of having fun. Best decision ever and it has been a special time, but the lingerie has given me enough of a focus to make me feel I am still doing something for myself.

Here are my two latest bras and I would say that the fit is pretty spot on (until I learn that it actually isn't).

This first one started out as another experiment that I was convinced was going to fail and was pleasantly surprised about how well it turned out! I just wanted to play with scallop matching and creating a neat decorative top edge, but it started to go really well and I kind of had to back track with my construction to make it neat. Like I said, I was only playing really!

It is a princess seam cup from my bra block with a straight top edge and scoop back. So pretty!!!

This next one is also very pretty and also an experiment. I was feeling frustrated about the fabrics I was finding (or not finding), so ordered some dye to tailor the fabrics and elastics to my requirements. After watching this video on Cloth Habit I used Dharma Trading Acid Dye. I used Blush pink and Radioactive! Everything in this make has been dyed by me from cream or white!

The main fabrics are silk velvet and a cotton/nylon lace with a scallop edge elastic.

A lovely detailed bra strap elastic and power mesh I found on ebay.

Some plush bra clasps. Not what I wanted, but they will have to do. I don't think fuzzy plush looks very fancy ;-)

Each of the fabrics take dye differently. The power mesh just laps it up, whilst the lace takes a lot longer, so I had to have a few goes to get a subtle enough shade on the mesh.

Some silk satin binding to cover the side seams.

I used a pale pink silk organza as lining. Pretty luxurious sounding, but I think the wrong choice as it's probably going to disintegrate pretty quickly!

I'm exceptionally happy with this 90' throw back bra. It is pretty and comfortable and bright! I love the textures and unexpected colour combination. I believe I have found my look!

So with that I am probably going to do some winter sewing for a bit and lay off the undies for now. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and in the end I have not made my 'dream set' like I hoped in my last post, but this new skill isn't going anywhere and I have plenty of time to get around to making something spectacular. What I have learnt more than anything is that it is important for me to step back and try and broaden my skillset from time to time, not that we ever stop learning. It's one of my favourite things about sewing.

I have no firm plans for the winter. I have a pattern add-on to finalise in the next week or so, but am still not planning on working on any new patterns for the time being. Instead I am going to take my time on some shirt dresses for the winter. Have you seen the new named collection (who am I kidding, of course you have)? I am currently working on a Helmi tunic and planning several more. I was actually working on a shirt dress pattern before the summer (which I still love), but there are so many around at the moment that I don't think it's right to bring it out any time soon. So as well as a hundred Helmi's I am also thinking a coat? Maybe vintage, but maybe a coat version of the Falda by Pattern Fantastique.

Loads to think about and fortunately my stash is bursting with eligible fabrics!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with that pattern add-on! ;-)