I finally finished my bra! It is a matching set with the panties that I made a couple of days ago. The bra pattern is bought from Elingeria and it is called Pin-up Girls Classic Bra #1230. This is a pattern for a classic bra with full band that can be made with or without underwires. The instruction booklet is really helpful and perfect for a newbie like me.
I don’t like bra with underwires or padded cups, so I choose to make mine without underwires. According to the instruction booklet, I am size 30B, which is a size that I have never found in the stores. Usually I wear size 32B, so this time I had the chance to make size 30B. I’ve also bought the Bra kit white/mandarin along with the pattern, the supplies are said to be enough for one bra and two panties. The quality is wonderful and they were gliding smoothly under my sewing machine foot.
Before I made the bra (and even bought the pattern), I’ve read a lot of reviews and tutorials to familiarize myself with the terms and sewing order. There is a bunch of helpful tutorials on lingerie making in this tutorial blog by Sigrid. You should check out all her tutorials! I found her via Millie’s post.
Making the bra was so much fun! As I said before, the instruction booklet is wonderful. This is also my first time using 3 steps zigzag stitch on my machine. It is used to secure the picot edge elastic to the edge of the bra. I only made one alteration, which is using double layer of lycra for the lower cup so the seamline is invisible from the inside and the lower cup is not too transparent. I learned to do this from Sigrid’s tutorials Sigrid’s tutorials.
The panties pattern was bought from Merckwaerdigh at Etsy. It is called Merckwaerdigh Mix30 with bra, panties, and knickers pattern in several sizes, mine is size S. I also bought bra notions kit (without fabric) in two colors, the elastics are not as soft as the ones from ElingeriA, but the colors are bolder.
The finished bra fits wonderfully! Although the cups have no underwires, they have enough support and are very comfortable. The panties are also very comfortable, not to mention that they are beautiful. My husband also agrees with me that they are indeed beautiful (^_^)
After I finished my one bra and two panties, it turned out that there were still have leftover fabric for one more bra! Next time I need to find good local resources in Japan for lingerie making. I want to make more!
Bra pattern is Pin-up Girls Classic Bra #1230 from ElingerieA
Panties pattern is Merckwaerdigh Mix30 (bra, pantie, knickers)
Helpful link: Sigrid’s tutorias blog
I know this is a pretty old post, but I tried to access Sigrid’s blog from your links and it comes up as being “for invited readers only” Not sure what’s going on there, but I would have loved to see her posts as well.
It seems that she has moved the blog. You can access her tutorials here: http://sigridsewingprojects.blogspot.jp/p/tutorials.html
Thank you so much Novita, I’ll be sure to head over there and check them out!
I have just finished off 4 sets of curtains, I couldn’t imagine all the skill of making lingerie by hand!
Novita, I’m working on the same pattern, the classic pin-up bra, #1230. Can you please let me know what the measurement of the two seams is in the front? I mean specifically, what is the distance in your bra between the two seams in the front that secure the channel to the bra? I’m working on step eight and nine of the same pattern, and there seems to be so much distance between those two seams. I’ve measured 3/8 of an inch (9.52 mm), and looking at the bra I’m making, distance between the seams in step 8 and 9 of the pattern seems so wide (I bought the exact same kit from elingeria. Can you please let me know if yours i 3/8 of an inch as well?
Yours look so pretty and I’m hoping that I’m doing this correctly.
Hi Rose,
do you mean the distance between the topstitching on the channeling?
Mine is about 7-8 mm, I find that too wide a distance is not proportionally balanced for my size (30C). But it really depends on your taste.
I hope your bra will turn out beautifully!
Thank you Novita for answering and helping and you’re right, I was talking about the “topstitching”, not the seams! The topstitching securing the underwire casing to the bra is 9.5mm on mine and it looks kind of large and gaudy for me. :o(
I’m wondering if there are different sizes of underwire casing. The instruction manual for the Pin Up Bra 1230 simply says “underwire casing”. Maybe they come in different sizes and a smaller one would be better? The casing I was sent is 3.5 inches (9 mm) edge to edge.
My channeling is also 9 mm wide, I’ve never used/found channeling in any other sizes so I really don’t know. I think the width of the channeling doesn’t really matter as long as the distance between topstitching is enough for the underwires. The channeling would be on the inside anyway.
But maybe you can make your own channeling with tightly woven flannel or something? Just a thought, never tried it myself. I would suggest to unpick the topstitiching and make smaller one though
Hope that helps!
Thanks Novita! I wrote to the Elingeria folks and they mentioned that 10/9 mm is the only size they have. :o( I didn’t think of making the topstitching closer together because I was so afraid of that somehow making the channelling unstable. But I’ll try it out anyway, why not? :o)
Here’s to hoping it comes out correctly and thanks so much for taking the time to help! <3
wow!! I love it!! amazing!!! brawo!!
wow, fantastic work!!
My goodness, these are beautiful! You did an amazing job on them! Thank you for all the info on the kits and patterns too, I love hearing reviews for good patterns
Just found your blog through the visit stats on my tutorials blog. What a lovely, lovely set. So bright and beautiful made.
Also thank you for linking to my blog.
Thank you so much for the tutorials, Sigrid! I’d never found my courage to try if I didn’t read them first
Very nice! Looks like ti was store bought! Excellent job! Makes me want to try it out!
Wow! Really gorgeous. I am now thinking about trying this out for myself. I had plans a few year’s back and even started to take a sewing class for it, but never followed through.
Thanks for the helpful links. Your bra and panties came out exquisite.
oh WOW! Those are really awesome. Must give lingerie a try!!
how adorable! it looks very pretty too!