Wow, what a wonderful response from yesterday's post on my bullet bra pattern! I worked out cup sizes B-DD yesterday and YES, I will be doing the biggest cup sizes that I can, for all of my "heavily blessed" sisters out there.
This pattern will be a little unique too, in that you will be able to choose your cup size and band size separately so if you have a small rib cage and big girls, or vise versa, you can get a perfect fit. There's some extra math involved and since I have the math capacity of a kindergartener, I'm doing my best to make it simple.
I have always said that the single most important garment that a woman should have is -not- a little black dress but a perfect fitting bra. A great bra makes you look good and feel good inside and out. When your girls are perky and lifted, you walk taller, smile bigger and feel fabulous!
Since I started this blog, it's been all about embracing your body for what it is and understanding that we all come in different shapes and sizes. It's funny that we are all completely different sizes and shapes but we all share the same problem- finding a perfect bra!
My sister, sister-in-law and mom have generously agreed to let me borrow their boobs so I can test out different cup sizes before I post this thing. Thanks, family!
Anyway, while I was working out sizes yesterday, I sat in bed in a pile of my vintage bra and girdle collection and wanted to show you all of my bullet bras from simple cottons to embroidery and sheers. I hope that these original bras inspire you in your bullet bra sewing!
I always love to check out vintage lingerie to see how it was constructed and all of the little details.Although I wear this stuff all the time, I'm not in the habit of showing off my undies until now! I'll be going over instructions on how to create these unique stitching patterns, using lace or sheers and all the details that make a handmade piece of lingerie really special.
Although they look quite complex, bra sewing is very easy and fun! Once you get your size correct, you can knock out a few of these in an afternoon with very little fabric.
Can't wait for this pattern Brittany! Just spent the morning servicing my machine so I'm all good to go. I'm also 'blessed' in the chest area so am intrigued to see if I can make something with good enough support...I'll let you know, bra's seem like the holy grail of dressmaking to me!
ReplyDeleteLaura
www.twointhehand.com
I can't wait for this pattern!! You are super clever to be able to draft it!!
ReplyDeleteS x
I don't think I'd ever actually make one, unless I find out I'm amazingly talented in sewing. But I do think I will purchase one in the future.
ReplyDeletehey, you never know, right? It's actually not as hard as it sounds. Assembly is SO simple and quick, the hardest part is the spiral stitching, which is just turning the fabric round and round for about 10 minutes. I made mine start to finish in about an hour
DeleteWow, that gives me hope then! I think I shall have to try it!
DeleteLooking forward to your pattern!
ReplyDeleteThat half pink one is just gorgeous!! I'm super excited
ReplyDeleteCool! I', really waiting for your pattern, I'm a D cup also, and I thought this kind of bras wouldn't work for big cups but as you say they work for us! I have never sewn a bra, you say it is not difficult, I want to try to make them!
ReplyDeleteno, not hard at all! I have never sewn one before my bullet bra the other day and it didnt take any time to do! Most of it is just sewing straight lines, except for the spiral stitching, of course but yep- nothing complicated! I dont know why I put it off so long, I always wanted to sew my own lingerie!
DeleteYou say bras are really easy to sew.... Does that count for beginners as well? Is a bra a good starting place?
ReplyDeleteBecause I would really like to own a good cotton bullet bra, but I don't know where to buy, and I've never sewn a single piece of clothing my entire life. Also, I don't have a sewing machine; is this something you can sew by hand?
Because these are beautiful.
Hmmm....I don't know if you could sew one by hand. I suppose you could! The spiral stitching would take a very long time but it would probably achieve the same result. Have you ever used a sewing machine to sew curtains or a pillow or something of that nature? If you can sew a straight line and can sew curves, you can do this! In my intro to sewing class in high school, we had to trace our hand and sew without thread along the lines. If you can do that, you can sew a bullet bra! :)
DeleteNope. I've never ever used a sewing machine, so it would be pretty useless even if I did get one. But I can repair clothes by hand. It's not always very pretty, but it's not very visible, and a bra isn't really supposed to show anyway, so the prettyness wouldn't matter much. At least not on the very first one. I HAVE learned just a little embroidery; might that help with the spiral stitching?
DeleteBut then I'll look forward to your pattern! :) ,......And I might ask you for advice if I encounter something difficult. As I said; I've never sewn a piece of clothing my entire life. But I really want to give it a try!
Interiged by the 'spiral stitching'. Is it like cording in corsets or quilting?
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot like quilting! The bra starts off as a flat piece and you sew a spiral, starting at the nipple area and when it's finished, it shapes the flat piece into a cone!
DeleteCan it be done by hand or only machine?
DeleteI asked the same thing, and she said that if you can sew, it can be done by hand, although the spiral stitching is going to take a pretty long time to do.
DeleteYou have some pretty ones,jealous of the pinks!I've only found a few plain white ones that were in my price range and size.
ReplyDeleteThese are all so wonderfully lovely - I'm completely smitten with the pink one (pink being my all-time favourite colour). Thank you for sharing snaps of your beautiful bullet bra collection with us.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
Brittany- These are quite lovely. In fact, I am inspired, I can think of a couple of lovely fabrics in my stash that would work rather well...
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to start trying this!
One more thing, I keep meaning to tell you, that somewhere in your posts as they display in the blog reader, your blog address displays the wrong name. The LINK is correct, but there is an 'e' missing from the vavoomvintage part!
cool bras. i haven't sewn anything yet on my machine but I did practice straight lines. this will be my first ever sewing project, ima make a bra, yay.
ReplyDeleteanxiously waiting for this pattern! can't wait to try it....thx :)
ReplyDeleteso so SO excited for the pattern! I have such a hard time finding any bullet bras to fit my small torso/oddly large chest problem! Living in the mid-west doesn't provide me with any shops to actually try any on. Can't wait to use your pattern to sew some!
ReplyDeleteCannot wait for you to put the patterns up and me to get my pinking shears out!
ReplyDeleteDani
Sooo excited to see the how to!!! I just got my 1953 Featherweight out of storage and 'tuned up'. What a project this would be for "Louise" to get back into the swing of sewing.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 32GG (US sizing). Will I be getting some love with this pattern? And when you say b-DD cup, what is the band reference size? Cuz a 32D and a 38D are rather different.
ReplyDeleteI hope so!! I managed to figure out B-E so far but I have a lot of comments from ladies with much larger cup sizes so Im going to try to go up as high as I can! As far as band size, The bra pattern will provide instructions for measuring and choosing separate cup and band sizes. 75% of women are wearing the wrong bra size and since most manufacturers label their bras differently, it makes sizing quite difficult. Some women wear really unique bra sizes that aren't even manufactured so by choosing separate cup and band sizes, I hope everyone can get a really fantastic fit in their bras. I'm currently testing the patterns on different models to make sure that they fit well and are true to size :)
DeleteBrittany, I too would LOVE this pattern. I kind of remember wearing something simiar (after I moved out of a "training bra", HA) in my early teen years - yes, I blossomed out quickly. Am STILL blossomed out! So anything in larger sizes would be wonderful. Thanks for keeping us informed about your progress!
ReplyDeleteKathleen in IL
Having had another dissapointing vintage stule bra delivery today, I'm hoping your pattern might be a step closer to me finding the perfect vintage bra. I'm a 32 FF/G cup and it's nigh on impossible to get vintage style bras in that size, as I'm discovering.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you stated these are easy to make because I just assumed they're weren't. Thanks so much for looking out for us well endowed gals. I'm lovin' it.
ReplyDeleteI have 36G-H. I´m looking for a custommade big sizes bullet bras (and retro style underwear) for my own label, but I still didn´t find any. Please let me know if you know someone out there who can help me out! I will order a bra for me to start with and take it from there. I live in Sweden and have 36H.
ReplyDelete