I made a bra and I liked it

Have you ever said that there is something you would never ever do? I have. About lingerie sewing. I once swore that I will never ever sew undergarments. 

I once went on a field trip to then Estonias only women's underwear sewing factory. Seeing all those lovely seamstresses managing itty bitty flimsy pieces of lace with skilled fingers left me in awe, and scared to try it on my own at home. 

There were no notches marked on cut pieces. Everything was matched by the eye and by the assistance of templates. 

For one, I was pretty damn sure that no home sewing machine could ever manage to sew such fine seams. I was quite naive, I guess, since the machine only really does half the job.

I don't really know what prompted me to sew my first bra. Maybe it were all the lovely Watson's that popped up in my Instagram feed? But I do know that Heather from Closet Case Files gave me the final nudge.

So I bought the pattern, did some research and sewed my first bra.

Needless to say that sewing was the least of my worries. There are plenty of pretty underwear gallon laces on sale, but there is a lack of notions. It is very hard to find matching elastics, rings and sliders, not to mention the hooks. 

So I bought whatever I found suitable. I used ready made bra straps and altered them to fit the design of Watson bra. I couldn't find any power mesh, so I had to improvise and bought a material similar to what I have seen being used in bra cradles.

Since there is no cut and sew foam available here, I bought ready made foam cups, cut them up and made my own. Those cups are slightly thicker at the center, did not know that. After the assembly of the foam cups I was left with a rather steep valley on the outer side of the cup. Luckily the lace cup seam covers it completely.

It's far from perfect but DAMMIT! I AM PROUD! I totes blew my own mind a couple of times whilst sewing my first bra!

After my first ever and might I say, very successful first bra I was tempted to make more. I went on a scavenger hunt in the local fabric shops to find elastics suitable for underwear. any materials really.

My second and third attempt at bra making were a bit of a fails.

Made from cotton jersey, some firm mesh I found at Abackhan. I used FOE for straps and to finish the underarm parts. This bra actually made me think that 34A was not a size suitable for my small boobs.
So whats wrong with it? First, the cotton jersey was way too thick for a bra. I managed to create a whole lot of bulk on the cup seam. Secondly FOE does not make a good strap.

So after my second attempt, I made this lace number. The main fabric is an actual underwear lace that I just so happened to have in my stash...for about 10 years. I even managed to find matching strapping and underarm elastic. This one was cut in 34AA. And that is definitely not my size. The cups are way too small. WAY. Or at least that's what I think.
Plus the obvious ripples and so on...it happens.

So, I made a bra and I liked it! Now I really have to practice my zig-zaging skills to get those stitches SUPER even.