Bra Fabric

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 available. So let’s look at some I’ve made, and the fabric I’ve used.

These are two frames I’ve cut out for bras I’m currently making. The one on the left is Powernet, which is often used in bras and is quite firm while being stretchy. The frame holds the cups in place, so it needs to be firmer the bigger your cup size. If you use a stretchy fabric in the frame, you can pull the bra over your head, and won’t need hooks at the back.

The other fabric is a cotton Lycra. Again it is quite a firm Lycra, and I’m using it to make a bra with cups of cotton broidre anglaise. Because the cups are cotton, I want to use a fabric for the frame that doesn’t have a shiny finish.

And this is it finished.

This is the bra from Powernet once it was finished. I used some tricot for the bottom cup and a bridal lace for the top cup.

Other bras I made while writing this blog use other fabrics

This one used stretch lace and tricot throughout. The tricot made the frame firmer than the stretch lace would have by itself.

And this one just used tricot throughout. It’s a very light bra, and is for a smaller cup size.

Now for some older bras. Both bras have cups that have been made from tricot.

For this, I used black satin Lycra for the frame and tricot for the cups.

You can also use stretch lace edging in the frame. However, it isn’t really firm enough for any but the smallest cups. This lace is available about the width you need to make the frame, so I didn’t need to finish the edges. I also find that stretch lace edging doesn’t last all that long. You can see that it’s tearing in places, and I’ve needed to throw some of it out because it had lost its stretch before I used it. 

I guess you could use a more stretchy, less firm fabric, but it would provide less support for the cups, and it wouldn’t work for me.

If you use hooks, you can use a less stretchy fabric. I have never used a woven fabric or one with no stretch because it would be harder to sew the cup to the frame, and I’ve always been happy with a stretch fabric.

Bras also tend to be light, so heavier stretch fabrics, like stretch denim, wouldn’t allow it to dry as quickly, although they would offer the necessary support.

Fabric for Cups

I generally use tricot for the cup, but you can use fabrics that don’t stretch at all. And you can use all sorts of fabrics.

Here are three cups from lace fabric, broidre anglaise and the bridal lace cup (the top and bottom cups have tricot in the lower cup). The top cup was lined with tricot behind the lace. It was a small offcut that someone gave me which was just big enough for a bra.

The same person gave me another offcut which was just a bit small, so I added a bit of tricot to the bottom of the offcut before I cut out the pattern.

This is the finished bra.

She also gave me some devoure and black velour, from which I made this bra (apart from the tricot which I used to line the bra and for the edges, the bra was free)

WARNING

However, bra patterns are made for stretch fabric, and are sized to include some stretch. If you made a frame from unstretchy fabric it would fit at least one size down. Often cups don’t need much stretch , so a woven fabric will work well. However, some patterns (like the one in the picture above) don’t have separate cups, and the cups are really part of the frame itself. In that case, you may need to make a larger pattern. The devoure wasn’t stretchy, whereas the velour was. This bra was designed to use stretch lace where I used devoure. As a result, the bra is a smaller fit than the pattern said. One trick you can use with woven fabric that doesn’t stretch is to cut it on the bias (at 45 degrees to the edge of the fabric, rather than parallel to the edge). This gives you stretch. Unfortunately, the piece of devoure I had been given was an offcut which had many holes in it, so I had to cut it straight.

Where to Buy

I have bought most of the fabric for my bras from sales - bras take very little fabric to make, and offcuts (particularly the last little bit on the end of a roll) are usually set aside by fabric shops into bargain bins, or for end of season sales. Bridal and evening wear fabrics can make great accent pieces in bras. 

Tricot is commonly available in most fabric stores. Satin Lycra (which I’ve often used in the past) is available in shops that cater for dance wear. I’ve only ever found powernet in speciality shops catering for fashion designers, but, with the current enthusiasm for corsetry, it may be more available - and satin Lycra is just as good, and easier to sew.