Simple stitching

Some years ago, I went past a bra store, and they had a broidre anglaise bra in the window. I’d always thought that bra cups were made from stretchy fabric. When I went home that night, I looked at my bras and realised that cups actually didn’t stretch much if at all. This bra was made from  Broidre Anglaise - a cotton fabric found in most fabric stores  - cups Cotton Lycra - also found in most fabric stores - frame Fold over elastic - I used a shiny white one to match the stitching on the broidre anglaise. Normally, I use lingerie elastic (it’s easier to sew on), but for this bra, I wanted to only use materials I could easily find in most fabric stores. I had a scrap of broidre anglaise left over from something I made years ago. I cut the two upper cups, two lower cups and the straps from this. You would need 20cm of fabric 115cm wide or 30cm of 90cm wide fabric. The cotton Lycra was new. I used 15cm of it because it stretched across the width of the fabric. If it had stretched along

Lingerie is generally made with stretch fabrics. These need to be treated slightly differently to woven fabric. Zigzag . On almost all sewing machines, the default stitch is a straight stitch. And when people learn, they usually learn with woven fabrics, and use straight stitch. A machine straight stitch has no give. If you use this on a stretch fabric, the stitching will break whenever the fabric is stretched. Use a zigzag stitch instead for all seams on stretch fabric. Set your machine to 1 wide and 1 long. I refer to this throughout as a small zigzag (1,1). This will produce a stitch that’s reasonably straight but also stretchy. Overlocker . There is no need for an overlocker if you don’t have one. I never use mine for bra making because I didn’t learn on one. Ball Point needle . Universal needles have points which pierce the threads of your fabric. Because stretch fabric is usually made from much finer threads, this would break the threads in the fabric. Stretch needles or ball poi

Short Version  Elastic   Lingerie elastic for the bottom of the frame and from the strap under the arm and along the back at the top of the frame. You may want to use a narrower elastic for the top. Double edged elastic for the straps. Underwire I don’t use underwire. You can use underwire from old bras, but check that it is the correct shape for you. You need a casing for your underwire as well. This can be bought, or can be made from a suitable fabric. Hooks   Simple bras go over your head, so don’t have hooks at the back. The adjustment to add hooks is easy, and hooks are easy to apply, but they are difficult to find at fabric shops. There are several types of hooks available. Adjustable straps  A simple bra doesn’t have adjustable straps. I’ve never needed them. However, some people need adjustable straps, so I’ve included information about how to make them. To make adjustable straps, you need 2 O rings and 2 slides or 4 slides, there are instructions for either. Long Version   Ela

Short Version  Frame  Use a firm stretchy fabric for the frame, like Lycra or powernet. Heavier fabrics would dry slowly. If you’re not using hooks at the back, the fabric needs to stretch enough to go over your head. If you’re using hooks it can be less stretchy. The bigger your cup, the more support the frame needs to give you, so the frame fabric needs to be firmer. Cup Can usually be made of either stretch or woven fabric (see warning at the end). Usually I use tricot as it’s a light, readily available, and commonly used for lingerie. Different fabric can be used in the top and bottom cup. The top cup doesn’t take much fabric, so an offcut can be used to make a smarted looking bra. Long Version  Fabric for Frames When I make a bra, I usually use one fabric for the cup (tricot) and one for the frame (Lycra). These two fabrics are generally available in any fabric shop. There are many other fabrics you can use. Some of these are difficult to get, but most are readily avail