Miss Celie

Sewy Rebecca Bra #FAIL

I took another go-round with the Rebecca bra  from Sewy this week. This time, after two muslins, it was time to break into my Amsterdam lace.

Big, fat, #FAIL. The bra was so big! One of several things happened:

  • I retraced the wrong size.
  • I stretched out the fabric while sewing.
  • Non stretch lace in the upper cup is different than stretch lace. The gods are laughing at me.

The version you see above is with some post construction alterations but generally, unsalvageable (too many enclosed seams and stretch stitches I fear). The bra was a good one to two inches too big in the band and just sadly baggy in the cup. After sewing (and trying on) I realized that the pattern seam allowances were about 1/8 inch bigger than the 1/4 inch I was sewing with. That definitely accounted for some of the problems.

The bust curve was also ridiculous. Rather than flatten that though, I’ve just taken some height tucks in the pattern pieces. I’ll try this one again. If the issue was just the seam allowance, then it’s easy to put the height back in to the pattern pieces.

So… yeah. I’m trying not to be salty that I cut into my ‘good fabric’.  Happily, I have *just* enough of the black and gold lace to eek out another set.  Here’s hoping the second version is better!

19 comments

  1. Did you consider the stretch of your fabric compared with your muslins? This is one of the real dwonsides of bra sewing – everytime your material has a different stretch – fitting starts again….

    Sabine

  3. Totally second the stretch comment from Sabine.. Although that wouldn’t have helped the seam allowance, and for sure a tiny difference there will toss you into another cup size. But don’t get discouraged, you’ll get there..

  7. Sorry it didn’t work out, but you have to give yourself a lot of credit for even attempting this. Bras look like the hardest thing to sew for me. Good luck with your next go.

  12. I agree you get a ton of way to go for attempting bras! They look very hard to me. It looks pretty. Hope your next is a perfect fit!

  13. Oooh, so sorry to hear that it did not work. Happy to read that you still have material for another set. You definitely get there, keep up the good work.

  14. Don’t give up! You’ll get it, even if it takes a couple more tries. 🙂 Seam allowances are pretty crucial in these patterns with the tiny pieces, so definitely see if that’s all that needs fixed. And I second the stretch comment–I made three at once a while back and two of them didn’t fit at all because they were too stretchy! 😡 I’m actually about ready to see if I can attempt to draft my own based on a couple of patterns that I have. Anne St. Clair’s pattern never fails, but I hate the full band and back closure, however, if you like full band and back closing, the Queen Elite or whatever it’s called might be what you want. It’s especially perfect if you have narrow shoulders and want the straps to fall in the middle of your shoulders instead of the outside edge.

  15. You totally have my condolences. Bra fitting is SO freaking tricky, made worse by the fact that you can’t check the fit until you’re 100% done, and then there’s no going back. The only thing I can say is to just keep on making them, and take apart a good RTW bra if you can face it. The tiniest changes in geometry make such a big difference in bra fitting…

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