Bra-making with Bra-makers

PATTERN MAKERS BOOT CAMP

2008-01-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

I hate to shop.

Does that surprise you? I'm in the lingerie fashion world. How can I hate to shop?

The fact is, you can drag me into a lingerie shop without a lot of effort because I can rationalize the trip as a fact-finding mission, but a trip to the mall or the high street in search of clothing for myself, can have me break out in a cold sweat. The thought of trying on clothes that just don't fit my body can reduce this grown woman to tears. Especially if she isn't medicated beforehand. Shopping for clothes is not for sissies.

That being said, I love the new clothes that I see. Usually I see them on clients (I don't get out much). Two clients came to see me last week. One was wearing a Diane von Furstenburg (is that the correct spelling?) wrap dress. Apparently DvF does this same wrap dress over and over. It was stunning. The second client was wearing a dark brown wool culotte dress - very professional looking, in spite of itself. It draped like a dress and looked like a dress but with the practicality of the bifurcated bottom (that's the pant bottom - bifurcated just means two legs)...my kind of outfit, for sure.

There is no way a wrap dress from ready to wear will ever fit me. My bust is too big for my shoulder span so while the dress is falling off my shoulders, it is falling open at the cross-over. The wrap always exposes my navel and that's just not a pretty look for me. So, I've never bought one.

The culotte dress, I can guarantee, would be too long from the shoulder to the crotch and too long overall, as well as the bust and shoulder problem I've mentioned already. I would end up looking like a 1939 war orphan. I'm not me-bashing either, that's just the reality of being a short, full-busted woman.

That's why I love pattern making. It appeals to the technical part of my being, but also to the creative part as well. I can make patterns for garments that not only fit, but fit well. The biggest pleasure for me is that I can literally be inspired by any dress, skirt, blouse or jacket I see on TV, in a magazine or in a shop and come home and make one just like it. Except, it will be better.....it will fit and I can do the colours I like and use the fabrics I love to wear.

That being said, there is one major drawback to making your own patterns. You have to have the skill to do it and the confidence to actually cut it out and sew it up. That's why we booked Charine of London to come and do a Pattern makers Boot Camp for us this summer. If Charine can't motivate you to make your own patterns, then, honey, you've got problems!

We've had very successful Bra-making Boot Camps, so we though....why not let ladies have 5 days of making patterns for themselves under the guidance of a skilled pattern maker? 5 glorious days from July 14-18...."me" time - no kids, no dogs, no husbands, no phones, no problem! You don't even have to drag your machine along if you don't want to - we have machines in the classroom !

Charine is going to fit a basic pattern to your body so you have a "body template" to work with. That is called a sloper in the fashion world. However, this sloper will be made with the wearing ease you need to move around, walk and sit. Once you have your basic pattern, then she will take you through the steps of how to change that pattern to reflect the styles that you want to wear. For example, I seldom wear a collared blouse, but I love a collar stand. I love three-quarter length sleeves, but there's a trick to making them just the right length.

That's why I'm excited about Charine coming to town. I know I'm going to see lots of creative fashion happening right there in my own classroom. I'll also see women happy to push the envelope of their creative selves, and be in the company of fellow enthusiasts. besides, I love Charine's personality. She's easy to learn from, and she is fun as well.

If you are thinking about coming to spend time with us in any of our Boot Camps, we do have several options for accomodations. The Rose Arden is our favourite at www.rosearden.com. Owners Gwen and Ken Mallard have always treated our students with overwhelming kindness. It's a Bed & Breakfast with a difference.

Flights to Hamilton usually can be had from Montreal, Calgary, Regina and other Canadian cities. If you are coming from the USA, you might fly to Montreal, then connect into Hamilton. Or fly to Vancouver, then to Hamilton. Or you can fly into Toronto from anywhere and take an airport shuttle to Hamilton. Just call us at 905-538-1396 and speak to Linda about the Boot Camps and what requirements you have. She is always happy to speak with students!

BOOB CAMP...er.... BOOT CAMP

2007-12-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't blogged for quite a while (over a year). Time flies! But most of you that read this blog might want to know about the upcoming Boot Camps. Yes, we were going to call it Boob Camp, (hilarious, isn't it?) but then the politically correct version of me took over and decided to tone the name down a bit.

The name aside, what it is - is five days of sewing bras for yourself without the interuptions of your everyday life. No meals to prepare, no dogs/cats/kids/husbands wanting out/in/out/in etc

Just you and your sewing machine off to a mini getaway. You can still go home at night, but you can use the excuse that you've been woorking much too hard to work more when you get home.

Boot Camp started a couple of years ago when our students told us that they wanted more, more, more. A lot of them come from "away" so repeated trips to Hamilton for two day stints isn't very practical. So we booked a five day session. Let's see how it goes, we said. That first boot camp was filled to capacity and we've been thrilled with the results. It's much easier to keep sewing bras once you get the fit down pat in the first day - the rest of the week you can make all kinds of designer bras. Some of the students went homw with 6 new, perfectly-fitting bras!

More importantly, some would argue, is that you spend a week of sharing a passion for sewing with other enthusiasts. When you talk about your sewing projects, no one's eyes glaze over! Since we purchased machines for the classroom (4 lovely new computerized machines!) most women don't bother to bring their own, unless they live within driving distance. The cost for the 5 day rental is only $50...chaper than risking your baby in the cargo hold!

Boot camps are scheduled this year for Feb 18-22 as well asJuly 21-25. An advanced Boot Camp (even more bras!) is also scheduled for July 7-11. For more information on boot camps, please call our registration hotline at 905-538-1396.

Lunch date

2006-09-08T08:26:00.000-04:00

For those of you who live near Calgary, Alberta, one of my Certified Teachers, Jane Churchman, sent this email from a friend of hers:

Some of you may be aware that my Mom works at The Bay downtown in the Lingerie Department. She has asked me to invite women I know who might be interested, to attend The Bay's "Lingerie Lunch & Learn Seminar" at the Bay downtown, 4th floor - on September 15th at Noon. The seminar is approx. 30 - 45 minutes long and a light lunch will be served. At the seminar you will find out if you are wearing the correct bra, get the facts on the newest bras and have a complimentary fitting if you desire. If you are interested, please call 262-0345, ext. 3290 to confirm your attendance.”

Nice to know that at least one of the department stores is stepping up to the plate! Even without the free lunch, it would be a great way to spend the noon hour.

So are other Bay stores doing the same program? I googled “The Bay” + “lunch and learn” but unfortunately I got a lot of references to the San Francisco Bay area lunch seminars.

Maybe a bit too far for a lunch trek!

Thanks, Jane for the great heads up!

Making a RTW band smaller

2006-08-08T18:00:00.000-04:00

Sharon, a blog reader writes:

"I wear a size 30DD, and even that is too big in the band for me--I actually measure a 28 band. Obviously, it's almost impossible to find a bra that fits. I'm not quite ready in my sewing skills to make my own bra, but I'm getting closer. In the meantime, I would like to know where is the best place on the band for me to cut it and re-seam it, in order to make the band small enough? I have been doing trial-and-error, but it's mainly been error! Can you help?"

I’ve covered this topic in my book, The Bra-makers Manual, but I didn’t actually mention that this could also be used as an alteration for ready-to-wear (RTW) that is too large. In Sharon’s case, the cups fit fine, but the band is too long around the body to fit her tiny frame. She could “just” go out and buy a 28F bra, but now really, how many of those have you seen in your bra buying treks? I would guess….none.

Altering the band is a fairly simple task for anyone with moderate sewing skills, and as always, there is more than one way to do it. I’ll explain both methods and you can decide which one suits your patience level for alterations and your skill level.

The first method is a quick fix, and literally can be done in 5 minutes. The advantage of speed may be outweighed by the not-so-nice look of the finished product. It involves taking a tuck in the band in the area of the bra that would be not visible if your arms are hanging straight down. You only need to sew a tuck from top to bottom of the band. Depending on the amount you have to take out, you may want to cut off and finish the edges of the alteration, otherwise if it is only a small amount, you may just fold it toward the back and sew it down. The easiest way to determine the amount to remove is to have someone hook the bra in the middle hook and pin out the amount that makes it comfortable. Strive for even amounts on both sides. The amount that is pinned is the depth of the tuck. A 1/2” tuck means you are actually removing 2” from the band.

You can see here, the tuck is best sewn in the space where there is the least amount of slope from the beginning of the tuck to the end. If the angle is quite steep, and sometimes it is, than the tuck will have a drop in it from one side to the other.

The second method is a little more complicated however it produces the best results. Isn’t that always the way it is? You’ll need to pick out the stitching that holds the hook and eye in place, then do the same for the stitching on the strap curve if there is one, so that the straps and be removed from the strap scoop. This will leave the whole back edge without anything on it. You will cut the back the distance you need to remove, off each side, then sew the strap back in place. You’ll probably want to use a zig-zag stitch or the lightning stitch as described in the post entitled, “The Famous Downward Hike ”

Once the straps are back in place, you can sew the hooks and eyes back on, stitching the eyes on the left (“eyes” has four letters - “left” has four letters) and the hooks on the right. You can sew the hooks and eyes on with either a straight stitch or a zig-zag. You might have to change your needle position to get close to the edge on the hooks, but watch out for the metal that hides under the cloth - it can give you a nasty surprise if you hit it with your needle.

Dyeing for Colour

2006-08-06T12:20:00.000-04:00

If you are like most women who have trouble finding bras in your size in the shops, you would probably die for some colour in your intimates’ wardrobe. Well, really, you can dye for colour instead. Dyeing used to be messy, complicated and time-consuming, without any guarantee of consistent results, but I have a few products and tricks to get your bras and panties coloured without involving a vat, or the common chemicals used in dyeing other fabrics. The dye method I use can be done in your kitchen.

I am going to assume you are dyeing 100% nylon or nylon/ spandex blends. In the Bra-makers Supply line, this includes stretch satins, Italian tricot, power nets, Simplex, Antron, sheer cup lining, strap tapes, strap elastics, all latex-free band elastics as well as the trims and laces. The hook and eye marked as “dyeable white” will also dye, as do the nylon sliders and rings and the front clips, but not the plastic ones. Here’s a tip that usually works to tell the difference between plastic and nylon accessories. If you look at the clip, or ring, and the colour is bright white, that’s a clue that it will always stay that colour. If the clip is milky white, or winter white as my mom used to call it, it will likely take on colour. Not a hard and fast rule, but a good guideline.

Fabrics made of Polyester do not dye at all, so if you use the Heavy Poly Jersey, or anything labeled as “polyester”, it will stay the original colour. If you use fusible interfacing or fusible padding, it will take on a slight bit of colour, but not the depth of colour of the main garment. I cannot stress enough the importance of testing a sample of the fabric you are going to dye before dyeing “for real”. Save your off-cuts of fabrics for this purpose.

You can dye the components separately before sewing or you can dye the finished bra. In my opinion, it is best to dye the components of the bra separately before cutting or sewing. The advantage to this method is the control you have. You can remove the bits when they are the right colour, leaving in the parts that need a bit more time. If you dye the fabric and there is a bit of a blotchy area, you can cut around that part easily after the fabric is dry. The disadvantage is, if you forget the hook and eye when you are doing the dye bath, and then you throw out the mixture, you have to start over again for that one piece. When I dye, I go over my “shopping list” of bra supplies, and then dye more than I need, so that I won’t be two inches short on the elastic because I decided to do something more creative than I originally planned.

If you have already sewn up the bra or panties, then you can still dye them. The advantage is that the whole garment is dyed at once, there is no waste of fabrics or elastics, and it is instant gratification. Just dry the thing and away you go. The disadvantage is that if there is a problem, there is no turning back. It is what it is, and you must live with it. If you used polyester in the cups and nylon everywhere else, you will have white headlights on a navy blue bra.

There are a few things you need to have on hand before you dye, using any dye I’m going to describe here.

You’ll need a stainless steel pot, or enameled pot (my favourite), or Pyrex. Never use an aluminum pot - there is some strange chemical reaction that happens with aluminum that seriously affects the colour. Really, you shouldn’t be using aluminum pots anyway - haven’t they been linked with Alzheimer’s’ or something? I forget.

You also need a wooden spoon or big stirring stick. The stick will take on every colour you use, so do have a separate one for dyeing. When I lived in Germany, I bought big wooden tongs that have outlived their usefulness in the kitchen and have now begun a second career as dye tongs. I have also used chopsticks, wooden paint sticks and stainless steel pickle tongs.

A tea ball is useful for holding the small sliders and rings or front clips. Just be sure it is stainless steel, not aluminum. If you are not old enough to know what a tea ball is, it is a round or egg-shaped gizmo with holes in it that opens up with a catch or latch. Loose tea leaves are put inside and the whole thing is suspended by its chain inside the teapot where it will steep for several minutes. Having the tea in a tea ball prevents the tea from escaping into your drink where you can be sure it will find a new home between your two front teeth.

You’ll need the dye, too, of course. Which dyes do I use? There are 3 hassle-free brands that are readily available. RIT dye is available in Wal-mart for a couple of bucks, and it comes in a small box. The box holds quite a bit of dye powder; you won’t need all of it, so you have extra for the next time. RIT comes in quite a few colours and it’s the one with which I have had the most consistent results.

DYLON dye is also found mostly in fabric stores. Be sure to buy the HOT WATER variety, not the cold water one. The cold water won’t do nylon. Finally, there is KOOLAID. Yes, Kool-Aid, the children’s drink! Kool-Aid comes in about 8 different colours that provide pastels and bright colours. Think ice cream and sherbet colours. The flavour usually describes the colour too, like orange, lemonade, grape, lemon-lime (lime green), strawberry kiwi (pink), and blueberry or ice blue (light blue). Strawberry is the closest to a red that you will get, but it is still an orange-red, not a blue red. Raspberry, Hawaiian punch and Cherry are all just about the same deep coral hibiscus colour. Those “magic” colours that change from one to another….you’re on your own. I haven’t tried those.

In any of the above mentioned powders, you can mix colours to get a special effect, but in the case of Kool-Aid, it is not an exact science. You can’t complain to the Kool-Aid company if your colour mixing doesn’t produce the results you expect. Test to be sure. I haven’t tried mixing colours between the companies (i.e. RIT mixed with DYLON) but I would guess that it would NOT work.

For one bra I did, I used a pinch of black in with burgundy to get a deep maroon, then added a touch of blue to get a really deep plum colour, which was lovely. A little black goes a long way. Too much and you get black water, and there is no turning back.

Whichever powder you use, bring your water to almost a boil, but there is no need to boil. Have enough water in the pot to well cover whatever you are dyeing. Put in the powder a little at a time, and test, test, test. I put in samples of strap tape, and the fabric into the dye to see how deep the colour is, or what shade. If you put too much powder in the water, you cannot expect a delicate colour as a result. Less powder means less colour intensity. I would say that light peach is the most difficult colour to get right.

Wet your fabrics, then put them in the dye bath and turn off the heat. There is no need to boil the water, and in fact, boiling is not good for the elastics in general. Stir the fabrics to get complete coverage. If you have your small parts in the tea ball, it’s fun to open it up and check. If you are dyeing the finished bra, make sure you loosen the elastic around the slider so that the dye will penetrate in that area. If you don’t leave it loose, the elastic will be white under the slider.

Take things out as soon as they are the right colour. Some things take a minute or less. You will find that the strap tape dyes first, and the channelling, so you can take that out as soon as it is done. Don’t delay. The components that take the longest are the pre-curved channelling (really, it is not very co-operative and always looks mottled) and the hook and eye. The fuzzy part of the hook and eye dyes a little darker than the main part.

Rinse things under water to clear out any excess dye. If they need to go back in, you can immerse a second time. I’ve never found that I need to fix the colour on any of the dyes I’ve used, but a word to the wise; I would still hand wash any dyed bra separately from any other garments, just in case.

You can also dye beige tones using coffee or tea. Tea colours more orange than coffee, but both are “nude” colour. Just prepare tea or coffee to full strength and dye as above. Instant coffee works too as long as the crystals have fully dissolved.

Just one final note - I used to buy Cotton Classic Dyes from G&S Dyes in Markham, and they did have a great colour range. However I looked it up on the G&S site this morning and didn’t find it, so maybe they have discontinued it. They did mention they have an Acid Dye to dye nylon….but that already sounds too complicated for me.

I dyed the fabric and components for this bra using RIT Arabian Nights Blue (the darker shade) and Madonna blue (the lighter colour). You may not see it too well, but the two shades were necessary for the distinction between the "petals" and the base. You can see the band is a lighter colour, which is intentional.

Bones in Your Bra - part 1

2006-07-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

An email from Debra asks:

“Can the boning you sell be used in the lower bra cup for support purposes?”

Linda is the one who usually sees the emails first, and she forwarded me Debra’s email with an attached note:

“Can you answer this....I can't imagine using boning in the lower cup, but maybe you can?

Boning has long been used vertically in the area of the bra that would correspond to the side seam, and in that position, has caused more women to get out their seam rippers and take out the bones; that, after one or two washings, have curved outward, causing unsightly bulges (the very condition they were meant to eliminate, by the way!). Worse, the deformed bones now jab into the flesh as you sit down or lean to the side. So, mentioning “boning” and “bra” in the same sentence is bound to attract some nasty comments.

But boning can be used in the lower cup for “extreme” support, literally pushing the breast upward from the band. Ah, engineering at its best! The drawing below shows a bra with boning in the lower cup. Read on to learn how it is done.

The boned inside layer of the cup is usually a separate layer under the fashion fabric, so that the impressions of the bones do not show through tight-fitting clothing. Only the lower cup pattern piece is used to create the separate boned layer. Trace off a second lower cup, but remove 1/2” from the cross cup seam of the lower cup so that the boned layer will sit below the seamline when finished.

Lay down a piece of stable woven interfacing cut to the reduced shape of the lower cup and mark the lines where the bones will be sewn. The bones should radiate from the bottom of the wire line upward toward the apex as shown in the drawing below.

Sew the centre line of the boning along your marked lines. Use a sew-in boning such as Rigilene™ to keep them from shifting. Rigilene is made from very stiff strands held together in a polyester base, and whenever you cut Rigilene, the strands can work their way out of the base, causing abrasion against the outer layer of fabric, and the wearer’s skin. You will need to round the top and bottom edges of the bones with scissors and seal them over a hot stove element or open flame, so they do not work their way loose. Keep the rounded tips of the bones down from the top of the boning layer by at least an inch.

Place a layer of fusible knit interfacing over the bones and fuse into place. Repeat for the other side, so there is a layer of knit interfacing on both sides of the boning layer for comfort. Use a serger to clean finish the top edge of the boned layer so it will not fray. Baste the boned layer along the wire line only as shown below; the cross cup seam is left separate from the fashion cup.

This is extreme support for extreme situations; however you can also use boning in the lower cup for purely decorative purposes. I’ll post on that in the second part.

Ship shape shop

2006-07-10T09:34:00.000-04:00

Over the last two weeks, I have rearranged my shop. In my mind, I’ve been doing that for months, but the last two weekends were the real muscle work.

We only moved into this shop in October, and to have 1000 square feet seemed like heaven to me. I knew I would never fill all that space! What’s more, the shop was located within walking distance of my home on the East Mountain, or it would be, if I ever walked it. I have had students stay with me and they have walked it.

With all this space, I reckoned I could order some extra elastics to have on hand and it was all waiting to be put away. I had some steel fabric shelves totaling 14” long that I knew would fit into the alcove in front of the kitchen area. Too bad I hadn’t actually measure it before we set them all up, because we were short by 6” in that alcove, which meant we now had only 3/4 of the space for fabric. Hmmm….

The space was only finished the day before my 8 week course began last October, so we set up the shop and classroom without a lot of thought, we just wanted to get stuff in there. Linda joined us and as a new employee, she had to hit the ground running. I’m happy to report she has since learned the difference between E-601 strap elastic and S-601 strap tape! And so, between the students sewing, and the weekends and evenings, we slowly got the shop side in order. This is what we did. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

1000 square feet! What was I thinking? There was no way all that stuff was going to fit! I had a beautiful big classroom with lots of space in there, but the shop, where I keep thousands of spools of elastics was too crowded. The cutting table at 40" x 60" was way too small but it was all the room we had. Worse, the mainstay of all mail-out businesses (boxes, boxes and more boxes) were just piled on the floor! This totally offends my sensibilities…I can’t stand the clutter of boxes and crap all over the place. The fabric bins were too small to hold all the fabric (we had to stand the rolls up because we did not have room for them) and there wasn’t anywhere to put extra tables, extra boxes and extra stock.

Fast forward to June. No room for fabric, or storage. What to do? I entertained the idea of moving…after all, when a house of mine gets too cluttered, I just move, so what’s the big deal? The big deal is I love the shop location, and Linda did not want to move either. It’s also very expensive to move, and besides, we like our landlord. I love the idea that the shop is so close to home.

What if we put the shop into the classroom and the classroom into the shop area? Flip the two sides. Then we could have the fabric shelves run all the way across a 20’ wall, which would increase our fabric storage with 5 bins instead of 3 bins. Linda thought I would use both rooms and take the classroom somewhere else (like my home) and we could one room for fabric and the other room for elastics and everything else. No.

I decided to put everything shop into the former classroom, and build a storage area in the alcove. This is what we did. Again, click to enlarge.

By making the elastic shelves 24” deep instead of 12” deep, we were able to put double the elastic stock in the same amount of wall space. We also made a 4 x 8 cutting table with storage underneath for long rolls of padding, ending the problem of the rolls standing up and having the fabric shimmy down the roll. The new storage area in the classroom will hold all the boxes and stuff that we collect but do not want to see.

I think having the classroom with its own door to the hall (and the bathroom) will be a bonus, as well as having the kitchenette there. Before, the students had to come into the stockroom to heat up their lunches. Now we are all contained in one area. We even have a more private area for client fittings.

The classroom also holds two industrial machines, a pressing station, and ideally a wall for my whiteboard and work tables for our book work. So there is not oodles of room, but I only teach my 8-week professional program once a year, and I only take 6 students at a time, so it’s workable, right?

As you can see, I have room for 6 students, and I have had 7 students apply for the course in October. One is officially begging me to let her in. So now what do I do?

Momma - don't let your sons grow up to be Cowboys!

2006-07-09T08:26:00.000-04:00

Christy Beier, one of my students, and owner of Free Spirit Bras, sent me this Cowboy poem. I loved it!

I believe you could sing it around a campfire if you had a guitar strumming along….

I ain't much for shopping,
Or for goin' into town
Except at cattle-shipping time,
I ain't too easily found.

But the day came when I had to go -
I left the kids with Ma.
But 'fore I left, she asked me,
"Would you pick me up a bra?"

So without thinkin' I said, "Sure,"
How tough could that job be?
An' I bent down and kissed her
An' said, "I'll be back by three."

Well, I done the things I needed,
But I started to regret
Ever offering to buy that thing -
I worked me up a sweat

I walked into the ladies shop
My hat pulled over my eyes,
I didn't want to take a chance
On bein' recognized.

I walked up to the sales clerk -
I didn't hem or haw -
I told that lady right straight out,
"I'm here to buy a bra."

From behind I heard some snickers,
So I turned around to see
Every woman in that store
Was a'gawkin' right at me!

"What kind would you be looking for?"
Well, I just scratched my head.
I'd only seen one kind before,
"Thought bras was bras," I said.

She gave me a disgusted look,
"Well sir, that's where you're wrong.
Follow me," I heard her say,
Like a dog, I tagged along.

She took me down this alley
Where bras was on display.
I thought my jaw would hit the floor
When I saw that lingerie.

They had all these different styles
That I'd never seen before
I thought I'd go plumb crazy
'fore I left that women's store.

They had bras you wear for eighteen hours
And bras that cross your heart.
There was bras that lift and separate,
And that was just the start.

They had bras that made you feel
Like you ain't wearing one at all,
And bras that you can train in
When you start off when you're small.

Well, I finally made my mind up -
Picked a black and lacy one -
I told the lady, "Bag it up,"
And figured I was done.

But then she asked me for the size
I didn't hesitate
I knew that measurement by heart,
"A six-and-seven-eighths."

"Six and seven eighths you say?
That really isn't right."
"Oh, yes ma'am! I'm real positive -
I measured them last night!"

I thought that she'd go into shock,
Musta took her by surprise
When I told her that my wife's bust
Was the same as my hat size.

"That's what I used to measure with,
I figured it was fair,
But if I'm wrong, I'm sorry ma'am."
This drew another stare.

By now a crowd had gathered
And they all was crackin' up
When the lady asked to see my hat,
To measure for the cup.

When she finally had it figured,
I gave the gal her pay.
Then I turned to leave the store,
Tipped my hat and said, "Good day."

My wife had heard the story
'fore I ever made it home.
She'd talked to fifteen women
Who called her on the phone.

She was still a-laughin'
But by then I didn't care.
Now she don't ask and I don't shop
For women's underwear.

~ Author Unknown

Are you wearing Clean Undies?

2006-06-30T15:08:00.000-04:00

I met the most amazing person this morning at the shop. John Cloud is owner and driving force behind The Organic Cotton Company, in Toronto. John’s company produces, among other things, Clean Undies, a line of undergarments made entirely of organic pima cotton, which is unbleached, undyed and left its attractive natural golden champagne colour.

The company also produces organic cotton babies’ things, bed and bath items, as well as undershirts, boxers, briefs and lots of ladies panties. I rather expected to find the selection and design of these rather mundane articles of clothing, well…rather mundane. I was totally blown away by the thought and care he has given to each item in his inventory.

John is a man who researches what needs to be changed and then changes it, and to hell with what the mainstream thinking is. For example, he interviewed “real” women on their panty preferences and generally asked for their wish lists regarding the products. One of the things that resulted; was to change the width of the crotch, which as we all know, are often way too wide for the area that needs to be covered.

The crotch width only needs to be about 2.5” wide, yet I have seen some that are 4” wide! And some designers out there (if you are one, listen up!) actually make the crotch width wider as the size of the panty increases! If you take a moment and think about it, that particular part of a woman’s anatomy does not increase. The pelvis and the thigh bones determine the width, and once the bones have grown through puberty, that is it.

Another thing that bothered John was the crotch lining. He heard women complain that today the lining is not sewn down and left to curl up in a roll. The open end is a magnet for “wizzies” as John likes to call them. Wizzies is the name he’s given to the mouse nest-like mass of unidentifiable dryer fluff, hair and bits of Kleenex that collect in open ended spaces. Well how does he know about wizzies in the crotch? It’s an issue for men, too! Wizzies collect in the side of an open fly of men’s briefs. I didn’t know that! And I never would have found out either, because call me strange, but I am not inclined to dig around in that area looking for lint.

So not only did John raise the bar in panty construction to its previous standard where both ends of the crotch are sewn down, but he’s also increased the length of the crotch lining, too. As it is, it’s far too low in the front, and does not offer protection to the area up front.

Clean Undies offers briefs, thongs (and yes, he got the contour and length of the thongs just right) low rise and boy shorts, all of the currently fashionable styles. Men have choices of briefs or boxers, but he narrowed the leg on the boxer so the fabric at the side of the leg doesn’t fold over on itself under a pair of pants. There are children’s undies too, and he does not use elastic at the legs in his children’s undies. Why? All children’s parts need air, and guys in particular, need to have air circulating around the scrotum, otherwise sperm production is adversely affected. Clean Undies is “safe for both environments”, as John likes to say. Clever marketing line.

Did you ever think to use cotton for your sanitary napkins and wash them out each time? Did you ever consider making your own sanitary napkins? Before this morning, my answer would have been…not in a million years, but think about it. Cotton is highly absorbent, can be washed hundreds of times, and being cotton, can prevent the bacteria that causes toxic shock syndrome, which is a risk with tampons.

The undershirt is a thing of beautiful simplicity, and for the first time since Marks & Spencers closed in our area, I felt a surge of hope that I might finally get a proper undershirt, with sleeves! Camisoles just don’t do it for me; if my shoulders get cold, all of me is cold. Your choice of sleeves too; cap, short, long, raglan and sleeveless. Camisoles too if you like those; V-neck, round neck, square neck, just every base was covered. I admire this man and his Clean Undies!

Ra Ra Simplex!

2006-06-28T08:21:00.000-04:00

Sigh............I'm in love!

I made my Simplex bra last night and finished it early this morning. It's the bra you see in the last post on channelling. I made up a trial bra using the pattern I always use with low stretch of two-ply fabrics. It's a full band pattern , no lace or anything fancy (I'm so predictable) so it whips up in about an hour. I used the beige colour Simplex (94 metres IN STOCK NOW!) which, sad to say, is almost a perfect match for my pale Canadian indoor skin. I had to go out to get thread to match, and that part took me longer than the actual sewing.

Sometimes when working with coloured fabrics (even beige or nude can be a problem) there is a lack of findings in the right colours. I had to dig to find "close-enough" coloured elastics, hooks and eyes and all that, but even then, I had to use ivory trim for the neckline edge, instead of nude. I keep a stash of almost everything I carry at Bra-makers Supply, at home too, so I have stuff to use when I do prototype and samples for my Industrial clients. It's a short distance to BMS, just around the corner and up the street, but what a nuisance to stop sewing and go get something like 2 sliders and 2 rings.

Did I tell you I dyed a piece? It's shown in the picture above. I tried a small piece of nude and I dyed it scarlet, just to try. Works well, maybe I'll get adventurous and make some coloured bras.

Gosh - the fabric sewed up like a dream! No puckering or anything. I did switch from a stretch needle which I always use for stretch fabrics with spandex, to a universal needle. I could have used a ballpoint needle, but I didn't have any. If there had been skipped stitches, I would have had to go back to the store and buy some ballpoints. {Note to self - go buy some ballpoint needles to keep in the drawer} The universal worked fine.

So the bra is finished and I'm wearing it. I flashed the DH this morning and now he says, he's in love.....men are so easily amused.

Crossing the Channel

2006-06-28T08:11:00.000-04:00

The proper application of channelling is one of those things that separates the women from the girls, so to speak, in bra-making. Channelling is the tube into which the underwire slides and it circles the base of the breast at the wire line. It is soft and thick and keeps the metal wire inside from pressing on your ribs. Even if you are not using underwires, you should still use channelling if your bra has a seam that runs around the cup (and they almost all do). Why?

channelling keeps those bias edges around the wire line from stretching
channelling finishes off the raw edge of the seam
topstitching the channelling gives you good practice sewing parallel lines around a curve
it screams “well-made”, not “home-made”

Channelling’s biggest attribute, being soft and thick, can also be its biggest drawback to neat construction. The channelling needs to come all the way to the top of the wire line at both the centre front and the underarm, and when the elastic is sewn on in subsequent steps, the channelling, being soft and thick, refuses to turn over nicely. In fact, many a bra-maker has broken needles trying to sew through two layers of channelling plus fabric plus elastic. Even if your workhorse industrial goes through all the layers, the result is a very clumsy looking, bulky top edge. You will have to look long and hard in the ready-to-wear bra bins to find another top edge that looks as crappy as this.

So how do they do channelling in ready-to-wear that eliminates bulk, yet keeps the wire in place? The answer is not in specialized machines, although to be fair, yes, there are double needle machines (two needles, two bobbins - not a twin needle like we use in decorative home sewing) that will apply channelling like nobody’s business, but that is not the secret to the bulk free finish.

The secret is to end the channelling about 3/8” below the raw edge of the fabric at the underarm edge. Sew the channelling on the seam allowance only. This is where a lot of newbies to bra-making make a big mistake. They try to sew through all the layers. Don’t do that. Sew the channelling to the seam allowance around the wire line only. The underarm edge will have the channelling “short” by 3/8”. The front edge - you stop sewing about 3/8” from the centre front top edge , but leave a tail of about 1” so you can feed the wire through. This creates a funny looking bra with the two little tails of channelling stuck up at the centre front. You’ll thank me for those later when you insert the wires.

Now you have to close the channel, so the wire won’t pop out. This is the only part you can omit if you aren’t using wires, but why not do it anyway, as it is good practice, and it will make you a better person. Most bra-makers close the channel by stitching back and forth across the end of the channel several times. Is that what you do? Do you think that stitching back and forth 4-6 times across a piece of channelling is strengthening it, or weakening it? Of course, it’s weakening it, because those needle holes are penetrating the channelling in the same place each time you cross over. The channelling has been weakened and the wires will pop out the first chance they get.

To correctly close the channel, reduce the thickness of the channel even further and to be sure your wires will never be the curse of the washing machine repair guy, stitch across the channel and stagger each row of stitching as shown in the picture below. I’ve stitched many rows, and used up about 1/4 to 3/8” of space on the channel. Don’t worry if you use of 3/8” of space, because your underarm elastic is going to turn over and cover this. Just be careful not to get carried away and stitch into the cup, particularly if using the reverse on your machine.

Once the channel has been closed off at the underarm edge on both cups, you can topstitch the channelling. To get the most expensive “Parisian lingerie” look, topstitch the channelling two times - but they must be parallel to one another! No wonky topstitching!

You topstitch the first time from the outside of the bra (so the right side is facing you). You will stitch no more than 1/16” outside the cup-to-band seam. This is where the edgestitching foot (the same one you are going to take to your desert island should you get stranded there) comes in handy, although, really, you can do this by eye. Pull the seam as you sew, so no small folds form as you are sewing around.

The second row of topstitching can be done from the inside of the cup, or if you get confident about your channelling, you can do that one on the outside of the cup as well, staying parallel to the first row. If you are on the inside, you’ll usually sew on the channelling guidelines that are woven into every channelling tube.

The proof of your channel sewing ability will be if the lines are parallel on the outside of the cup, and the wire can still slide through without fetching up. A gold star for you if it does! Believe it or not, the one thing that determines whether your channelling will pass muster, is how you sew it to the seam allowance in the first place. Yes, it’s true! Keep the edge of the channelling exactly on the seamline and the rest will fall into place. But if you let the channelling wander from that line - when you topstitch, the space left may not be enough for the wire to pass through. It’s a bummer when that happens.

Apply the elastic to the top (underarm) edge of the bra, butting the edge of the elastic almost up to the top (closed) end of the channelling. You will be able to feel the edge even though you can’t see it. The elastic should not sew through the channelling - it should sew just beside it. When the elastic is turned and sewn for the second time, you will sew through the channelling and cover the raw edge nicely. You can see that in the picture below.

The result is a bulk free underarm edge that won’t bug you when you move your arms, and the wires won’t pop out.

Simplex - simply perfect!

2006-06-27T04:01:00.000-04:00

It’s not often I’ll write about the virtues of one particular fabric, however in this case, I’m making an exception. It’s been several years since I’ve seen this fabric, much less able to source it, and I’m thrilled to see it come back, to be embraced by the bosom of the bra-making community, so to speak.

If I could describe the “perfect” fabric for bra-making, it would have to be supportive but not necessarily a woven; it could have some give (in one direction, please), but not necessarily a lot of stretch; it would be able to be used on its own, without needing supplementary layers of interfacing or a second ply; it would have to be available in the basic colours of white, beige and black. Oh yes, I almost forgot, it would have to be easy to sew up and not slither around like some fabrics like to do. My fantasy fabric would also be able to be dyed, which would necessitate it being made of cotton, or nylon. The ability to hold a dye colour is nice when the fabric is fairly plain. I would prefer a matte finish to a shiny one, but then, I’m fairly plain when it comes to dressing myself. It’s only my samples that would ever be considered “creative”.

So, what is the wonder fabric? It’s 100% nylon simplex, with a dull matte finish, but people call it matte tricot. Just everything these days is lumped under the name “matte tricot”, so I prefer to call it by its given name. It used to be “the” fabric used by Wonderbra and other big manufacturers and no wonder. It’s perfect, in my eyes. I bought three 100 metre rolls of it, in white, beige and black. I’m seriously thinking this might be a great alternative for my teachers out there who have been on notice for several years that the supply of heavyweight stretch satin was drying up (apparently it’s not a renewable resource). I’m making a bra from it this morning (it’s almost 4 a.m. and I have a cold, so I can’t sleep - I might as well sew up a bra and be productive) and I’ll let you know how I make out. If it works in my trials like I think it will, you will be able to have students make their bra cups (even the big ones) without any interfacing - now isn’t that bit of news exciting?

I have to admit, though when my supplier told me he was sure it was nylon simplex, not polyester, I had my doubts. I gave it the two sure-fire tests - I burnt some and I dyed a piece. Definitely nylon! Yippee! Now I can finally have a Strawberry Kiwi Koolaid bra!

My supplier tells me there is a possibility that he can drum up some embroidered simplex too. Now that would just be Heaven.

Overheard in a Fitting Room

2006-06-26T22:01:00.000-04:00

I wish I could be a fly on the wall in a bra fitting room. Don’t get the wrong idea about me, but I would love to hear what women really say (or think) when trying on bras in the dressing room. Given that 7 out of 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra, I expect I might hear something like this when women are asked about their bra size:

I’m pretty sure this is the size I take

There is nothing available in my size, so this one will have to do

The smaller bras are soooo much cuter

I have “always” worn this size

I wear this size in a *** bra

I don’t want to look bigger than I am

I don’t want an “old lady” bra

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Let’s look at each in turn and smash the fitting room voices once and for all.

1. I’m pretty sure this is the size I take…
If you’ve never been measured, how do you know what size you really are? Are you guilty of trying on the ones that “look right”, pick the lesser of two evils, and you are outta there? If so, you may be guilty of the most common mistake women make when bra shopping. They buy the band too big and the cups too small. In other words, instead of buying a 34D, women will buy a 36C or even a 38B. The band, being too large for your body will tend to ride up, which will in turn cause your cups to droop in the front. Nobody wants droopy boobs. The elastic that goes around the body needs to have some tension on it in order to hold the cups where they belong. Even with the band being correct, however, we often buy cups too small.

2. There is nothing available in my size, so this one will have to do…
Probably nothing is more frustrating for a woman with money to spend on a bra not to find one! If you are a D cup or larger, a lot of stores don’t consider you the “bread-and-butter” sizes, which are the least number of sizes that make them the most money. I don’t begrudge the stores making money, but Puhlease….at least review your customer demographics and service her. Too many stores think that 34B is the “average” size. C’mon guys…it hasn’t been that since Twiggy was top model. The average bra size for ages 20-30 is 36C and for ages 30-40 is 36D. The average for the over 40 crowd (yes, those boomers) is now 38D.

3. The smaller bras are soooo much cuter…
Of course, they are cuter. So are size 6 dresses, and size 2 pants. There’s something about diminutive sizes that makes our hearts go all a-flutter. Reality check - if the bra does not completely cover the breast mound and sit against the chest wall - the cup does not fit. No amount of cuteness will change its size. Leaving it the bottom drawer for 6 months will not bring the bra to its senses either. Ditto for panties.

4. I have “always” worn this size…
Most women might get fitted when they first go for a bra in their teen years, and they might not get fitted again until menopause. That’s a lot of years between bra fittings! Lots of things can affect the fit of your bra and the size of your breasts, including weight gain, weight loss, illness, hormonal changes, pregnancy and lactation, the hormones in the food we eat, as well as the universal affect of Gravity. Unless you live in a weightless atmosphere ( “to the Moon, Alice”) gravity will always affect the breasts, and not in a good way, either. If you are stuck on a particular “number”, get over it. Your breasts are bigger now.

5. I wear this size in a *** bra…
Just because you wear a 36C in a Playtex, doesn’t mean that you will always wear a 36C in every other brand. My fiend, Staci, tells me that in almost every other brand, she takes a 36D, yet in the La Mystere brand, she takes a 36C. Each bra company has their own sizing standards. And yes, sometimes within the same company, sizes will be different as well. I talked to the head of design today of {un-named company} and their company uses 6 different vendors to design and supply their extensive line. All companies are to design for …guess what…a 34B and grade up from there. But all 6 companies are not using the same fit model! I examined the measurements of one of them, and according to her measurements, she should be a 34C. If a company grades up from this incorrect starting point, even a small distortion of size will cause a huge fitting error at the top end of the size range.

6. I don’t want an “old lady” bra…
Sigh….Not all the larger sizes scream “nursing home”. In fact, several companies such as Rigby & Peller have created a delightful line of bras in fuller cup sizes, and theirs are anything but dreary. Think European laces and really, really pretty style lines. If all you see in your size are too plain for your taste, why not try making your own? Then you have the world of fabrics at your beck and call, and any wild & crazy thing you choose to do with them, is yours to sew up. I’ve had students do lime green and navy bras, lace cups with power fabric underneath and wild prints that only a mother could love. It’s all about personal expression.

7. I don’t want to look bigger than I am…
Oh, for Heaven’s sake! Do you actually think you will look bigger because your bra fits? Do you think you appear smaller squashed into those bra cups like a sausage into a casing? Listen to me…you will look smaller, thinner and more uplifted if you wear a bra that fits. Breasts that fit into the cups are not sitting on the chest. Sagging breasts can “frump-ify” you very quickly. Make sure your cups contain your breasts. You will walk more upright, and appear slimmer at the same time. Just ask Oprah. She did a whole show on the before and after effects of a good bra. And remember, as you curse your current size - when you were 12 or so, you probably wished for your breasts to grow. You should have been careful what you wished for.

T-I-T course

2006-06-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

I probably won’t be posting much this coming week, unless I sneak away from class, or I don’t have any homework. You see, starting Monday, I’ll be teaching my 5th annual Certified Bra Instructor Training at my shop in Hamilton. Every year, I collect names on a list of prospective women who would like to turn their passion for sewing bras and their love of teaching into an exciting new career. Every year, I get over a dozen names, and then I have to weed them out until I feel we’ve got a good mix.

So who gets cut? Mostly, I try not to place too many teachers in any one geographical area, for obvious reasons. I’ve made the mistake of doing that in the past, and it has caused some problems. If the city is large, and the teachers are on opposite ends, then that’s one thing, but sometimes, both teachers would be drawing from the same well.

One could argue that some students would feel more comfortable with one teacher than another, so having two teachers would allow prospective students to pick and choose and I agree. I also know that there are teachers and there are teachers, and the word will get around which teacher has the drawing power. But usually, having two teachers in the same small area, means neither will do well.

Sometimes, I cut the list based on their sewing experience, specifically their lack of it. You need to sew in order to make samples, and also to demo the steps of construction in class. The samples need to be well-made. Lots of classes are sold out because the samples look so professional and “store bought”. The customer reaction is one of “we’re going to be able to make that - in class?”

The teachers-in-training (yes, that is where I got the title of today's post!) have 5 days to learn to become a bra-making teacher. 5 short days. Some of you are reading this and wondering what we could possibly to keep busy for 5 days! Let's see now....a half day at least is spent learning to use my pattern. We don’t use ready-to-wear sizes in the bra class, nor do we use commercial sewing patterns; I have developed my own pattern which is sized differently. We can handle virtually any size, using my Universal Bra Fitting system.

One and one half days are spent learning the sequence of construction for the 2 bra styles that we teach. The full band (frame) bra is the suggested “entry level” bra-making class, and after that, students move on to the partial band bra (frameless).

Three days are spent on fitting exercises. There is a specific sequence of fitting that I have developed and the teachers need to know that. So much fitting in a bra is dependent on another part fitting as well, and beginners often fit the thing that looks wrong, but that may not be what needs fixing. In the bra class, they learn to alter my pattern to fit the student’s body; we don’t force the student’s body to fit the pattern. Somewhere in there, we also spend several hours on the logistics of teaching - where, how and what-to-charge. When the teachers go home, they still have lots of samples to make, and other homework to do begfore they can teach.

I do have great teachers, over 40 spread from coast to coast in Canada, but only 2 in the United States. I wish more teachers from the U.S. would come and train - that is a wide open area down there. I do have a few of my Canadian teachers who have gone and are willing to go to the States, but that’s not the same as a bona fide American teacher who won’t have the hassles of crossing the border. (Just try taking 20 pounds of underwires in your suitcase!)

So who comes to a bra-making class? That’s an easy one. The classes attract women who have issues with ready-to-wear; whether it is one breast larger than the other, or cups larger than DD, or fitting to the obese student, or at the other end of the scale, the AAA cups, or band size 32 and under. Ready-to-wear simply doesn’t address a lot of the fitting challenges that teachers face every day. Some women are in the class, because they have daughters or granddaughters for whom they need to sew. Some have someone close who has had a mastectomy and this is their way of providing comfort. Some women in the classes are there because they love to sew, and sewing their own bras allows for another avenue of creative expression. A student I remember well was 83 when she took the course, and on the second day, she bought leopard fabric to make a bra. This is a woman who had purchased nothing but “industrial strength” white bras previously. Not in a million years, would she have ever gone to a bra shop and purchased a leopard bra; but she made one up in fabric that looked dynamite! I told her; maybe she should make sure her husband had taken his heart medication before she showed him the bra!

If I were stranded on a desert island...

2006-06-11T21:41:00.000-04:00

Years ago, I worked for a decorative embroidery thread company (Sulky) doing educational seminars all over Canada. I was, in Sue Hausmann’s words, an “edu-tainer”. I used to use the phrase, “if I were stranded on a desert island….” and then I would go on to tell my audience about the stabilizers I would take, or the specific thread I would take along. It always made them laugh, because that imaginary desert island would have to have electricity for my sewing machine, and at least one really good fabric store. Those items were assumed to already be there.

So, if I were stranded on a desert island, and was going to be making bras for the islanders there…here are the things I would consider essential to bring along. And yes, there would be islanders there - you need someone to run the really good fabric store, don’t you?

MY EDGESTITCHING FOOT
I couldn’t make a bra without my edge stitching foot, which some of you know as an edgejoining foot or the stitch-in-a-ditch foot. Whatever it is called, it has a bar that sits in the middle and you ride this bar in the well of the seam. Moving the needle slightly to the right or the left keeps your topstitching of the cross cup seam absolutely perfect. Quilters use the needle in the middle position to do stitch-in-a-ditch. You can see the bar in the drawing below.

My mature eyes, and the bi-focals that come with them, unannounced, could not handle black thread on shiny, black fabric, if not for the foot. I’m afraid my topstitching would resemble a drunkard’s path on a Saturday night. I would be willing to leave my 1/4” foot behind, if the weight of it would be too much for my desert island trip, but not my topstitching foot. I have gotten quite good at seeing the “right” width for the seam allowances; I just can’t see to topstitch.

MY ASHLEY
Every designer has a “judy” in her shop, and I am no exception, except my judy is named Ashley. For those of you who don’t know what a judy is, it’s a dress form on which you can drape and draft your creations, or just dress her up and stand her in a corner. Whatever. Dressforms for bra-making are really very difficult to obtain, because the bust on a normal judy is what I will call a “uni-boob” - the bust just rises up out of the chest like a giant wave, then subsides lower on the rib cage. It might make a sheath dress look great, but it isn’t accurate for a bra-maker. We need separation between the breasts, preferably a nice flat bridge area, too. That kind of mannequin is hard to find and very, very expensive. Some of them are over $2000. I have to admit, that these ones have realistic "droopy" breasts to simulate the pull on the fabric when a real woman is wearing the bra. I have had the opportunity to see, and feel, this mannequin and it seems quite nice, (except her breasts invade far too much of her upper chest as you can see in the picture below), but still...$2000 (U.S) is a lot of money for a manneqin that I don't consider perfect.A few years ago, I found a mannequin perfect for bra-making in a mannequin catalogue, and the style was being discontinued. I called to find out the price, and while the regular price was $700, they would be happy to sell the remaining mannequins for an unbelievable price of $99 each. Needless to say, I bought all 11. The name they assigned to this moiré covered mannequin was “Ashley” and that is what I have called her ever since. She just happens to be a perfect 36C, so I do any draping on her, knowing that any bra I make that fits her, will also fit me. How could I go to a desert island without my Ashley?
LATEX FREE ELASTICS
There’s nothing that can ruin a day on the beach of my desert island, than being allergic to the elastics in your bra or swimsuit. Most elastic is made with threads of latex (that’s rubber, to the uninformed) woven or knitted into the body of a narrow trim. The rubber makes the trim stretchy. However, some women, an increasing number of women, are becoming allergic to latex. How do you know if you have a latex allergy? Believe me, you will know! You’ll get a red, itchy patch (almost like a heat rash) in areas where the latex is against the skin. It seems to be more severe if there is sweat involved (excuse me…perspiration…women don’t sweat) Lots of women think they are allergic to synthetic fabrics, when in fact, they are sensitive to the latex in the elastic. (Oddly enough, latex is considered a “natural” product, while its replacement fibre, spandex, is definitely a synthetic).

Let me tell you how I discovered my latex allergy. I was teaching bra-making in Edmonton, Alberta, about 7 years ago. I was there for what I now call my “bra-making marathon” as there were 125 women booked into those back-to-back classes! Good grief! I thought I would not be able to look at another breast as long as I lived.

I didn’t stay at a hotel that year - I was staying at the home of the educator from the store I was teaching at. They had two BIG ridgeback hounds. Great big things that had a tail that almost knocked me down when they were wagging. I got to sleep on the hide-a-bed in their family room, and my hostess let me know that this couch (my bed) was the usual place for these two dogs. Hopefully they wouldn’t bother me too much at night….RIGHT!

I had to push the dogs out of the room in order to go to sleep, and just as I was getting ready for bed, I felt a little itchy under my breasts. I have to tell you, my immediate thought was “those **** dogs have fleas!” I took off my bra, and to my horror, a red, itchy, weeping welt went all the way around my rib cage. It was also under my armpits, although not quite as bad. I had a latex allergy, no doubt caused in part to my constant interaction with rubber elastics. The next day, I had to wear my bra inside out, so the elastic would not touch my skin. This is not a good way to wear your bra, but necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. Needless to say, when I went home, I contacted the mill about having latex-free elastic made for us, and we’ve carried it ever since then. I make all my own bras and panties with latex-free elastics (try scratching your panty line and see what looks you get). I am now very careful when using rubber (latex hospital gloves, or rubber dams at the dentist, just for two examples) otherwise my throat could swell up and close off.

You can’t always tell elastic containing rubber from its spandex counterpart, so be sure to ask for it, if this is a concern for you. If you can’t find it on your desert island, row on over to mine. I’ll have enough for both of us.

Presenting Miss December 2005

2006-06-11T19:19:00.000-04:00

After the last post, I went looking for some bras made from relatively "normal" materials, and I found just what I was looking for at this site. The group responsible for these lovely Artbras is The Way to Women's Wellness. Since this is a fund-raising collection and not a wearable art competition, the construction on some of these bras is a little rough, to say the least, but I don't hold that against them, not in the least.

I did find one bra, Miss December, 2005 that I think was very well executed. Look at the detail in the crazy quilting. I think my friend Miss Betty Caskey of Victorian Pleasures would be impressed by the work in this bra. (If you are into silk ribbon embroidery, or crazy quilting, you must take a class from Miss Betty)

The Way to Women’s Wellness Foundation is a grass-roots organization. Their mission is to promote Breast Cancer Awareness and Women’s Health Issues beginning with the creation, marketing and exhibiting of a collection of ArtBras created by twelve American Designers. It is their goal that the visual enjoyment of their collections may also bring attention and awareness to women’s health issues. By using their creativity, they hope to inspire others through their art and support women who have experienced or may experience serious women’s health issues.

The major fund raising events for 2004 and 2005 were the ArtBra Calendars, although they have other merchandise for sale too. One hundred percent of the net profits from the sell of the Calendar was donated to various Breast Cancer Agencies. Their hope is that women will begin to collect the calendars each year. The 2006 Calendar will be designed around a heart theme.

I have purchased an ArtBra calendar each year from this group and now, I am going to get this pin I saw on their site. It's only $10. Can you believe it?

If you would like to submit an art bra for the 2007 calander, I'm sorry, but you are too late. The submissions deadline was May 1, 2006. I should have been more diligent about watching the deadline, but life intervened. However, since they do this every year, I am hoping that the date for 2008 will be May 1 of 2007. There is lots of time for you to start dreaming of an exhibition bra that just might earn you the title of Miss December, 2008!

Later post - from a link sent by Margaret, an entry into the WOW competition (World Of Wearable Art), an entry entitled Chicken Breasts.

Fabric, schmabric

2006-06-11T18:29:00.000-04:00

Who needs fabric to make a bra? I've just found lots of different materials to cover yourself and make a fashion statement at the same time.

How about a bra made from plastic bags or a bra made from candy? This one gem has matching panties (knickers) and garter belt (suspender belt)

If you want firmer breasts, you might consider a glass bra. For those who want even more of a challenge, there is always metal, metal and more metal. ( you'll need tin snips, not scissors). Talk about the full metal G-string!

Want some bling for your belly dancing, or just to make you feel good while shopping at the mall? Try these jewelled and sequin bras.

For those of you who really would rather be in the tropics than anywhere else, bring home a taste of the Caribbean with either of these two numbers.

But the best bras of all, are those that don't forget about the human contact.

If you've seen bras made from unusual materials, please let me know. I'm always on the lookout for these wacky kinds of things.