Dying to match

Another joke here. I started a bra using the tricot and matching lace from an old half slip I bought at Goodwill. I have a small piece of pink powernet that matches close enough to use in the band, but no other trims seem to match.

My goal was to try to match the color using RIT dye. The plan was good, it just didn't work. Of course if I spent the time and effort perfecting it, it would have worked, I'm just too lazy.

The RIT Dye website has lots of great information and a mixing guide to make 500 colors. I will plan on using this again, but when I want to dye all the items to match, not to match something else.

Here's what I came out with. Oh, and I'm going to go ahead and use it anyway. I need to be less particular.


Bra I'm making:


I have a great mistake to share too. I cut the length of channeling I needed, but dyed the long piece I cut it from instead. What a bother.

Sewing Panties

I decided to sew 4 pairs of the same sized panties hoping the 4 girls in this family could each try them on, see how they fit, etc. and then maybe I can sew some more....oh, just for fun.

HAH!

I really am not crazy about sewing panties. Now it could be due to the fact that I used tricot, a not-fun fabric to sew. I have problems with the slipperiness and then the stretching of the elastic. I guess it takes practice.

I'm thinking though that I will try my old sewing machine as the feeddog are set wider on my newer one, which makes it hard to grab the fabric.

I made 3 pairs with the picot elastic and I don't like the outcome. Even washed the elastic did not get smaller. Maybe the tricot is too light to handle the weight of the elastic.

I do like the single other pair I made with the light elastic lace.

We'll see what the girls have to say.

Too much lace and elastic...I'm NOT complaining

I've ordered lots of different grab bags lately to have a big assortments of lingerie elastics and laces, and even though I'm loaded....I still don't have what I need. Typical.

Today I had nothing in particular planned and just went with my gut. I ended up watching some bad movies and wrapping lace/elastic around mat board that my oldest daughter had left here. I'm really pleased with the results, though I still have more to work on.

At least I'm at the point where I will know what I have and what I might to purchase as needed.

Here are the before and after photos. Trust me, the befores are much worse than they look (as you don't see it all) and the afters aren't quite complete.

Bra done

I can't tie or make a bow for the life of me. This is obviously something I have to learn.

Here is my completed bra on the teenie tiny mannequin. It fits wonderfully in the cups, I still have too much looseness (only a tad) under the arm. I am going to redraft that part of the pattern.



Edited to add the bow I just made (rather than a new blog post.)


I have the bra on right now, the cups fit amazingly well. The band is perfect though it will need about 1/2" removed at the band edge of the cup right under the arm.

It's also somewhat itchy, at the back where the straps connect. The back of the straps fold over the ring, and I'm feeling that scratchy lace. That will be something to think about in the future. No lace (cheap scratchy kind) should be touching my body.

Also, I had to remove the channeling top-stitching along the cup edge as I was not able to get the underwire in. That was a real pain as it was tiny black stitches on that black lace. If I shorten underwires I'll probably not be able to have two lines of top-stitching, or will have to at least think about it ahead of time.

Shortening Underwires

In The Bra-makers Manual by Beverly Johnson the only information about shortening underwires that I could find is on p. 91 where she says you might need wire cutters to cut the wires and to use "Household Goop" to cover the ends. She also says that's the best product to use as it holds up in the wash and that she tried other products.

The underwires I ordered from Sew Sassy fit me perfectly under the breast except for being too long. Plus each bra you sew might be a bit higher or lower under the arm or between the breasts, so learning how to adjust an underwire can be necessary.

I typed "household goop" into Google and found what I think I was looking for, but couldn't find it a Walmart or Lowes but there was a tube at Home Depot for around $3.00.

There are no exact instructions on how to apply it so I just went for it. First I kinda sorta got a glop on each end, allowed it dry for a minute or so and then worked it a bit with my fingers (it didn't stick) into shape. A short while later I added another glop and did it again. I found a container to set the wires in to dry thoroughly (not sure how long that will be) and attempted to take photos. That was the hard part actually.

I'll let you know how well it works when I go to insert the wires. Obviously the tip has to be small enough to get through the channeling.


Glop of Goop on the ends.


The product I'm using and the way I'll let the Goop dry.


A close up of the Goop worked into a nice rounded shape, all done with my fingertip.

A pretty little number

I'm having fun working on another version of the PinUp Girls bra. This one is with purple tricot and black lace. I'm not done yet as the underwires I just bought are a bit too long (and my older ones too short.) Time to order yet some more. I plan on cutting them down and "gooping" the ends for now.





While I was patiently waiting for my goodies to arrive from SewSassy (I had great service btw and the items are all terrific...) I started on another bra, using a different pattern.

I made this pattern for my smaller busted daughter some time back. It's KwikSew3300, and I made the 38D, as the cup should be the same as the 36DD (which the pattern doesn't have.) Then I plan on just shortening the back band 1" as I like a 37" in band. We'll see what happens.

The fabric is from a half slip I bought at GoodWill and the lace too. I don't have channeling or elastic to match so the plan is to try to make up a "blush" colored dye with coffee and KoolAid. I won't get to that for a few days yet.

Here's where I am so far. No clue how it fits but the cups do fit over my bust well enough if I hold it up to me.



I finally took photos of what I bought at the Sewing Expo when it was here just a week or so ago.

Jacket photo and bra sewing photos

I wish I had the talent (or the desire) to do lovely wonderful technique posts...but alas, I don't. I take pictures then look at them afterwards and say to myself "who cares?" Yet I enjoy looking at the photos (and descriptions) that others post.

Okay, so it's not really my thing. But it is fun to see the close-up photos, so I will work on taking those, and I will try to take some photos of the "innards" also.

But for tonight I have a photo of the Fushia Lambswool jacket I finished. I wore it out tonight and had a quick photo taken first. Why is it that you put a garment on that you've sewn, and it fits well and you feel good wearing it, and then you see the photo and you go UGH!!!

The jacket feels good, okay, so it's a bit snug over the abdomen, I obviously don't have it zipped up, so who cares, or who knows. I'm just not happy with the photo. The other photo I had showed the jacket in a nicer view, but I looked like the wicked witch, which though appropriate for the Halloween season, doesn't make me happy to look at on a day to day basis.


I did the 2nd PinUp Girls bra today with minor alterations. Yesterday I did a straight 36E, today I did a 37E, added a bit at the CF cup, took a tiny bit out of the CF band and a few slight tucks in the cup. Adding the 1" under the arm was a good idea, but the other alterations didn't really help anything and there is a very small gaping at the front cup now.

I've decided that it's due to the underwires being a size too small (narrow) and I will order a bunch of new ones.

The photos I have are just close ups of techniques, so you can be nosy like I am.

This photo is the cup seam after it is top stitched and now being trimmed. Plus you can see that I'm trying to grow my nails out (it looks longer in this photo than in real life.) The color is OPI Catherine the Grape, a great plum color for fall, plus it matches my fushia jacket...lol.


Here you can see the top stitching on the cups and the cups sewn to the band. The channeling has been sewn on and the 1st row of top stitching done. The channeling does not need 2 rows of top stitching, but it is often done this way.


Here I am doing a small zigzag stitch on the elastic ruffle that is the décolletage trim. It gets folded back and zigzagged on from the top to finish the edge.


Here's the area I was sewing in, along with a good horror movie on Netflix. Oh, the movie was "The Haunting in Connecticut" if you are interested.